Okinawa in a nutshell

The sea Influence

My Okinawan friend's brother playing on the beach

海開き day

Okinawa is an archipellago located between Taiwan and Japan mainland. As an archipelago, its relationship and culture related to the see is strong, and every year, Okinawa is the first place in Japan launching the “Sea Season” 海開き.

Interestingly, although for the past 20 years the southern most island of Okinawa had done it in first, this year some little village in mainland,

Okinawa went first and “stole” the merits and the tourism benefits that go along.

Kit Kat with the typical red potato flavor

As Okinawa, formerly Ryukyu, now belongs to Japan, the Japanese influence is the main one. The Japanese language is the official one, the food, although presenting some particularities like the omnipresent pork, has a lot of characteristic in common with mainland one.

Okinawa Soba

Although in standard Japanese you would read that "Kita Tani", the Okinawan reading is "Cha Tan"

They however do have their own language, which even if presenting comparable similarities with standard Japanese that English does do the language spoken on the Britannic Indies (words with close pronunciations but changed to make the speech secret). They also have their own reading of the kanjis.

The Chinese influence although going back in the age, is also strong. Their taste for the red color, the custom to burn fake money to offer ancestors show it particularly.

American soldier

Okinawa is also a lot of America. Wherever you go on the main island, it's difficult to miss the military bases. They are well established here. However, you can not say (yet?) they are well integrated. Some places like “American Village” in Ginowan, close to the capital, look more like a parody of America, with Fast Food every where and army surplus.

American School buses in the base

Flea market: market where Okinawan people can go inside the base (they are usually forbidden)

I found this sign very interesting as you can read "Make Okinawa home" on it. Of course it's much easier to make some place home than to actually try to become Okinawan

The Army hidden in the tropica landscape

In the end as its food specialty the so-called “champloo”, Okinawa is a mix of Japanese, America and former Chinese influence. These 3 have to cohabitate and one could say that the American influence is not well integrated and the fact that only the army part of is represented it may take time before everyone can live together smoothly.

“Now calling the curiosity of the world”