Okinawa Getaway: Day 4 ６月２８日

The entrance to the annex of Rakutenya 楽天屋, my home-away-from-home for five nights on Ishigaki Island 石垣島.

Welcome to the jungle...Japanese-style.

OK, so Japan doesn't really have jungles. But it does have the island of Iriomote 西表島. Though it's the second-largest island in the prefecture of Okinawa 沖縄県, there are only about 2000 people living there in a few scattered settlements. More than 90% of Iriomote is covered by dense forest, much of it unexplored, which makes it understandable why one of the world's rarest (and critically endangered) species, the Iriomote cat イリオモテヤマネコ was only discovered in 1965. Though it's only 45 minutes by ferry from Ishigaki to the port of Uehara 上原, it feels like a different world from Ishigaki.

Buses are infrequent on Iriomote, but thanks to the tourist information counter inside the Ishigaki Port 石垣港 terminal, I was able to pick up detailed ferry and bus timetables (are you listening Taiwanese tourist authorities?) and plot the best time to go. Which in my case turned out to be the 8:30am ferry to Uehara, which pulled in at 9:15, leaving me with just enough time to catch the 9:20 bus to my final destination, the Urauchi River 浦内川. The most popular thing to do on Iriomote is to take a boat up the river, and then walk through the forest to see a couple of picturesque waterfalls. Which is what I did. We traveled upriver for about half-an-hour, passing groves of mangrove trees en route. I've never been to the Amazon, but I imagine the Urauchi-gawa bears more than a passing resemblance.

From the boat landing, it was a 45-minute walk through rainforest to the first of the two waterfalls, Mariudo-no-taki マリウドの滝. The access path leading down to the falls was roped off, but they could still be seen from an observation post:

Fifteen minutes further on was the second set of falls, Kampirē-no-taki カンピレーの滝:

In all, we were given about 2½ hours to walk to the waterfalls and back to the boat landing. I didn't see any native wildcats while walking along the trail, of course (they're mostly nocturnal, anyway), but other life forms were out and about.

On the return trip downriver, the boat traveled quickly in spots where the Urauchi River was deep, but in places where the bottom came up quickly, it had to move slowly.

Back at the starting point, I had about 50 minutes to wait for the return bus to Uehara, so I killed time by walking over to a nearby lookout point that provided a good view over an extensive area of mangrove forest. At Uehara, it was only a short wait for the next ferry back to Ishigaki, where I found myself again shortly before 3:30 in the afternoon.

And that, unfortunately, was the whole of my experience on Iriomote. I say "unfortunately", because this is an island that deserves an extended stay and not a mere day trip. Iriomote has other river trekking options, along with kayaking, swimming, snorkeling and diving. If you continue on the trail past the Kampirē-no-taki waterfall, you can embark on a 15-kilometer (9.3 miles)-long hike through the center of Iriomote, eventually reaching the southern port of Ōhara 大原, from where it's also possible to take a ferry back to Ishigaki. I wish I'd had the time on this trip to spend a night or two on Iriomote Island and see more of this special place, but I'm glad I was able to at least scratch the surface.

Meanwhile, back in civilization, I was starving and in the mood for some Okinawan cuisine, so I headed straight for...A&W. Yes, as in the root beer maker. Another by-product of the U.S. influence on the Ryūkyū Islands 琉球諸島 (for those of you who don't know your post-war history, Okinawa 沖縄 was under American administration from the end of the war in 1945 until its reversion to Japanese control in 1972), I saw more A&W Restaurants in Okinawa than McDonald's. In addition to bringing back childhood memories (and childhood was the last time I'd been to one), the root beer hit the spot after the humid morning and afternoon on Iriomote.

Refreshing though the root beer was, I was still thirsty. From a vending machine came proof that it's not all Orion Beer オリオンビール and awamori 泡盛 when it comes to drinks in Okinawa. Ryūkyū Cola 琉球コーラ tasted a lot like RC Cola, and like it says on the can, it was "so cool!" and "so refreshing!"

For the remainder of the afternoon, I visited a couple of sights in the town of Ishigaki, not far from the Rakuten guesthouse. First, I walked over to Tōrin-ji 桃林時, a Zen 禅 temple dating from 1614 (the car parked in front is a later model).

Orb spiders in Okinawa are a little smaller, but a bit more colorful, than their Taiwanese cousins.

Next door to the temple is Gongen-dō 権現堂, a small shrine which was originally constructed in 1614, but rebuilt in 1771 after the original structure was destroyed by a tsunami 津波.

Finally, it was dinner time. Based on a recommendation in my Lonely Planet guide, I decided to check out Eifuku Shokudō 栄福食堂, and its owner, Tony Soba トニーそば.

Dinner, goat soba ヤギそば, was a tasty bargain at only ¥500 ($6.15/NT180)...

...but the real highlight of Eifuku Shokudō was Tony himself. One of Ishigaki's true characters, Tony is a very entertaining host. A former tuna 鮪 fisherman whose work took him all over the world (he has the postcards to prove it), Tony named himself after Keiichirō Akagi 赤木圭一郎, a Japanese actor/singer nicknamed "Tony", who died at the age of 22 in 1961. The walls of Eifuku Shokudō are plastered with his album covers and movie stills.

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/tubuyakitony/26409157.html

Tony is also proud that his restaurant has been mentioned in the last four Lonely Planet Japan guides. It's people like him who help make Ishigaki such a great place to visit. If you ever make it there, be sure to drop in at Tony's and sign his guestbook.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Iriomote_cat_Stuffed_specimen.jpg

Okinawa Getaway: Day 3 ６月２７日

Flat as a pancake. That’s probably the best description of Taketomi Island 竹富島. Only about one kilometer (0.6 miles) wide, and just 15 minutes by a fast, frequent ferry from Ishigaki Port 石垣港, this was my destination on my first full day in the Yaeyama Islands 八重山諸島.

The ferry getting ready to leave

The thing to do on Taketomi is to rent a bicycle, and ride around the village and the island. Upon arrival, you are greeted by a row of vans, all belonging to bicycle rental shops. Just choose anyone (the “touts” are anything but aggressive), and they will take you on the short drive into the village (I opted for a shop called Maruhachi 丸八). In just a matter of moments, I was on a bike and on my way to exploring the island.

First stop was Kaiji Beach カイジビーチ, aka Hoshizuna (“star sand beach”) 星砂ビーチ:

Instead of swimming, Kaiji is noted for its star-shaped sand, the dried exoskeletons of tiny sea creatures. I couldn’t find any in the sand itself, but a small souvenir table had some on display under a magnifying glass:

Time for a self-portrait, then it was back on the bike. I didn’t shave the entire time I was in Okinawa 沖縄, and regretted it towards the end – all those gray flecks made me look like an aging beach bum:

Next up was Kondoi Beach コンドイビーチ, Taketomi’s best spot for a swim. The tide was out when I got there, making it the island’s best spot for a wade. There were some places, however, where I could submerge myself, and fish could be seen swimming about. The sea bottom was covered with sea cucumbers ナマコ, disgusting-looking but harmless creatures that are enjoyed at the lunch or dinner table in Japan:

While enjoying myself at Kondoi, three small buses arrived and disgorged a large group of Taiwanese tourists. I knew they were Taiwanese, because a.) they were speaking Mandarin with the Taiwanese accent; b.) they were the loudest people on the beach; and c.) the women were the only ones there using umbrellas (the sky was cloudy, and threatened to rain, most of the day on Taketomi). One young woman referred to me as the “wàikuójén” 外國人a couple of times to her friends, until I pointed out to her (in my bad, but still understandable, Chinese), that seeing as how we were all in Japan, and that none of us were Japanese, therefore she and her companions were also waiguoren in this situation. This quieted her up immediately, and that was the last I heard of the word.

Cost of the bike rental: Y300 ($3.75 /NT110) per hour.

Cost of shutting up (if only temporarily) an ignoramus: Priceless.

From Kondoi Beach, I continued riding up the west side of Taketomi, and came to a short pier that is supposedly the best spot for viewing the sunset. It was too early in the day, and too cloudy, for that, of course, but the views looking out toward Iriomote Island 西表島 (center) and Ishigaki 石垣島 (right) weren’t bad:

From here, I turned inland and rode into the village, home to all of about 300 people. What draws the visitors to the island are the traditional houses, decked out with red-tiled roofs, coral walls and shīsā シーサー statues. In the center of the village, I first paid a visit to Nishitō Utaki 西塔御嶽, a shrine dedicated to a 16-century ruler of the Yaeyama Islands who hailed from Taketomi. Despite the presence of the torii gate 鳥居, Shintō shrines 神社 throughout Okinawa look somewhat different from those in mainland Japan, both in construction materials (primarily stone and concrete in Okinawa) and in the representations of the gods. Most likely, as the Ryūkyū Islands 琉球諸島 gradually became absorbed by Japan, their local deities were given a Shintō 神道 twist:

Close to the shrine is the Nagomi-no-tō なごみの塔, a not-very-high lookout tower, but one which gives a pretty good overview of the village on this flat isle:

Lunchtime was at a place called Shidamē しだめー館, and consisted of the very tasty taco rice タコライス. An example of the American influence on Okinawa, taco rice is basically rice topped with taco fillings (shredded lettuce and salsa sauce), and is very tasty. It goes very well with Orion Beer オリオンビール, naturally:

Fueled up, it was time to park the bike and walk through the village. One popular option for visitors is to take a ride on a water buffalo-driven cart (though I skipped this one):

A typical street scene on Taketomi:

After wandering about for a bit, I got back on the bike and rode out to the northern end of the island, to a spot called Misashi ミサシ. Here, the water was deep enough for skin diving, and the reefs were teeming with small fish. And here, at last, I was able to give the prescription diving mask I had bought in Washington back in February its first proper workout. Ishigaki Island can be seen in the background:

Feeling suitably refreshed after a long swim with the fish, I rode back into the village, parked the bike again, and walked over to the Kihōin Shushukan 喜宝院蒐集館, a small museum displaying various items like samurai swords 日本刀, festival masks and old cigarette packages and stamps:

Shīsā are small lion statues placed on rooftops and stone walls, and serving as guardian spirits. They can be seen throughout the islands of Okinawa:

Strawberry shaved ice カキ氷 makes for a perfect break on a humid afternoon. The weather wasn’t always sunny during the time I was in Okinawa, but it was always humid!:

One more picture of a traditional house, and then it was time to return the bike, and be driven in the van to the port, where I took the ferry back to Ishigaki:

Back in the “big city”, relatively speaking (the population of the whole of Ishigaki Island is only 50,000), I had dinner at an izakaya 居酒屋 close to my guesthouse. The owner of Mori-no-Kokage 森のこかげ was very friendly. I wanted to try the Ishigaki beef salad 石垣牛サラダ, but due to a recent case on the Japanese mainland where several people died from eating raw meat, he had been unable to secure supplies. So instead, he whipped up a plate of papaya champurū パパイアチャンプルー, another local specialty. Along with a couple more bottles of Ishigaki Beer 石垣島地ビール, it was a most satisfying end to another great day:

Shima Uta 島唄 - The Boom

Okinawa Getaway: Days 1 and 2 ６月２５日と６月２６日

To commemorate my recently completed and very enjoyable 8-day visit to Okinawa, I've changed the theme of this blog to Ocean Blue, and my user pic to that of a Deigo flower デイゴ. We now return to our regularly scheduled blog update...

No T'ái​wān Beer 台灣啤酒 for this traveler while waiting for my China Airlines 中華航空 flight from T'ái​wān T'áo​yuán International Airport 臺灣桃園國際機場

My first day in Okinawa Prefecture 沖縄県 (though not my first trip; I visited Miyako Island 宮古島 back in the summer of 1993) was a short one. My flight arrived at Naha Airport 那覇空港 in the early evening on Saturday, and by the time I had taken the Yui Rail ゆいレール monorail into central Naha 那覇 and checked into the Tōyoko Inn 東横イン那覇旭橋駅前, there wasn't  much to do except take a brief walk around the neighborhood, and then call it a night. Sunday would prove to be much busier...

Following breakfast and checkout (and entrusting my bag in the capable hands of the hotel staff), I rode the monorail to the end of the line, Shuri Station 首里駅. From there, it was a 15-minute walk to Shuri Castle 首里城, formerly the seat of power of the rulers of the Ryūkyū Kingdom 琉球王国. For an overview of the kingdom's history, you can read the Wikipedia entry. For those who don't have the time, here's the condensed version: a unified kingdom was established in 1429, and governed from Shuri. The kingdom prospered as a vassal state of the Ming 明朝 and Qing 清朝 dynasties, until the armies of the Satsuma domain 薩摩藩 on Kyūshū 九州 invaded in 1609, and took over control of the Ryūkyū Islands 琉球諸島. The Satsuma rulers ruthlessly taxed and exploited the Ryukyuans, but maintained the fiction of an independent Ryukyuan royalty. This lasted until the end of the feudal era in Japan. The monarchy was abolished in 1872, and Japan annexed the islands as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879.

As for the castle itself, like much of Naha and southern Okinawa, it was devastated during the American invasion in 1945, and what can be seen today is a painstaking recreation of what once stood on the grounds of Shuri. But what a recreation it is! Everything has been done so well that the area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

To reach the castle, you pass through a series of gates. First up is the Shurei-mon 守礼門, a beautiful sight even in the heavy rain (Sunday was the only day of frequent showers during my entire trip, fortunately):

The most impressive of the remaining gates is the next one, the Kankai-mon 歓会門, a guard tower set between limestone walls:

Finally, you reach the ticket gate and the central courtyard, and the colorful Seiden 正殿, which served as the palace for the Ryukyuan kings. Like so much of Okinawan culture, the architecture of the buildings in the Shuri-jō complex demonstrate both Chinese and Japanese styles:

Visitors can walk around the interior of the Seiden, the highlight of which is the upper-floor throne hall. The sign behind the throne is a gift from the Qing Dynasty Emperor Kang Xi 康熙帝, and reads Chūzanseido 中山世土, "For generations, Chūzan is a nation ruled under the King of Ryūkyū":

The fact that all of this splendor had to be recreated in the late 1980's and early 1990's was a sad reminder of what a senseless waste the Battle of Okinawa 沖縄戦 was, feelings that would be really be driven home later on in my trip.

After checking out the splendors of the Seiden, I walked over to Irino-Azana 西のアザナ, a lookout with a great view of Naha below, and the Kerama Islands 慶良間諸島 in the distance:

The ruins of Enkaku-ji Temple, the walls of which are pockmarked with shell holes from the war:

The last thing I did at Shuri Castle was watch a series of four short performances of traditional Ryukyuan dance:

Most of the dances were very slow and measured, but the third one was more uptempo. I managed to record most of it (in two parts):

At this point, it was time for lunch. I resolved on this trip to try as many different kinds of Okinawan dishes as I could, and at the restaurant inside the visitors center I had gōyā champurū ゴーヤーチャンプルー , bitter gourd, egg and pork fried together, and washed down with a mug of Orion Beer オリオンビール, the local brew. I ate well on this trip, if I do say so myself:

With lunch taken care of, it was time to return to the Toyoko Inn, retrieve my bag and take the monorail back to the airport for my flight to Ishigaki Island 石垣島. Alone among all the prefectures in Japan, Okinawa doesn't have any railroad lines, but Naha's monorail system was very convenient. Though it's only a single line, it runs between the airport and Shuri, and many of the city's sightseeing spots are a short walk from a station:

At the airport, I noticed this sign indicating the distances both to Ishigaki (414 kilometers/257 miles), and T'ái​pěi 臺北 beyond (655 kilometers/407 miles):

It only took an hour to fly from Naha to Ishigaki. Ishigaki Airport 石垣空港 had a very laid-back feel to it - you walk down the steps from the plane, across the tarmac, through the very small terminal and onto a waiting bus for the 20-minute drive into town. All this will probably change in 2013, however, when a newer (and more environmentally destructive) airport is due to open:

Once in Ishigaki city 石垣市, I checked into my home for the next five nights, Rakutenya 楽天屋, a 90 year-old traditional Okinawan home that has been turned into a guesthouse. My room was small, but it was a bargain at only ¥3000 ($37/NT1070), and the husband-and-wife owners were extremely friendly and helpful. The wife spoke very good English, and showed me the way to Amurita Noniwa あむりたの庭, a cool-looking restaurant where I had the local Yaeyama soba 八重山そば, but done with a twist - green curry soup (Yaeyama 八重山諸島 is the name of the island group of which Ishigaki is the most populous). And instead of Orion, I enjoyed the first of many Ishigaki Beers 石垣島地ビール, a local microbrew:

The young owners, Shingo and Sayuri Miyamoto, were very friendly, and kicking back with them was the perfect way to end what had been a very enjoyable day:

Akata Sundunchi 赤田首里殿内, "Inside Akata Shrine in Shuri"