Is Okinawa Beautiful?

[TheNoNamedOne]

In general, no.

From Naha to Kadena on the west coast, from Haebaru to Ishikawa on the east coast, it is virtually one contiguous concrete landscape. There is no urban canopy of trees that line the streets in any real numbers offering shade and cooling temperatures to its citizens, or trees inviting birds to live amongst the populace. It is a barren wasteland of cement, glass, and a spiderweb of overhanging wires and cables. The citizens' closest link to nature is in their haiku poetry -- that for the most part has become a forgotten part of their culture.

The natural coasts have for a better word all but dissappeared with sea walls (but the grafiti painted on them with the occassional expletive are interesting to look at) and man made beaches with white sand imported from the Philipines, Taiwan, or Guam.

The coral is bleaching, and the North, holding Okinawa's last bastion of old forested semi tropical areas, are due to be developed with subsidies provided from the relocation of Futenma to Henoko.

If you want to find Okinawa's beauty, look for it on a post card, or go to an outlaying island. Mainland Okinawa is a concrete jungle lover's paradise.

[bokuwa]

The Bronx New York is beautiful to some people. It has a lot of concrete and lots of streets without trees. It also has a world class zoo and beaches and tree lined streets as well. People looking for something to do usually can find something to do. People looking for beauty will usually find it anywhere they go. Go to the owner of a brownstone in the Bronx and tell them that their little patch of garden, 10 x 15 feet, is crap surrounded by a ugly concrete jungle and see what sort of reaction you will get. Or that the little park down the street with only a few trees and a swing is shit, see what reaction you get. They are most likely similar to all people when confronted with statements that what they have is nothing worth anything to look at.

[dk]

I'll probably get a lot of heat for agreeing with this post, but more or less I agree with it 100%.

One thing that has always annoyed me to no end about Okinawa is that rather than preserving their nature, they blow any surplus money at the end of the year throwing concrete around.

And this has had some devastating results. A few years back I did a story up in Yomitan about how builders threw up a sea wall on some sea turtle nesting grounds without thinking of the consequences. This is just one example. We don't need any more concrete.

I've also got to say that from what I've seen, a lot of communities on Okinawa either don't care about improving their situation or are simply powerless. I'm not sure which it is. But I have to say that Ginowan City on 58 is not beautiful. In fact, it's butt ugly. With all the run down bars and businesses that look like they should have gone out of business years ago, that whole area is an eye-sore to look at on my drive to work.

A few months ago, a couple run down shops were torn to the ground and I was excited for the town for the first time in years. I thought, "Hey cool. Maybe now they'll build something to make the town more appealing and perhaps help improve the community or push their business. Maybe a large parking garage to remedy the problem of cars clogging up the entire left lane by parking on 58, or a cool shopping outlet."

What do they build? What pops up a month later at lightning speed? A pachinko parlor. Wow what a shocker?

I think Okinawa does have it's beaty. As much as the Okinawans seem to be forgetting their own culture, I for one enjoy finding the beauty in it whenever I have a chance to research it. I also think a lot of the ryukyuan sites are beautiful. I think Chinen Castle is probably one of the most serene spots on island. And I wish so bad I could live up north in the jungles for a few weeks away from anything even remotely like the Middle/Southern end of Okinawa.

There is one thing that is beautiful about ALL of Okinawa though. The sky. No where else I've ever been, aside from Hawaii, has a sky that matches Okinawa's in the summertime for me.

Most of the rest of the island has lost it's physical beauty for me. Everything is square and made of concrete. Where's the joy in that. Learn a little creativity and learn to take pride in your own home and culture!

In my opinion, although a large part of Okinawa's income comes from tourism, I really doubt most Okinawans care at all about tourism. If they did, they'd be taking pointers from several other tourist hotspots rather than just turning one secluded area of Okinawa into a tourism hotspot and ignoring the rest. No one is to blame but themself for the condition Okinawa is in. They have every bit as much power as they need to fix this.

[Bones]

I'll have to agree with you on your response, Dk. When I first set foot on the island, back in 75 (yeah, I know...), there was a lot more vegetation.

On the other hand, we couldn't leave the base without being assaulted by a hawker, proclaiming "Beautiful Girl Inside", and some of the seedier things have gradually disappeared over the years. I remember looking out of the window of the Tiki, on Kadena Air Base, and all I saw was trees.

The last time we left the island, concrete trucks everywhere.

The treasure is in the people.

NBTP

[Boost]

Okinawa has lost a lot of it's beauty with the surplus of concrete surrounding and contained within, but at least the beauty of the ocean is always close at hand. And there are spots you can retreat too that still hold some scenic value if you know how or have the motivation to find them.

[dk]

The northern part of Okinawa will probably always hold it's beauty with me. I doubt they'll ever have enough concrete and bulldozers to destory the northern end of Okinawa. Nor the need.

If I had my own private helicopter I'd be making trips up there all the time. So many secluded spots, and some of them seem inaccessible with a car. I remember doing a fly-over in one of those small single/double (I forgot) propeller planes a few years ago and being amazed at some of the hidden beaches. Problem is, apparently, you'd have to scale some giant cliffs just to get to them.

[Boost]

Up north was definitely our favorite area as well. Another beautiful area is below the water for those who aren't afraid to try scuba diving. Really wish I had gotten more dives in under my belt before leaving...hmm perhaps some incentive to try and get back in a civilian position! Could never get my better half to learn though, something about a deep down fear of drowning or something...

[dk]

The diving is really nice. I got my license when I was 16 years old. However, I've had ear problems since I was a kid, and after I got my license about half of my dives got cancelled from me being unable to clear my ears so I don't do that very often anymore.

I remember it being a thrilling experience though.

[Boost]

That sucks about the ears, but I do understand. Only had troubles a couple of times luckily. My problem was that shortly after being certified I got a part time job working the scuba locker at the Kadena Marina. So rather then diving on the weekends I checked gear out to other people who were diving on the weekends.

[dk]

Hahaha that blows.