Friday Frolics

Austen had been working from 2:30-11 each day so sometimes he could do things with us close by and other times he had to leave him at home.

Friday was a special trip because Niki and Austen ran errands at home while Tosha and I drove down to the Peace Gardens.  This is a site dedicated to the Battle of Okinawa which honors the 100,000 Okinawa and Japan soldiers who lost their lives and the 100,000 civilians who also lost their lives. Many historical places were destroyed and in this place, they were destroyed by the Imperialist Americans.  When I heard the name Peace Garden I assumed it was a joint venture to honor those whose lives were taken on both sides of the war.  No this is an Okinawa-Japan site to honor their loss due to the Americans.  Once I figured it out, then I liked it.  It is okay to me that a story is told from that point of view.  After all this is Okinawa and their version is their story.  There is an American side too.  The truth is likely somewhere in the middle between the versions.  I have some recommended reading which I hope to get to during the summer about the Battle Of Okinawa and some about the history which will help me understand more what I saw and felt at the Peace Garden.

As these types of things are in Japan, they are simple in design but purposeful in intent.

The carp windsocks were flying in streams everywhere.  This happens around this time due to the specific holidays they are celebrating this week. Although they are in lots of places year around.

map of the area

 There was very little English and things which explained the different areas

This rock means something but I do not know....

It was surrounded by this unusual building with very shiney surfaces.  If you read Japanese, perhaps you could tell us.

 This is the large museum.  We decided to not go into the museum because of the lack of time.

 Mostly we walked up and down the hills to the different spots which honored different parts of the country and the people who were lost.  There are place to bring offers to the different groups.

 An altar table at one site

 I still like the plants....

One section of the community areas where up on the top of an area overlooking the ocean and some of the beaches where some of the battles were fought.

I didn't really get war and it is very sobering for me to be at these types of places.  I don't like to look at those beaches and thinking that Americans were scrambling to shore to attack (or defend) simply becaue people far away made that decisions.  Real people died and I really don't like it.

 There is a small bus that can take you up and down.  I liked this sign that says slow down in English, Japanese, and Turtle!

 Here are a couple of the unusual ones

 I wish I knew what was written on either side of this one.  It was so simple with just this ball framed this was.

Heading back to the Central garden you see these rows and rows of names much like the Vietnam Memorial.  I tear up immediately.  These are names of real people with real lives that ended in a terrible way.  Why does it happen?  200,000 people

 They have a plaza which looks out over the ocean.  The day we were there there was a school group singing songs and doing individual or small group performances.  It added a nice background of Japanese words and music as we walked around.

 Our selfie!  Each good trip needs one.

These are the implements of War by those terrible Americans...different types of missile casings.  I think there were some small Japanese items as well.  We were the enemy.

 Walkway out side the museum had some historical information along the way.

Okinawa Island with the other islands nearby.

It wasn't what I expected but it was a better lesson.
I can't wait to read the Battle for Okinawa and learning about the ups and downs of this battle.

Bell Tower
It was hot and humid already so I decided'
not to climb up to see the view from the top.

We got home, sent Austen off to work, took a brief nap, and then packed up to make a trip to the beach in the late afternoon.

My first picture from the beach

When we drove by the beach, there were several people playing and a number swimming so we headed to the parking lot and then started walking with our gear.  We passed several people but didn't think much of it until we got to the beach and it was TOTALLY empty. And there was a sign with mostly Japanese but did have the roman numbers of 009-1800. Taking the side of "we can't read that language and no one is telling us to leave, we dropped our gear and we started to play in the sand.  I decided not to go swimming even though the area was marked as a swimming area.  I was afraid that the sign we couldn't read might have talked about riptides and other such stuff so thought it was wise to error on the side of caution.  After about 15 minutes some other western came with chairs, drinkings and books to watch the sun set to the west.  Other young adults came mostly in couple of two or three for quiet strolles along the beach although no one actually got into the water except for me--to splash around a bit and to wash off the sand toys when we were done.  We built our moat and sand castles and flood them over and over again--all the good beach stuff.

My ocean selfie

Niki's favorite task was smashing my towers--he knows what toddlers should do to sand csltes.

 I love signs in other countries.  Here is one close to the beach to remind people to lock their cars and take their valuables with them.  Notice the burgerly drooling as he sees the purse in the car.

This is another animal park by the beach.  I look the statue elephants in bring colors on hthe other side of the goats and sheep.

 A happy sign for the animal park....

These have a special name which I can't remember but they are all over the whole island.  It is a protective guardian which you would put in front of your home, business or other importnat places. They are all different sizes, colors, and shapes.

Just down from the beach was this light house.  They give tours and you can walk to the top but we decided to skip that with a 19 mth. with us.  The sunset had set which was giving the sky this pink look.  It was lovely.

Another amazing day exploring Okinawa.  I couldn't believe I only had two days left before heading home on Monday morning.