Okinawa (Japan)

Written By Idea Sharing on Saturday | 12:07 pm

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost prefecture of Japan. It comprises hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long.

Shuri Castle

The Ryukyus extend southwest from Kyūshū (the southwestern most of Japan's main four islands) to Taiwan.

The Okinawa Prefecture encompasses the southern two thirds of that chain. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island.

Shisa - female is a traditional Ryukyuan decoration, often in pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawan mythology.

People place pairs of shisa on their rooftops or flanking the gates to their houses. Shisa are wards, believed to protect from some evils.

When in pairs, the left shisa traditionally has a closed mouth, the right one an open mouth.

The open mouth wards off evil spirits, and the closed mouth keeps good spirits in.

Shisa - male

Shisa - Modern

Tacit farmers outside the U.S. Air Base in Kadena, Japan, take a brief moment to rest from the summer heat and humidity.

At Kadena and other military bases on Okinawa, U.S. military officials and local town mayors permit farmers to grow crops, such as sugar cane,

on land leased from local landowners by the government of Japan for use by the U.S. military. These farmers are known as "tacit farmers."

Yotsudake - Classical dances of Ryukyu

Peace Prayer Park fountain

1995 - Peace Flame & Fountain, Cornerstone of Peace, Okinawa Peace Park, Okinawa (Japan). The bottom of the fountain is a map of the Pacific.

Mihama Carnival park

Traditional Okinawan house

Okinawa Memorial Day Ceremony

Irei no Hi, lit. the day to console the dead in Japanese) is June 23, the day systematic fighting of Japanese in Okinawa came to an end in 1945 and is now a prefectural holiday of Okinawa Prefecture.