Travel Photo: An Unusual Fire Hydrant Spotted on Tsuken Island

Not to Be Confused with a Manhole Cover

 

 

Fire hydrants in Japan are not the type dogs lift their legs up, to pee on.

They are placed underground and, usually a signpost, nearby indicates their presence.

This one was the first, I've come across, that was decorated with a fire engine.

Usually, they are not painted or decorated in any fashion.

Few of them are round, like manhole covers.  Usually, they are rectangular in shape.

Travelers should know, parking a vehicle on one of these, could result in a healthy fine.

 Camera: Pentax K3

Lens: Pentax 18-250 at 25mm

Exposure: f/11   1/125   ISO 100

Location: Tsuken Jima, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time:  SEP 25  2015  12:40PM

Never Ending Discoveries in Okinawa, Japan

Decades Could be Spent Finding Them All

 

The question is asked frequently.

"Do you think you will ever run out of material to photograph and write about on Okinawa ?"

The answer is, "No."

The photo above, is an example of a recent find. 

In over 35 years of traveling up and down this island, I had never heard of or, seen this place.

It is called: Nishihara Village Office Wartime Underground Shelter.

It seems that, in the 1940's, the Japanese Imperial Army needed to occupy some buildings in town.

Local residents were (ahem-ahum) employed to dig this underground shelter.

That way they could store all the important papers and documents.

If you worked in the village office, you could take stuff out and work on it at home. 

Then, bring it back at night, to be stored in a safe.

A Quote From the Historical Marker

 

 

"Today, in Nishihara, the office shelter is one of the few important historical artifacts left from the war.

Such remains constantly remind us of the hardships and tragedies of war, even as its lessons fade with time."