Tie Non: Okinawa in the Summer/夏の沖縄/夏天拜訪琉球

I went to Okinawa again! I know, I know; I'm obsessed. But it's just so easy to go from Taiwan! I spend more time on the bus going up to Taoyuan than I do on the plane flying to Naha. Here's the view from inside the Naha airport.

また沖縄に行って来た！沖縄に行き過ぎじゃないかと思うかもしれないが、台湾から行くのは本当に楽なんだから。

我又去沖繩玩！我完全上癮了。但是真的從臺灣去太方便了。

I never noticed this sign (below) before. The Naha airport is not only a civilian airport, it is also used by the US military and the Japanese ~~military~~ "self-defense force". It's also the main airport in Okinawa, so any soldiers getting transferred to Okinawa come through here. Honestly though, I have no clue what this sign means. Why is the military so unable to use plain English for anything?

初めてこの表示に気付いた。米軍の兵士に対して、どうすればいいか教えている様だが、軍の専用語があまりにも多くて全然意味が分からない。もしかして沖縄に派遣されて着いたばかりの軍人への指導じゃないかと思う。

這是對美軍的軍人寫的。因為這個英文裡面有很多專業單子，所以我也看不懂。看起來應該是告訴剛到了沖繩的軍人怎麼做才好。

I was lucky. The rainy season had just ended (I think) when I got to Okinawa, so I had three days of clear, blue skies to enjoy. I actually took this picture though because the apartment building featured here had the name "Bypass Building". Can you think of a more unattractive name for a building? There was in fact a large road next to it, so the name was accurate, but usually that's the kind of thing you don't want to draw attention to if you are trying to get people to rent your apartments.

沖縄はもう梅雨開けだった様だ。（たぶん）とにかく、三日間、雨はあまり降っていなくて、綺麗に晴れていた。

在沖繩三天差不多都晴天。梅雨已經結束了嗎？臺灣跟沖繩的時期一樣。比日本本土早一個月。

A huge grave.

お墓

I'm near the middle of the island at this point, and there are a lot of US bases in the area. You can tell by the types of stores that line the main road, 58, that goes up the island's west coast. I shot the building below because it's an actual old, wood building. Okinawan homes were traditionally wood (with tile or reed roofs) but the island got flattened during WWII and was rebuilt in concrete. Concrete is easy to make on the island (it's surrounded by coral reefs) and concrete is also able to withstand the strong typhoons that come through a couple times a year.

下の木材の家が珍しいと思って写真を撮った。沖縄は戦争の時に多くの建物がやられて、戦後は基本的に台風に強いコンクリートで作り直した。

我認為這棟房子很特別。戰爭時，沖繩受害了非常多。當時的房子大部分都被破壞了。後來，戰後大部分都用水泥來改建。沖繩有很多颱風，所以水泥比木材適合環境。

This is Manzamou, a famous spot on the west coast of the island. Since I arrived by plane around noon and took my time traveling north, I was able to see the sun low over the sea when I got here.

「ちんすこう」みたいに、名前が後もう少しヤバい事になる「万座毛」と言う場所だ。恩納村にある。那覇に着いたのは午後、ゆっくり車で北上したので、太陽が低いところに下がって来たところに到着した。

這裡叫做「萬座毛」。在島嶼的西岸，所以晚上很漂亮。

Berries?

This isn't such a good photo, but I'm putting it in because it's a photo of Ie Island. This is an island just off the west coast of northern Okinawa. The island is mostly flat, but with one large mountain sticking up about 600 feet above sea level, so it's very noticeable no matter where you are when you travel in northern Okinawa. I saw the island and took photos of it multiple times during my trip.

この旅はずっと沖縄島の北部を回っていたので、色んなところで伊江島が見えた。下の写真も伊江島だ。山が一つだけあって、しかも海抜200メートル弱もあるので、沖縄北部にいれば、どこにいても目立つ島だ。

下面看得到「伊江島」。我三天在沖繩北部，常常看到了這座島。在它中間有一座山，也有兩百公尺少，所以在沖繩北部到處都容易地看得到。

This is a sago palm. These grow all over Okinawa. During times of famine, they were historically used for food. If not prepared properly, the paste made from the middle cone (below) is poisonous, so the sago palm has always been considered a last-ditch, famine food in Okinawa.

ソテツ。以前は飢饉の時には食された。でも毒が入っているので、ちゃんと作らないと死ぬ。

琉球蘇鐵。以前在飢荒中，有人吃。但是裡面有毒，所以準備好才能吃。

「女だけ」。いいなぁ。

And in case you ever were in danger of underestimating Japan's love of all things cute, here is a box of condoms:

日本の可愛い文化の天辺に着いたのだろうか？何このコンドーム？

臺灣人也看起來喜歡可愛地東西，但是我認為比不上日本人。你看，下面地東西就是保險套。