Party

I am having a get together on January 1st in the evening at my parents place. All are welcome!

Back in the UK!

Just to say that I have safetly arrived in the UK. You can reach me on my English home number or Japanese mobile email.

See you all soon!

沖縄

Well im just in the waiting in the airpot at Naha after spending an enjoyable few days in Okinawa.

For most people Okinawa is a remote island in the Pacific famed for its long lived citizens. It is however much more than that and has a unique culture of its own. The whole few days here have been a really interesting experience.

My friend Ross and I spent two days exploring the beautiful Keruma islands which are just off the main island of Okinawa honto. Being the low season it was all very quiet and relaxed, as we gently strolled along the quiet beaches and woods they some how reminded me somewhat of the scilly isles of cornwall (albeit sub tropical) The weather was pretty good around 18 to 20 degrees and i even have somewhat of a lobster tan.

The main island was a bit of an eyesore in large parts as it is overly developed, and surprise of surprises it has a lot of concrete (the japanese really know how to do ugly cities.) Staying on the island was however an incredible eye opener. Okiniwans we met were generally keen to point out that they are a different culture and indeed of a different ethnicity. Indeed anyone who stays there for one second will notice that the pace of life there is remarkably slower and that they know how to take things slowly and not at the frenetic pace of the mainlanders (which probably in part accounts for their long life) In reality Okinawa is a colony that was taken over by the Japanese over 400 years ago and is now a tourist magnet for tourists and Japanese who want to escape the pressures and strains of living in Japan.

What i found really interesting was the presence of American hard power and influence in the island. As soon as we arrived at the airport we were met by gazes of a large mass of american soldiers and their families on leave, and this was quite a shock for me, It was quite a surreal experience. Driving through the centre of the island we passed enormous military compounds and bases that occupy most of the centre of the island, with their own civilian americana retreat of Okinawa city.

Japanese are masters of sweeping their dirty laundry under the carpet and one gets the sense that this reveals its ugly head in Okinawa. Seventy percent of us bases in Japan are situated here on what consists 0.6 of Japans land mass. On the mainland the wounds of the war have not been healed but are covered over by a thick plastering of psycological denial. In okinawa the wounds are fresh and are being consistently picked at. A third of Okinawans lost their lives in world war two and have subsequently been screwed over by the Japanese and the Americans. As a white male I really sensed a sense of wariness that greeted me by the peoples as they cautiously assesed me. A taxi driver admitted to me that he was pretending he was busy untill i started speaking Japanese, and upon entering a cafe and after speaking Japanese the owner professed that they felt relieved (not many foreigners get down here other than the us military so they usually presume foreigners are the such)

On the last night in the cafe I got into a conversation with a local who seemed amazed that i wasnt a knob and a "nice guy". "I am usually uncomfortable around foreigners" she admitted. Most contact she had were with marines when she worked in Okinawa city who would constantly asked how much she cost. Its no wonder then that they resent their presence. In the cafe I even got into a chat with the Mayor of the city of Nago where we were staying. He was an awfully nice chap and even bought ross and I a bottle of Awamori, the local liquor. However as pleasant as he was I couldnt help feeling a sense of passive hostility which i thought my British citizenship would protect me from. "I want to go to Ireland, they are a small nation that have been opressed in History by a bigger country." All of a sudden a felt a massive sense of Imperialist guilt and felt quite depressed; being an Anglo Saxon white male in asia is not always such an asset.

I think most Japanese tourists coming to Okinawa are in part oblivious to the tensions and in fact see US presence as some what of a plus and a chance to soak up American culture. It reminded me however that the legacy of world war two is ever present and very much alive in Asia today.