Okinawa Report

Once again we were asked to submit a report about our recent trip to Okinawa. Here is mine:

Helicopters about to land at one of the US air bases in Okinawa

Impressions on Okinawa

The moment we landed at the Naha Airport in Okinawa, I fell in love with the place immediately. The airport was beautiful. It was new, and all around the area there were beautiful Cattleya orchids. These flowers, the weather, the palm trees, and the overall look of Okinawa itself reminded me so much of home. I think it is for this reason, plus the inherent beauty and pleasant ambience of the place that made me love it immediately. However, as we toured around Okinawa, we saw something that looked out of place—this was the steel barrier which lasted almost endlessly: the fence of the American Military Bases which separates the uniformed Americans from the Okinawan civilians.

Even before we went to Okinawa and read the handouts about the trip, we already knew about the American bases on the prefecture. It’s even as if the only thing people know about Okinawa is that it’s a place filled with military installations. This is certainly very sad, and I am very thankful that I was able to learn more about this enchanting group of islands.

Okinawa is place filled with surprises. It is naturally beautiful, and has a rich culture and interesting albeit painful history that not a lot of people know about. On our study tour, we first learned about the bases and got to see the wide expanse of land that was under American control. We also visited a theme park that showcased Okinawan culture and got to see the magnificent castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom that ruled over Okinawa until over a century ago. However, the part of the study tour that affected me the most was when we learned about the Battle of Okinawa. This included going to an underground limestone cave that was used as a hospital and Japanese military headquarters during the battle, and visiting the various museums on the prefecture that depicted the agony and suffering of the war.

Learning more about the culture and history of Okinawa really surprised me. The Okinawan Prefecture is very much a part of Japan, but I could see that their lives are vastly different to the lives of the people on the mainland. On the surface, someone could even say that Okinawa looks as if it isn’t part of Japan at all. The traditional costumes, the music, the houses, the castles, the ambience—they’re all different when compared to the mainland. To me, it felt like Okinawa was stuck in time, way back into Japanese past where skyscrapers didn’t reach for the skies yet, trains weren’t the main means of transportation, and houses weren’t so close together that they could still afford to have backyards.

To a lot of people, it seems that Okinawa has been sacrificed by mainland Japan, particularly by the Japanese government. I find myself agreeing with this, because a lot of instances support this theory. The Battle of Okinawa is the greatest example. It was the only land battle in Japan during the Second World War. It was a tactic of the Japanese military to delay the American attack on the mainland. As I learned, it was horrible. High school students were deployed as nurses and were forced to work in inhumane conditions. Hundreds of thousands of Okinawans died because of crossfire. A lot were also killed by the Japanese military themselves. After the American Occupation on the island, the Okinawans thought that the bases would be removed. But even after the reversion, the bases are still there. Okinawa holds a very big percentage of the American bases in Japan. That is really unbelievable when you consider the land area of Okinawa.

The war is already far into the past. I’m sure the people who were responsible for starting it have gotten what they deserve, and I’m sure the Japanese government will not allow it to happen again. The museums we have visited are there so that we will all be reminded that war is absolutely horrible and we should avoid it at all costs. The American bases are here on Japan because both Japan and America mutually benefit from this arrangement. When one looks at it, he can probably say that the bases are bad for Okinawa. But we all know that it also has its advantages alongside its disadvantages. The fact that Okinawa has been stuck in time may also have its advantages. However, I wish that the people on the mainland will always remember th? sacrifices that Okinawa did for them and is continually doing for them. I also hope that the Okinawan Prefecture be given equal treatment with all the other prefectures on the mainland. Most importantly, I hope that Okinawans should always be consulted as to what happens with their island, and that it must be their decision that should be followed.

Read More

Okinawa

So we were in Okinawa starting from Monday till Thursday this week. It was our second and last study tour from Ferris, like the one we had in Hiroshima and Okayama last year. For those souls reading this and don't know where or what Okinawa is, it's a group of islands in the south of Japan, about 1,550 kilometers away from Tokyo, and is actually nearer to Manila than it is to the Japanese capital. It houses a gazillion US Military installations and was home to a horrible battle during the Second World War.

Naha International Airport

Anyway, we left Tokyo HANEDA Airport on an Air Nippol--oops Nippon, I mean--Airways Boeing-747 and since the weather was really bad in Naha (the capital city of Okinawa prefecture), our flight took longer than usual. Thankfully, we landed (safely). The moment I set eyes on Naha though, I loved it immediately! The Naha Airport (both domestic and international) itself was so pretty! The buildings were fairly new, painted in white (I love white!), and adorned with pretty cattleya orchids right from the tube you use to disembark from the plane and all over the lobbies! It's my mom who loves orchids, and not me, but these pretty things which reminded me so much of home (our yard to be exact) had a profound effect on me. (Awww shucks!) In fairness, they were really pretty though. They had all these flowers, and the sheer abundance of them totally impressed me. The leaves were so green (not yellowish at all) that it was obvious they were really taken care of properly.

 Cattleya Orchids

So after that, we boarded a nasty bus which smelled soo much of stale smoke it made me sick. Our first stop was for a viewing deck for the Kadena Air Base, the largest Air Force base not only in Japan, but in the Far East. My first reaction to this was disappointment. I thought we were going inside the bases! *buhuhuhu* I really thought that since this was such a proper, educational field trip, they'd arrange for us to be able to get inside. But that wasn't the case. Being an airplane nut, I really wanted to see the planes (as I told Annie, the movie Top Gun had a very big effect on me heh heh), and of course, you know, everything else. Hehehehe. Anyways, we saw the sprawling base and the planes from afar and took pictures of them in which they were sooo teeny.

 Kadena Air Base

The best thing about the tour was the posh hotel we stayed in during the first two nights. The lobby was pretty, the rooms were nice, there was a huge Japanese-style bath and onsen (hot spring), there was a gaming place, pretty shops where I bought a cutie bag from, and a really beautiful beach! There was also a large pool outside, but since it was still rather cold to be swimming, they drained the water out of it. We had our breakfasts and dinners at the hotel too, and that was good. So much food around! LOL.

The next day we went to more historical places, and to the remnants of an old Ryukyu castle. The Ryukyus formerly ruled Okinawa, before the were made a part of Japan in the 1870's. We also went to some sort of park place, with booths about Okinawa's Ryukyu culture. That's where Annie and I had a picture of ourselves taken in Okinawan costume, which is different from the Japanese kimono.

World Heritage marker

The third day was the most remarkable day of the trip. First we went to another US installation, the Futenma Air Station, which is right in the middle of the town of Futenma. And then we went inside a limestone cave which the Japanese turned into a hospital during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. It was absolutely unbelievable how they turned that into a hospital. The cave was underground and its alleys were very small, although they said the cave itself was more than 200 meters long. You could barely stand straight, and it was so slippery because of the water which trickled everywhere. We were bringing flashlights, and when went deep inside the cave, they made us turn our lights off, and it was so dark we couldn't see anything. I put my hand right infront of my face and I still couldn't see it! That was how dark it was. Not even a tiny ray of light was leaking in from the surface.

When we were still making our way inside, I didn't really realize how they used that cave during the war. You just get so preoccupied with not slipping or not hitting your head on the ceiling, but after that visit to the cave, we went to a museum about the Battle of Okinawa, and when we read the testimonials of the survivors, that's when I realized how horrible it was. They had all these stories about how high school students were deployed as nurses and worked inside the caves (all the caves in Okinawa were made into hospitals), how demanding the injured Japanese soldiers would be, how gross the injuries were, and just how absolutely horrible everything was.

Then we went to a bigger museum, the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Musuem. It was pretty, beside the beach, and the building was beautiful. It wasn't as sad as the previous one we visited because I didn't get to read any testimonials, but it was very informative and showed the entire history of Okinawa: when it was still the Kingdom of the Ryukyus, before the war, during the war, and during the American occupation. Outside, they also had these blocks of cement which had the names of everyone who died in the Battle of Okinawa which lasted roughly round 3 months. They also had the names of American soldiers there, and our guide said that there were also names of Filipino soldiers fighting alongside the Americans who were listed there, together with the names of the American soldiers who died.

 Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum

The Cornerstone of Peace, where the names of the people who died in the Battle of Okinawa are inscribed.

On the last day of our stay in Okinawa, we went to the Shuri Castle Park, which was the main castle during the reign of the Ryukyus. It was very pretty, and showed how magnificent the old kingdom was. You'd really think that it was a shame they didn't have the chance to stay sovereign.

 The Shuri Castle

I told Annie that I was finding it really hard to be talking about war-related stuff when I was in the country who bombed and enslaved my own, but then I realized that Japan is not the same country it was. It has good relationships with the US now, and is trying to make up for the things it has done in the past. I'm also glad that they have all these museums here, which are very informative and objective. I used to think that it was to show the people how mean the enemies were, but that's not true. They're just there to remind everyone how devastating war can be and how it should be avoided at all costs.

Read More