Okinawa 3
14 June 2015 | Boat position at Ginowan Marina, Okinawa, Japan: 26 16.63'N; 127 43.70'E
Pam Lau
Picture: Pam in front of Asato Cathedral in Naha, Okinawa
There are several Catholic Churches in Naha. We biked to nearest one called Asato Cathedral on Sunday, approximately 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) away. The mass was in Japanese but we have attended masses in other countries with different languages before, so it was not unusual for us. We know the structure of the mass and understand what was going on. One thing we noticed that is different is that some of the older ladies still cover their head with a white lace scarf, an old tradition of the Catholic Church. In most societies, the custom had long vanished. The building itself was quite modern and had air conditioning, which to us, was a relief from the sizzling hot day.
On Google Maps we noticed the Okinawa Art Gallery and Museum were in neighborhood of the Cathedral. Wasting no time, we biked there and spent a cool afternoon looking at artwork, mostly by local artists. Quite a bit of space was devoted to an artists' colony formed shortly after WWII on Okinawa. In what looked like a remote area of the island, a cluster of simple buildings housed art studios and living quarters for artists and some of their work was on display at the art gallery. Themes included American soldiers, portraits, landscapes and some abstract art. Based on some of the letter documentation on display, art lessons were provided to American soldiers and their wives. The relationship between the military personnel and the artists appeared positive according to the records.
The displays in the museum were well designed, easy to understand and aesthetically pleasing. The audio-guides were in English and free of charge, and, some of the written captions were in English. Ted got in free because he is over 70 and I only had to pay $7. Since we did not have anything in particular planned for the day, Ted and I spent hours in the air-conditioned building learning about Okinawa's history, culture and natural history. We had a cup of the latte and apple pie (Japanese style) at the museum cafe and overall, had a delightful time.
After the museum, we rode to Daichi Makishi Kosetsu Ichiba, "Number One Market Place". Since it was a Sunday, there were extra festivities and the streets were closed to motor traffic while a group of young people were performing traditional Okinawan dancing and playing Japanese drums in front of the market. We joined the crowd and watched the performance for a while. The public market is in a small neighborhood of covered streets with shops on both sides, selling anything from T-shirts to flip-flops and dried seafood products. Unlike Malaysian public markets, there were no vegetables for sale. The only fruits available were pineapple and mango in fancy gift boxes. However, there was a refrigerated section where a variety of seafood was on sale. Above the seafood section there was a food court with a number of restaurants where we eagerly partook of a plate of sashimi and a mug of draft beer. For desert, I bought couple of mochi, which are soft, doughy, round balls with sweet mashed red beans fillings, one of my favorite Japanese sweets.
We did one very important thing while in Okinawa; we bought a SIM card, a major breakthrough for Japan. Two years ago, we could not buy one at all. This year we were able to buy a SIM card and a pre-paid, 7 gigabyte, Internet connection, for about US$20/month. We can now use our smart phone as to provide a "hot spot" and can get Internet just about anywhere in Japan. The tricky part was registering the SIM card online to open a pre-paid account. It was all in Japanese so we had to have a Japanese person to help us. He had to have a phone number so that the Internet company could SMS a pass-code to him to active our account. The registration process took about an hour and half.
Okinawa was a great stop. We visited a few tourist places and even had a workday. Ted cleaned the diesel filter and replaced the element. It was badly in need of attention. He also did a few other maintenance jobs on the boat while I did some laundry and shopping. We met some new friends, Larry on S/V "Dot" from Queensland, Australia. His wife, Cathy, just flew back to Australia so he is waiting for her return before sailing north. We also met Pat, originally from Switzerland, who lives in Ginowan Marina permanently. It was interesting to hear his perspective of the region. In addition, we caught up with another Larry, and his girlfriend Peg. We last saw him in Phuket, Thailand a couple years ago. It is a small world!