Tree: Cultural Property of Tomari in Nakagusuku Okinawa

A Tropical Almond Tree

 

 

Finding all the trees, designated National Monuments, in Okinawa, may take a year or, two.

Today, we were lucky enough to locate this one, while traveling down south.

It was planted during the Meiji Era and is estimated to be over 200 years old.

Okuwadisa would be the tree name in local dialect.

Tropical Almond or, Seabean Tree are common names in English.

The Latin name is Terminalia catappa.

Off to the left of the tree is a sacred well for drawing water.

A kind gentleman from the neighborhood, gave us a tour of the entire area.

This is the Shicchanuka district of Tomari.

It is chock full of sacred sites and, my senses tell me, they hold some special rituals there.

It may take a few more visits and, I know I will make some new friends.

The place feels mysterious. More to come, on it, later.

Back to the Almond Tree

 

 

It is one of two trees that were planted in Tomari.

The other, was in the district known as, Fucchanume.  Both were gifts from an official.

He was a representative of Shuri, who had completed his assignment.

During the Battle of Okinawa, the tree in Fucchanume was destroyed.

The remaining tree was designated a Cultural Property in 1977.

More at Midorihana-okinawa

Today I went Down Some Spooky, Old Stairs: Photo Essay

Originally Published OCT 2011

 

 

 

Reviving this popular post may be a good idea.

It happens, the Map It Okinawa dude and, I are going on a ghost hunt tonight.

Enjoy this old Halloween tale just in case we don't make it back before sunrise !

In order to get in the good old Halloween spirit I have come back and edited this post.

Halloween doesn't really have the meaning, over in my part of the world, that it does for most western cultures.  In fact, if it hadn't been for a great friend on StumbleUpon (LINDARAMA)  sending me mail when she read this, I wouldn't have known Halloween was just around the corner.

On the outer islands of Okinawa, Japan there are many old caves and sacred wells.

Some of them are pretty cool and they make great subjects for photography.

It's best to make sure you don't disturb anything when you go to them.

There are a few places where the stairs are so old they are crumbling.

Wherever I go, I try to get the best possible photos without disturbing anything.

That plastic ladle just didn't seem right next to those old coins I wanted to shoot.

So, I moved it out of the scene for a few seconds.

Then, put it back exactly where I found it.

People in Okinawa believe there are spirits in these old caves and wells.  Many of them come to worship and make offerings at the sites.  So,  I like to make sure nothing has been changed by my presence.  You should do the same, anywhere you go.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS MIGHT COME OUT OF A CAVE OR SOME OTHER DARK PLACE AND GRAB YOU.  DO YOU ?

The culture of Okinawa consists of a strong belief in spirits.  So strong, that something like Halloween is really unnecessary.  Spirits are felt and communicated with on a daily basis.

While I may have been raised as a Christian in my early years, I have also studied some Confucianism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Animism and even a bit of alcoholism.  We happen to have a little bit of all those here, along with a strong belief in ancestor worship.  There are gods of the sea, mountains, rocks, wind, trees, earth, fire and all of nature (called kami sama) you'd rather see smiling than frowning upon you.  That's in addition to any departed members of the family tree.

So, on any given day you may see me raise my eyes towards the sky and and talk to "Kachan" (departed mother-in-law) and thank her spirit for my good fortune.

Or, I might say something like, "What are you trying to do to me?"

Whenever I find myself going to some sacred site in Okinawa, Japan like those spooky old stairs, it's not the ghosts or goblins of Halloween I'm thinking of; it's the spirits of someone else's ancestors I have to worry about.  Some people had mean old mother-in-laws, you know.

I wouldn't want to cross paths with their spirits.

There's really no such thing as ghosts.

OR IS THERE ?

WHEREVER YOU ARE, HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

To get yourself in the Halloween spirit, or add your goulish story to an already excellent collection, visit my good friend in Australia, LINDA HEAPHY, she'll get the hair standing up on the back of your neck !

Sharing this post with Budget Travelers Sandbox will be my contribution to the world of travel photographers for TRAVEL PHOTO THURSDAY

MORE ON THE RYUKYU ISLAND OF KUDAKA JIMA

Editor's Picks (Photos) for the Month of February 2012

Cherry Blossoms Cornered at a Sacred Site

Senaga-Jima Osprey

Tachigaa Waterfall Okinawa, Japan

Forest, Rocks and Salt: The Less Traveled Path in Okinawa (Photo)

The past few weeks I've been traveling all over the Ryukyu Islands with that dude I keep calling RyukyuRu.  It's a blast but, the young guy acts like he's about half my age, goes up and down mountain trails, into the dark corners of caves and through the jungle like some kinda wild animal.  Half the time, I have no idea where we went.  He'll have to tell us where I took this photo of forest, rocks, and salt.  He pays attention to where he's going while I just tag along to shoot the camera.

Ru has one of those GPS gadgets.  It's great for finding stuff on Google Maps.  I just wish it had a few more important features built into the system.  Like, it would be better if it had a built-in flashlight for dark places.  And, it would be nice if it reminded people the sun is going to go down a few hours earlier when you're in the jungle or a cave than it does when you're at the beach.

RyukyuRu's real name is Lou.  It's just easier to say Ru, around here, because they don't have any "L's" in the Japanese dictionary.  Whenever I introduce him to anyone here,  I just say his name is Ru.  That way I don't get stuck giving free English lessons to everybody.

One of these days I may do a blog interview and Lou can let you know all he wants to about himself.  Meanwhile,  you can snoop around MAP IT OKINAWA and learn things about him while seeing more photos of where we've been in the Ryukyu Island Chain.

Today, I chose to title this post Forest, Rocks, and Salt: The Less Traveled Path, because of what we experienced yesterday.

We observed two women at worship in a well-marked UTAKI (SACRED SITE)  early-on in the day and steered clear so as to not disturb them.  They had placed three piles of salt in different locations throughout the Utaki.  Some were placed alongside the trail,  some on rocks, some at the base of trees in the forest, and others at small stone or cement shrines.

After we left that sacred site, we went to the less-traveled paths.  Places where we found caves, water wells, springs, thick brush, jungle, and hills a mountain goat wouldn't enjoy climbing, we kept running across three freshly laid piles of salt.  We're fairly certain the same two women had traveled off the beaten path and reached every location ahead of us but, never saw them again the entire day.  Dozens, if not a hundred, or more, remote locations and probably a few kilos of fresh salt had been placed in locations where we had to beat our own path.  Big mystery here.  Hmm.

After I'm done picking all the burrs out of my undercarriage, I wonder if I should go try and solve this mystery about the forest, rocks and salt piles on the less-traveled paths of Okinawa. 

Or, should I  just stay home and drink beer?

Whoa, Baby. Looks like We've Captured a Codiaeum Varigatum !

Like any respectable man who didn't sneak out of the house early enough, I got caught this past Sunday.  So, I took the wife shopping.  Then, after we put all the stuff away, went one step further and took her out for a Sunday drive. Being the romantic person I am, I promised I'd just bring along one of my small cameras.  See, the wife thinks the cameras are my girlfriends and I don't pay enough attention to her.  She's probably right but, I won't let her know.  She knows too much, already.  Like she knew the name of this plant even though there are hundreds of different variations of the dang things.  It's a Croton (Codiaeum varigatum) Kuroton,

 クロトン, in Japanese.

After I captured photos of the same plant from different angles at varied exposures I was ready to drive somewhere else up in the mountains.  These plants,  I've noticed,  are found at many of the sacred sites on Okinawa, so I always figured they had some special meaning.  I would never touch one except, maybe to move a snail out of the way for a better photo, or something like that.

The Missus says there's nothing special about the Kuroton Plants being around sacred sites.  They are just planted because they are pretty.  Then, SNAP, she captured one, too.

The cutting is growing in my front yard, now.

My connections over at WIKIPEDIA tell me this Codiaeum variegatum is a Flora of China.

It is native to Indonesia and Malaysia but, it's cultivated in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangx, Hainan and Yunnan provinces of China.  That tells me there's more behind this plant than, it's just pretty.

Much of the culture and spiritualism practiced in Okinawa, Japan came from China back in the days when this island was called the Ryukyu Kingdom.  It will take more investigation for me to determine if the Croton Plant has some special meaning.  While the wife is nursing along the little plant she captured, I'll steer clear of it and only capture other variations with my cameras.

Not that I'm superstitious; just cautious.

Utaki The Sacred Sites of Okinawa (Photos)

      Today for Travel Photo Thursday I'd like to introduce you to Okinawa's Sacred Sites, Utaki.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of sacred sites located throughout the islands of Okinawa, Japan.

The most popular Utaki are UNESCO World Heritage Sites or within the sites, such as the photos I'm showing you today. The women above are making offerings at a sacred well, within the walls of UNESCO Nakagusuku Castle.

A grove of trees, source of water, stone and a hill all seem to be common themes for Utaki.  Sometimes, there is a small building at the site. It may resemble a shrine or miniature temple but, not an elaborate, brightly-colored shrine you'd see at a Buddhist Temple. We have a few of those, too.


Okinawans are ancestor worshipers. The religion here is a combination of many things. There are several gods in nature and Animism, Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism all play a part in the spiritualism on these islands.

Many Utaki, I have come across, are in remote areas, not necessarily on a hill.  Some are found in villages and not in heavily wooded areas.  Most of them will not have signs written in English.

Whenever you see women in the middle of nowhere or in front of a small shrine, or even a pile of rocks, with trays of food, such as rice balls, fruits, something to drink and smell incense burning, you can be sure of one thing.  They aren't having a picnic.  They are more than likely worshipping at an Utaki.

Discrete would be my advice if you happen to come across people worshipping in any culture.  These women consented to my taking their photos because I speak their dialect.  So, I did the silver-tongue work and got Doc Graff, the other Cameraman to handle the manual labor of helping the gals up and down some dangerous stairs. Hah!

For more information on The Sacred Sites of Okinawa visit UTAKI