Travel Photos: Outer Island Art and Seafood

Cameras Only Used Indoors

On a beautiful, sunny day, business took us to the south and east on Okinawa, today.

It was almost 2PM by the time I snapped, this first picture.

The primary mission, was to do some shopping on Chinen Peninsula.

Some people, asked me to pick up Okinawan Folk Stories if, I could find any for sale.

Inside the souvenir shop in Nanjo City, I was lucky enough to discover five of them on a shelf. 

Just in case, someone else might need a copy, I purchased took four of them.

Two, are already promised to those who were smart enough, to contact me.

The remainder I hold on to, until some high bidders come along and, they'll get sold.

When's the Sanguacha Came Next

For those who don't know, Sanguacha is a festival, held annually on Henza Island.

It's an unusual sort of, off the main road event, worth seeing and, I wasn't sure of the dates .

The entire matsuri, covers about 3 days but, the best part will happen March 31st this year.

Adventurous sorts of people, walk at low tide, to perform some rituals offshore on some rocks.

My body, has plenty of adventures already. I just go to see my sweethearts.

Ikei Island Was the Last Stop 

While waiting for our order, I walked over and took the photo of the mermaid.

That's when I announced to Doc, "This is the first photo, I shot today."

The image, doesn't show the whole meal. Rice, soup and another salad, came too.

That meal was so large, I couldn't eat it all. And, it was only about seven bucks !

It was time to head home, before I realized, only 3 photos had been taken, all day.

The last one was an image of scarecrows, hanging on the wall.

There's no sense in scaring people so, I'll save that for some other time.

Should you ever get hungry while visiting Ikei Island, don't pass this place up.

It's the restaurant at Ikei Beach and, prices are unbeatable.

Okinawa Folktale: Gruesome Story of Kurogane

Beyond the Stone Walls

 

 

A younger brother of the Ryukyu King lived in this enclosure near Shuri Castle.

Prince Chatan and, his pregnant wife were residents of this place, called Ufumura Udun.

 Kurogane, a hairy, dark skinned Buddhist Monk, was accused of witchcraft.

The king, ordered Prince Chatan, to eliminate him.

The Prince invited Kurogane to his home for a game of Go (chess) and, they placed bets.

If the Prince lost, he would cut off his topknot and, give it to the Monk.

The Priest, pulled his ears, grinning, "You can have these if, I lose."

Quiet Night of the Full Moon

 

 

The game started and, Kurogane decided it would be best, to cheat.

He began whispering some magic words. 

The Prince's eyes started to close and his head bobbed, as he slumped in his seat.

The crooked, holy man reached to move a stone, to gain the advantage in the game.

The Prince jumped up with his sword and, quickly cut off both of the Monk's ears.

Kurogane's Curse

Dropping to the floor, bleeding, he fell right next to his detached ears.

The dying Monk cursed, "You will never have a son live long enough to see another birthday."

 The Prince's wife had a baby born, shortly later.

The baby turned a dark color and died from an unknown cause.

Seeking the advise of a Yuta (fortuneteller) the Prince was told, it was the curse of Kurogane.

Neighbors had reported, seeing the ghost of Kurogane in the area of Ufumura Udun.

When the Prince's wife became pregnant again, a Yuta's suggestions were sought.

Another boy child, would surely die.  She whispered some guidance and, went home.

When the child was born, everyone exclaimed, "It's a girl."

The ghost of Kurogane faded away and, no harm came to the child.

In reality, a baby boy was born.  And, lived to become a healthy, wealthy prince.

In Okinawa, many people announce, "It's a girl" to avoid Kurogane's curse.

 Lullaby for Crying Baby

Just in case this bit of folklore wasn't morbid enough, here's an added twist.

To silence a crying baby, you comfort them by rocking to this tune:

The song says something like, be quiet or, someone will whack your ears off with a knife !

REFERENCES:

Okinawan Folk Stories ISBN978-4-99009-146-0 P.141

Condensed from Kurogane Zasyu

RCA JAPAN 



MORE OKINAWA FOLKLORE
 

Sunday Silly Sign for January 6, 2013 (Photo)

A whole year was spent chasing down silly signs for a Sunday post.

Thinking there weren't any more left, to take photos of, I figured, we gotterdun.

This one was sent to me by an alert reader, here in Okinawa, Japan.
  

This Sign Requires Some Translation

 

First, I have to give you some background.  My friend was in a Japanese Hospital.

Like any normal guy, he was looking for something to read, while the lady was with the doctor.

There isn't really much, in the English language to read around there.

So, I guess he got bored and started looking at the trash cans.

This sign was on top of the trashcan for burnable (もえるゴミ) material.

COMBUSTIBLOES !!!

He immediately took a shot of it with his cell-phone and emailed it to me.

When I asked what they had on the trashcan for non-burnables, he said he saw.....

NON-COMBUSTIBLOES !

But, I think he was laughing so hard, he couldn't hold the cell-phone camera still.

This was in a hospital.  The doctor speaks English.

Now, I'm sorta worried about my friend and his missus because of this silly sign.

Maybe, the doctor fell asleep during spelling class when he was a little kid.

Do you suppose they let a guy like that deliver babies ?


More Silly Signs in The Doozies


Today's Feature Photo

Photography Tip: Cleaning Your Camera

IT'S AS IMPORTANT AS CHECKING UP ON AND CLEANING A BABY'S BACKSIDE:

I haven’t had to watch a diaper-wearing baby in quite awhile and hope it stays that way. But, I thought this would make a great analogy. If you were going out somewhere in public with your little tyke in tow, you’d probably check out their rear end before you left the house and several times while you were away. Treat your camera the same way and you won’t be embarrassed.

THE EQUIPMENT YOU NEED

In photo #1 my trusty Pentax is filthy from a twelve hour day crawling around in pineapple fields. So, it’s shrunken down in the background. The rest of the gear is what you need for the care of your baby (camera) whether it’s a Point and Shoot or DSLR. All that equipment fits nicely in my shoulder holster camera bag you see under the pile, all but the large black bulb (turkey baster-looking thing); that’s only required when you change lenses on a DSLR. So, for any camera, here’s what you need to clean:


1. A lens brush for removing dust and the bulb forces air to blow it away. The brush is removable, allowing you to use a blast of air for drying your lens.

2. Lens Cleaning Paper is probably no different than eyeglass tissues but, I always buy mine at the camera store. You wouldn’t buy baby wipes from an auto supply shop, would you?

3. Lens Cleaning Solvent, not Windex, or any substitute is what you want to use. Camera lenses have a protective coating on them which you’ll want to last forever.



A kit, with all three items listed above costs less than US $10.00 so, there’s really no reason to be caught without one. Yet, I have people all the time asking me how to clean a camera lens and they’re surprised such equipment even exists. Makes you wonder if they are allowed to have babies, doesn’t it?


 

HOW IT'S DONE

1. Use the brush and bulb to remove dust from the lens. If you have a lens shade on, remove it and dust it off as well.


2. Your fingers contain oil that you don’t want to get on your lens. Tear a piece of lens paper from the pack by one corner, at the edge, being careful not to touch the paper anywhere else.

3. Lightly, spray the opposite end of the paper with lens cleaner. This little bottle of spray should last the average camera-shooter about a year. It doesn’t take much spray at all to clean a lens.

4. Place the moistened portion of the paper on your lens and crumple the dry portion over it. Gently swirl the paper in a circular motion being careful not to touch the lens with your fingers.

Pretend it’s a baby with diaper rash but, be gentler. Cameras cost money.

5. Next, you pull out one more lens tissue and dry, if you need to. I’ve found that I can clean and dry a small Point and Shoot with just one lens paper, if I’m careful.

6. If there’s any remaining haze on the lens after you’ve done all that, use the bulb to air-dry with a few blasts and your lens should be ready to go.


 

THE BACKSIDE OF YOUR CAMERA

A closer look at the backside of my baby shows you why I wanted to hide it from public view; it’s filthy. When I’m out shooting in the hot sun, sweat, dirt, grime, pollen and whatever else can collect on a camera get all over me and my baby. This particular day, it got so bad I couldn’t even read my light meter through the viewfinder. I composed my shots through the viewfinder but had to use the external light meter (on top of the camera) for exposure settings). I had cleaned it twice, earlier in the day, but was facing a busload of tourists coming my way at the end of a twelve hour shoot and just wanted to finish, pack up and run. So, the camera and I came home filthy. It’s easy to remedy. Here’s what you do:

1. Grab the brush and bulb and clean the dust off everything. On DSLRs you can even peel away the rubber molding around the viewfinder for better access to the glass.

2. The viewfinder glass and LCD screen aren’t as sensitive as a lens. Many LCD screens even have a plastic coating you can peel off and replace with a new one. I still use the same method, spraying the lens paper first and repeat the process as above but, it isn’t really that critical.

3. The rest of the camera body, an old toothbrush is safe to use for dust and grime removal, just make sure your lens cover is protecting the lens you’ve cleaned before grinding away dust and dirt from the body of the camera.

4. Any soft cloth and some lens cleaner should remove stubborn spots from the backside of your baby.

5. One more thing you may consider doing before sticking your cleaner-than-brand-spanking-new baby back into its cradle (Camera Bag) is this: Empty that sucker, turn it upside down, shake it and whack the underside a few times. You’ll be surprised at some of the things that find their way into your camera bag while you’re out shooting. Pine needles, sand, spiders, ants, leaves and dust have a way of sneaking up on you while you’re busy composing your masterpieces. Every once in awhile, it pays to run a vacuum cleaner hose inside a camera bag to control the population of unwanted guests.

TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR CAMERA AND IT'LL STILL BE SHOOTING TERRIFIC PHOTOS FOR YOUR REAL LIVE BABY'S COLLEGE GRADUATION CEREMONY !

If you have a question or suggestion for my Photography Tips, please don't hesitate to give me a holler over on my Facebook Page. I value reader's input.