The last shots from Okinawa, randomely.

The last shots from Okinawa, randomely.

Friday, 7 May 2010

So this is going to be my last post on Okinawa (finally!). Just some random photos and some thoughts to share here.

3 days in Okinawa went just too fast but it was wooonderful. Apart from all the fun I had in those 3 days I must admit that there was a lot I thought and felt about Okinawa and that was mostly related to the large presence of the US on the entire island, even after close to 40 years since being officially returned to Japan. 18% of the Okinawa main island is occupied by the U.S. military forces, that is an enormous amount of land.

Visiting Okinawa for the first time and being not used to seeing all these in real life, it felt quite strange to me that the US military corps facilities and vehicles/aircrafts are just about everywhere to be seen when travelling around the Okinawa Main Island. Sometimes I wondered if I was really in Japan... I would not go too much into this here but it indeed felt very odd. And sad.
I just hope there will be a happy solution to this beautiful Okinawa soon.

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Comments: 17

Pottery Paradise.

Pottery Paradise.

Tuesday, 4 May 2010

Gallery Kiya is my favourite pottery atelier/gallery in Yachimun Pottery Village. Like so many other places, they offered us free tea and we sat on the balcony, it was so lovely that we forgot about the time and stayed there for a long time. This atelier is owned by an old Okinawan potter and his works are displayed everywhere, on the shelves and on the floors inside and out. There were so many that I wanted to take home, but after a long consideration I decided to get some lovely turquoise cups that remind me of Okinawan sea. You can see them here on this post Ulrika just made :)

Comments: 14

Yachimun Pottery Village.

Yachimun Pottery Village.

Saturday, 1 May 2010

Everyone asks me if I went for a swim at the lovely Okinawan beach and when I say I didn't they all seem either disappointed or startled. I guess most people who holiday in Okinawa would go there for beaches and scuba diving. Well not me. It wasn't hot enough anyway.

If I get asked what I enjoyed most in Okinawa, it definitely would have to be "potteries" and yes when I say that people look at me like "what is she talking about?" but that's alright I understand. (Or rather it's them who don't understand, I think.)

OK, so Yachimun Pottery Village (Yachimun no Sato) is "the" place I highly recommend to go to if you are ever in Okinawa. ("Yachimun" means "pottery" -yakimono- in Okinawan dialect apparently!) It's located in Yomitan in the central Okinawa main island, and is a lovely little village where many local artisans gathered along and have their own atelier/galleries in and around. The above photos are one of the kilns from Yachimun no Sato (it's huge!) which various artisans share and is fired once every two months. The red tiled roofs are typically seen in Okinawa, the contrast between these red tiled roofs and the green in the background were really nice, it was so calming.

I found this article about Yachimun no Sato written in English, so if you are interested you can learn more about it.

Comments: 10

Into the Forest.

Into the Forest.

Wednesday, 28 April 2010

These photos are from Seifa-Utaki from the southern part of Okinawa main island and it's a UNESCO world heritage site. "Utaki" means a "sacred site" in Okinawan dialect better described as a spiritual groves, and this Seifa-utaki is the biggest sacred site in Okinawa. (Seifa-Utaki is written as 斎場御嶽 but it's impossible to read right for most Japanese natives, it doesn't even sound Japanese!)

Visiting this site was totally out of our plans but I'm glad we got there. The beauty of the nature was truly unbelievable and being in this deep forest-like surroundings was really healing... I was amazed to find myself really enjoying being there. I wouldn't say that my knee was healed because of this place, but it was well enough that I was able to do a little hiking there and I was so grateful for that ;)

Comments: 17

Okinawa - Back Streets of Makishi Area in Naha

Okinawa - Back Streets of Makishi Area in Naha

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

I have so many photos and so much I want to tell/share about Okinawa and I don't really know where to start, but I guess Naha would be a good start. Naha is the capital city of Okinawa prefecture and I think everyone would go past it when visiting Okinawa main island. We didn't spend that much time in Naha but had a nice lunch at the Makishi Market on Kokusai-dori street and then walked around the back of the market into cute small streets which I really enjoyed.

Among the quiet neighborhood with old buildings and shops, we reached an aubergine coloured lovely looking shop. It's one of the places I wanted to visit in Okinawa - a truly charming little shop called GARB DOMINGO owned by my friend who moved to Okinawa from Tokyo and opened this shop last year. It is filled with so many lovely ceramics and glassware made by local designers/artists or the ones who have some connection to Okinawa, and it's an absolute gem this shop! I wanted to buy the whole shop if I could, but I only got a beautiful hanging glass vase and a sea-green coloured bowl you see in the above photo which reminds me of Okinawa so much, both by local young artists. (He has a good collection of ceramics by Makoto Kagoshima too! Apparently he has studied in Okinawa.)

I so wish there was a shop like this near me but if there was I might go broke? So now I can't wait to go back to Okinawa and visit there again. If you are ever in Naha, do make sure you stop by and say hi to my friend, you will not regret it ;)

GARB DOMINGO
1-6-3 Tsuboya Naha-shi
Okinawa 902-0065 (google map)
open- 9:30-13:00 / 15:00-19:00
close- Monday & Wednesday

Comments: 22