kobeintern

The day started off at KURA Hotel in Izumi-Sano, closest station to the Kansai International Airport. Finally off to Okinawa! I figured if I get to the Airport an hour and a half before my 7:55 flight, I’ll be fine.

I boarded the local train at 6:03 am, but I noticed that no one on board had any luggages. A bit strange. About 15 minutes into the trip I decided to check how much longer to the airport, and that’s when I realized I was going in the wrong direction!

I got off at Hagoromo Station. Fortunately an Airport Express train came into the station within a few minutes, and I made it to the airport by one hour before the flight, at 6:53 am. Then there was a bus ride to Terminal 2. An additional 6 minutes or so. So all in all, I made it to the Ticketing Counter by 7:00 am. Fortunately the airport was not crowded at all, and after losing my Swiss Army knife at the Security check (so empty-brained of me!), I got to the gate at around 6:15 am.

Peach Airline is a low budget airline I’ve often used in the past. During my last trip to Japan in January my wife and I boarded a Peach flight, and it was through jetway bridge, but my experiences before that was always a walk on the tarmac, boarding up a mobile stairway. This time out of Kansai International Airport was in the old fashioned way. It really feels like I’m “boarding” the plane this way and not “walking into” one.

I took an early flight just to make sure I’m at the airport for the pickup time of 1:30 pm. A bit early, but better be early than miss the bus ride! And off we go a museum, right from the airport! We arrived at Sakima Art Museum. Through the art exhibit I learned from the islanders’ perspecive about the unimaginable experiences they went through in the Battle of Okinawa.

The museum was built to bear witness to this as it sits ajacent to the private property of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Its mission is to advocate for peace as it honors the dead in Okinawa in WWII (over 240,000 soldiers and civilians).

The museum also permanently etched the date of June 23rd which is the Okinawa Memorial Day, the day that marks the end of the Battle of Okinawa. The stair cases to the very top of the roof have six wider steps followed by 23 narrower steps (6/23), and the square hole in the wall at the top was designed so that the sun will set right through the middle of the hole on June 23rd for a Stonehenge like effect on 6/23 each year. In fact our visit marked the beginning of Okinawa-Shūkan (沖縄週間) – a weeklong event to honor the dead and advocate for no more wars in the world.

I have always heard about the battle from the victor – the American – point of view. Even when the civilian casualties numbering in hundred thousand is reported, it only drew a sense of unbelief at what happened to a people in foreign island.

This time through the artworks, I saw and felt from the victim’s side – the deaths, fears and injustices of warfare to the ordinary civilians during the war. Same feeling of injustice continues to today, for the civilians in Okinawa. And to see them living through all of this with hope that one day justice will come, is both conviction and encouragement to keep on living no matter what.

Throughout the history of Okinawa people have learned over and over again how thankful they must be for lives that they have. Nuchi-dū-Takara (命(ぬち）どぅ宝), a phrase that Okinawans keep in their soul to remind themselves how life is indeed a treasure, was heard throughout the weekend.

And today was just the beginning of my journey into this part of Japan I had not known.

On a lighter note, that evening we split in few different groups for dinner. Our group of 12 dined at the Okinawan Cuisine Eatery “Ryu” (沖縄料理 呑み食い処 龍) and had quite a feast of Okinawa Cuisine including Champurū (Stir fried dishes) with Goya (Bitter Squash), YakiSoba with Squid Ink and Sea Grapes. Goat sashimi was surprisingly good!

After dinner some in our group went to one of the bars – the district of Goza services mostly American Servicemen, and bars across Goza is the best place to experience the night life. I, acting like an old folk at 64, decided to retire for the night right after dinner, and although I missed the action (they stayed on until past midnight!), I believe I made the right choice for myself!