Statues of Two Famous Kerama Island Dogs

Shiro

The statue of Shiro may be seen on the island of Aka, just inside the ferry terminal.

 The dog named Shiro became a movie star, back in the mid-1980's.

The photo was taken from aboard the ferry to Zamami-jima, as the engines were idling.

Aka-jima is a stop, made enroute to Zamami but, I couldn't disembark.

So, the camera lens was zoomed to 220 MM and, a few shots were taken.

One of these days, I'll go back to that island and, spend a few days, doing photography.

Besides the dog statue, there are some deer on that island, I'm looking forward to meeting.

This dog statue is facing towards Zamami-jima, where the other dog lived.

Maririn

Maririn (Marilyn in English) is, the other half of this movie star couple.

Shiro, used to live on the island of Zamami but, his owner moved to Aka-jima.

Three kilometers (about 2 miles) away from his lover, Shiro would return to visit her.

The couple became famous, when a movie was made of their escapades.

Maririn ni Aitai (マリリンに逢いたい) Marilyn I want to meet you, made the dogs very popular in Japan.

For those, who would rather read the story, links to references:

Flash Fiction and other cultural nuggets from Japan

Find a Grave Marilyn Dog

The Teahouse of the August Moon Arrived

Good Two Hours of Laughter

 

 

Have no fear, I'm not going into the business of doing movie reviews.

Last year,  having visited the Juri-uma Parade in Naha, I tried to order this movie.

Many times people ask if, I've ever photographed the teahouse in Naha.

They claim, it was in this 1956 movie, which I had never seen.

Online, I tried ordering through Amazon and, they were out of stock.

Gearing up for the festivities in Tsuji, again this year, I went to Amazon once more.

And, Bingo -- For the price of a few beers, the DVD came through.

Picturing Marlon Brando, as any kind of Asian, is a bit difficult but, he is hilarious.

The rest of the actors, playing roles of US military officers, are most excellent.

They act like something which rhymes with pampas grasses.

We still see a lot of them, proudly serving their country, over here, today.

Pampas grasses.

The Movie was not Filmed in Okinawa

 

 

 

 

Eleven acres of land were used for movie set and Tea House of the August Moon.

The location: Nara, Japan

The Teahouse of the August Moon in the Tsuji district of Naha, Okinawa wasn't in the movie.

Anyone interested in finding the location of the impostor teahouse, should go here.

When composing this shot of a concrete dragon, I was standing right on the spot.

Looking at a friends photos from way back, I found it.

The Teahouse of the August Moon, in Tsuji, was right over this piece of ground.

Visit Remembering Okinawa to see more of old Naha.

Related Posts: 

Brilliant Colors and Dancing with Horses

Have You Ever Heard of the Parade of the Prostitutes ? 

Prayer Before a Festive Occasion in the Ryukyu Islands

Sunday's Silly Sign (Photo) Jun 26, 2011

This Sunday Silly Sign was a bit of a challenge for me to compose and shoot.  We were on this boat, bouncing around on the waves, speeding towards Ie Jima, an island off the west coast of Okinawa, Japan.

Remember that movie TITANIC where that kid Leonardo Da Vinci, er something like that, drowned, just because there wasn't any room on the liferaft for him ?  Well, I ain't goin down thataway.

Whenever I place my life in the hands of some sorta public transportation, first thing I do is figure out a way to escape alive.

So, I sat down on the deck of this bouncing boat, in the rain, and made sure I snapped a photo of the sign telling me how to escape.

While everybody else was Ooh-ing and Aah-ing at the scenery breezing by while we were speeding across the ocean I sneaked into a dark corner and reviewed this shot on my LCD screen.

All that crap about Checking, Launching and Boarding, somebody gets paid to do that stuff, not me.

The only part I'm interested in knowing is how to ECSAPE.  So, that's what I read first.

It says CUT OFF THE PAINTER BY THE KNIFE and they have a picture of the guy there.

Lucky for me they don't have those BOOBS AT THE TSA working here in Japan or they probably wouldn't let me take my pocket knife on the boat.

Really, I wouldn't want to be the one who has to cut the little guy.  I'd stand back and hope somebody else does it first.

They couldn't pay me enough to be one of the painters on these boats, either.  I ain't that dumb ya know.  Just smart 'nuf to make sure I don't wind up in the drink like that Leonardo Guy.

If they'd a had some of these silly signs for people to read on that Titanic boat, maybe it wouldn't of really happened the way it did and Leonardo, whoever he was could still be painting for us !


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