Shurijo Caslte

Saturday, May 9, 2008--Naha, Okinawa

It`s very humid here. But the air is cool at night. There is an a/c in my room, but it is not included in the room fee. Instead, there is a coin box. 100 yen buys 120 minutes of cooling. That`s about 50 cents per hour for the electricity. I felt I needed it yesterday afternoon when I was in the room, but the night got cool (though still humid), and I think a cool front has come through this morning which will make the whole day much more comfortable than it was yesterday.

My outing for today was to Shurijo Castle. Like most of the places I have visited this past week in Japan, it is a World Heritage Site. It`s an ancient castle on a hill above town. It was originally built in the 1400s, but has been rebuilt many times--most recently within the past few decades since its destruction during WWII.

As part of my exercise/diet/economic savings plan, I walked there. It is 3+ km (about 2 miles) from the center of town, and it`s all uphill! I left the room at 11:30 and stopped only at the nearby market where I bought a snack--a fried dough ball that tastes like a doughnut--to last me until I returned. It was a steady climb, so I could feel it in my breathing the whole way. Everyone else passed me in cars, taxis, buses, etc. But for me it was no problem making the climb. The only pain I felt wasn`t from the stress of it; it was from a sore sternum, shoulder, and back due to sleeping on such a hard bed (thin cotton mattress on hard floor).

The castle has been beautifully restored. It was the best ancient site I have seen on this trip. Inside, it was all painted in red lacquer. The throne room for the king was magnificent with red, gold, and some black. Many people were there including a few Americans. There was even a water fountain with cold water in the reception area which was very resfreshing.

I walked down the original stone pathway that was used to connect the castle with the town when it was built hundreds of years ago. It wandered among houses now, but it was quite atmospheric. Then I followed a roadway the rest of the way. I stopped at the same restaurant where I ate yesterday and had their lunch special--pork with rice noodles along with the same things from yesterday.

I got back to the room at 15:30 and sat on my balconly reading. My current book is The Gardens of Kyoto by Kate Walbert. It`s a good book, but it is also interesting because of its authenticity when referring to the way life was in the 1940s and expecially the 1950s. I also put an extra mattress under my bed to try to make it more comfortable for tonight. Then I prepared to go out again.

I made tonight`s outing one for looking for cultural differences and concentrated on doing it at a department store. I wandered the floors watching people and seeing the displays. There are many differences, but some as examples are: 1) There are no large plates for sale in the dinnerware section. Japanese do not eat large portions. (Related to this, the Japanese have not jumped on the American-led international getting-fatter bandwagon. People here are still slender in general.) 2) Fish heads are included in the packaging for fish filets and other fish parts that people buy to prepare dinner. I imagine this is because they use the head to make soup. 3) Women clean the men`s toilets without closing them. In other words, they enter the toilet and clean while they are being used. 4) Everything in the food department is packaged in small portions--8 strawberries, 50 g of cashew nuts, 10 small coin-sized thin pieces of beef, etc.

As I walked back to my room rushing due to the threat of rain, I noticed a few more American airmen around. One group was doing something I imagine the Japanese found offensive. The benches along the main street often have plastic statues which people enjoy sitting beside while having their photo taken--a Japanese sumo wrestler, Marilyn Monroe, etc. Well, the statue of Marilyn had her hand reaching up and open. One of the airmen had stepped up onto the bench in his shoes (offense #1 and was standing there with his crotch placed so that it appeared that Marilyn was reaching for it (offense #2) as his friends took his photo. I also noticed that there are quite a few restaurants offering steaks, burgers, and tacos. I am sure those are for the Americans.