Irish and When They've Had Enough to Drink (Photo)

An Irishman has had enough to drink......

                                                                                                          ......when his feet leave the planet.

                                                                HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY !

Visit my Homepage for THE PHOTO OF THE DAY

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

How Far from Japan's Disaster and Fukushima Nuclear Powerplant is Okinawa?

                                            Map Courtesy of WORLD ATLAS.Com

Here is a map to give those concerned with the distance between Okinawa and Fukushima, Japan a better idea of how far away from the disaster we are in this southernmost Prefecture.

The distance from Okinawa to Fukushima is 1151 miles or 1852 kilometers according to the good folks I met at TRUE KNOWLEDGE.COM.

Having just finished a few hours trying to find accurate links to post here for those who have been visiting my site and telling me the difficulties they've had researching the same things, now I know. It isn't easy sorting through all the information. There's way too much and what you may find isn't always accurate.

If you have friends or family living in Okinawa they are probably a lot farther away from the nearest nuclear power plant than you may be. If I thought any nuclear stuff was headed this way I'd run like a chicken because I don't want to find out if I'm allergic to the stuff. We're all safe. OK?

For those who'd like a bigger Google Map and want to scroll, enlarge and all that fancy stuff ( I don't know how to use) I got you this link from MAPLANDIA.COM .  They call it Ryukiu Islands Region (We call it Ryukyu Islands) so, I have no idea where they came from but, it is a great map. The red thing dead center on the map shows Naha, the capitol of Okinawa.

You can click on that red dot and drag your mouse to the south and go all the way up north, above Fukushima and Sendai, if you want to. I'll be going to try it again as soon as I finish this blog.

One more source I found, you might like is GIDEON RACHMAN'S BLOG. They use a different kind of English than me, too. Maybe he's from England or somewhere like that. But, he has updates continuously so, I'm keeping this site bookmarked, even if I have to ask one of my friends from the UK to translate for me.

ANOTHER ENGLISH LANGUAGE SOURCE WITH FREQUENT UPDATES IS ASIAN CORRESPONDENT.

Hopefully, this gives everyone a better picture as to how far away Okinawa is from Fukushima and let's all hope there is no disaster to worry about at, or near, anyone's nuclear power plant.

RELATED POST: EARTHQUAKES, OIL SPILLS, TSUNAMIS, NUCLEAR DISASTERS, AND COAL

Kijimuna Sightings in Okinawa, Japan (Photos) Be Proud !

          This little guy may be seen almost anywhere you go in Okinawa, Japan.  He is Kijimuna.

Kijimuna is a mischievous character in Okinawan folklore. He can be a friend or foe, depending on which folk tale you want to believe. There are too many versions of the story out there for me to explain here so, I'll just give you some of the generally accepted stuff.

Everybody agrees the guy is a red-headed munchkin who lives in trees, loves to go fishing and is friendly. Sometimes he helps you and sometimes he causes disaster.  He can bring you good luck or bad luck.

                          Here you see four Kijimunas (all males) performing onstage at a festival.

                And here we have a couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Kijimuna sitting on a park bench.

Some versions of the Kijimuna story will tell you that the character helps you catch lots of fish but, he only wants the fish eyes. He takes them and lets you have the catch.

There are several tales of Kijimuna bringing both good luck and bad luck to people he encounters and most of them will tell you, two things a Kijimuna hates are Octopus and Breaking Wind. 

Anytime you want to get rid of them, when they're being mischievous, toss one of those in their direction.

There are other versions, I can't recall whether I read them somewhere, heard them while sitting around a campfire, or in one of the few barrooms I've visited over the years. The old wise men just don't write.

They would disagree with the Breaking Wind theory and tell you otherwise.

Call it the Okinawan Ben Franklin Kijimuna Theory, if you like.  Some people believe, the proper way to greet a Kijimuna when you have a sighting is to BE PROUD AND FART LOUD.

This theory has been exhaustively tested by yours truly in the field and I'm proud to announce, none of my Kijimuna sightings, anywhere in Okinawa, Japan has ever lead to bad luck, misfortune or disaster for me.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to run home and stir a pot of beans I've been cooking for a few days.

Okinawa Then and Now (Photos) The Stone Lion of Tomori

       This photo was taken during the Battle of Okinawa sometime between April and June of 1945.

         This is the scene as I saw it in September of 2009. The Statue is the Stone Lion of Tomori.

           The Stone Lion of Tomori in Okinawa, Japan was featured in an article by Keith Graff in

                                                    APOGEE PHOTO MAGAZINE

Visit my Homepage for THE PHOTO OF THE DAY