Pigs from the Sea Anniversary Coming Soon

 It happened on September 27, 1948

The Governor of Hawaii declared Pigs from the Sea Day on the 70th anniversary.

The Okinawan spirit of Yuimaru - Helping each other is seen in this story.

Let the monument do the talking.

LINKS

Pigs from the Sea Day 

YouTube Video

Google Maps 

Sports Fans and Olympic Trivia Fanatics Visit Kayo

1964 Olympic Torch Monument

Credit for this find must be given to someone else. I don't read rocks very well.

At least a dozen times, I've been here and, even spent a night on the beach in Kayo.

A Japanese TV show, Doc had watched, mentioned this Olympic Monument.

So, we decided to see if, we could find it, on our weekly camera excursion.

Based upon, what the television showed, this was a landmark, we had been searching for.

There's actually a propane gas line, hooked up to that pedestal.

If, you climb the stairs and look inside, there are lava rocks and a gas burner.

We're no experts, at reading Japanese kanji but, we both could read some of this rock.

Olympic and fire, were some of the things, we could make sense of, in the engravings.

It's always best, to talk to locals, when a discovery like this if made. Just for confirmation.

When, I spoke to a shopkeeper across the street, I was hoping to find some old documentation.

He didn't have anything but, confirmed, the fire gets lit, once every four years.

Some Official Sources

Normally, I would go to the local kouminkan (district office) for more information.

But, it happened to be closed. That's because it was a Sunday. Then, a light came on.

Maybe if, we drove over to the Nago Museum, it would be open and, they could help.

Nago Museum, never fails, to give me information, directions and, guidance.

Once they knew, I was looking for 1964 Olympic Torch information, they dug it up.

Old photos of the torch procession and passing the flame, were provided.

Here's an image of the 1964 Olympic Flame passing through downtown Nago.

It cost 10 yen, which is less than a dime, for them to reproduce these copies.

Back in those days, I was still finishing high school and, wouldn't see Okinawa until 1966.

The Ryukyu Islands were under administrative control of the USA.

The Japanese flag (Hinomaru) wasn't permitted to fly, except on holidays.

The Olympic torch passed through the islands on Monday the 8th of September.

It wasn't a holiday but, thousands of Okinawans, proudly waved the Japanese flag.

A typhoon had delayed the arrival of the torch, on Okinawa, by one day.

To avoid delay in the Olympic torch's arrival, to the mainland, the fire was split in two.

One flame was delivered to Kyushu and, the other, sent here.

The flames, were reunited in Fukuoka, Kyushu on the 11th of September.

For those folks interested in Olympic Torch Trivia, there's lots more at:

Plenty More Olympic Trivia

Find the Monument on Google Maps

The Longest Living People in All of Japan

Stone Monument in Ogimi Village

 

 

This stone is located alongside HWY 58, in the village of Ogimi.

Directly behind it, there is a small trickle flowing from a waterfall in the hills above.

Lately, I have been carrying a Garmin along, to add Geo-tags to my photos.

And, I really wanted to shoot this rock because, I heard it was special.

But, after traveling all over the northern hills, the batteries in the Garmin, wore out.

Two things needed to be done before, I posted this photo.

1. Figure out a way to get Latitude and Longitude, to add to the image EXIF data.

2. Verify, that to inscription on the plaque, said something about longevity.

Travelers May Want to Visit

  

The location happens to be at the Michinoeki (Road Stand) in Ogimi, Okinawa.  

There's plenty of parking spaces and, the waterfall is just to the right of all the shops.

Over at Google Maps GPS Coordinates, I punched in the address.

Then, hit "Get GPS Coordinates" and, they gave them to me.

Latitude: 26.690 Longitude: 128.108

That should be good enough for the Geocache crowd to find the location.

Then, I manually added the Geo-tags to my photo file, for the rest of the world to see.

Translation of Inscription

This turned out to be quite a chore as, I used my smart phone as an interpreter.

The Google Translate folks, haven't quite hit 30% accuracy, would be my guess.

After, I stopped laughing, I figured, they gave me enough, to continue researching.

The rumor, I'd heard was, that this stone had a poem about longevity written on it.

An article in Japan Times gave me this:

“At 80, we remain children.”

 

If death visits us at 90, we should say, “Wait until we are 100, then we might consider it.”

The best translation, I could find, came from the Ogimi Village website:

"At 80 years old, I am still a child. When I come to see you at 90, send me away to wait till 100

Let us keep going strong as we get older, and not depend too much on our children in old age.

Come to our village in your old age, and we will provide the blessings of nature and teach you

 the secrets of longevity.

We the senior citizens of Ogimi proudly declare this the longest-lived village in Japan."

"April 23rd, 1993 Ogimi Federation of Senior Citizen Clubs"

Travel Photo: Hajiusui (恥うすい坂) the Stone of Shame in Nago

Tragedy in the Mountains

 

 

This stone is a monument to a story Shakespeare could have written.

Two young lovers, ended their lives in this area.

It's another one of those tales about a girl who is in love.

And, she catches her guy, with another woman.

So, she goes up the trail and kills herself.

He went up and did the same thing.

Now I'm Hearing They Were Found Naked

 

 

They probably would have gotten this rock carving, anyhow.

So, I'm wondering.  What possessed them to take their clothes off ?

The inscription on the stone warns travelers.  Be careful, going up that trail.

Something told me, "Don't go in there."

So, I stayed on the road and shot butterflies, instead.

Nago City Website Convinced Me 

If you go up that trail, you better sprinkle the path with leaves.

Because, if you don't, you will be misled by some evil spirits !

Use your Google Translate on the Nago Website

Directions and more at Map It Okinawa 

Reminder of War in Okinawa (Photos) Chibirichi Gama (Cave)

The photos I have taken over the past two days are a gruesome reminded of the horrors of war.

To the left and right of this monument are caves where civilians took shelter during the Battle of Okinawa.

Skulls, surrounding the figure of the man playing a sanshin, represent those who perished in the caves.

Red clay figures may be seen through the slots in the front of the monument.  Fearing a fate worse than death, if taken by the advancing American forces, families killed their children before committing suicide themselves, some by poison, others used grenades given to them by the Japanese soldiers.


Eighty-four of the hundred and forty people who took shelter in Chibichri Gama died in this cave.


As if this monument wasn't a gruesome enough reminder of the war which took place in 1945, some Japanese Nationalists came to Okinawa in 1987 and smashed the red clay statues.  Extreme right wingers believe the monument is an insult to the Emperor.

Should history be changed, or should people be reminded of the horrors of war?

Vandalized by Youth 2017