Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I got back, but it's been pretty busy at work so I hadn't had time to post these just yet. I had a good deal of time to see things around the island when I wasn't doing my meetings and other work. I also had a guide in the form of a retired Marine who works on my project with me. He had spent about 8 years on the island over two tours, so he knew a lot of the places and was able to drive there - a key element in having a good time there! They actually drive on the left side of the road as the Japanese created their road network after the British model. [Okinawa, having been captured by the Americans, used the American model - i.e. driving on the right - until control passed back to the Japanese 1972. After which, the Japanese decided to change the road system to conform with the rest of the Japanese. The Okinawans did not want this, but it happened in any case. The Americans were told to stay off the roads for 24 hours at the time of the switch, to reduce traffic. Story courtesy of Frank Mikolajczak, my guide.]
Here are some of the pictures I took. The rest of the pictures as well as pretty detailed captions can be found here.
The southern cliffs by the peace monument. It was this area where many Japanese soldiers and Okinawans killed themselves by jumping to their deaths.
This is the Monument of Peace. As you can see, it is modeled somewhat after the Vietnam war memorial. It contains the names of all Japanese, Okinawan, and Allied man, woman, and child who died as a result of the battle.
Names stretch out into the distance.
Yours truly, messing around.
The American and Japanese flags about to be lowered at sunset.
The Royal Road Pub. This is a deserted hotel that began construction in the 70s but was abandoned because construction was thought to have bothered the spirits that inhabited that area.
The article from that last link talks about the castle ruins nearby:
Some of the wall and the well.
More of the central area of the castle.
