OKINAWA

Clyde continues to amaze us.  I didn't know he'd
been to Okinawa before, but here was another pretty
girl eager to welcome him.  A girl in every port
I guess?



This was the start of a World War II memorial trip.  Shown is the entrance
to the Japanese Naval Operations center.  The hill was honeycombed with
tunnels like an ants nest.

 

Cylde getting to know one of the locals before heading underground

The trail downwards

Clyde waited outside for us

A Unique feature of Okinawa.  A "Turtle Back" tomb.  A  family
tomb that is set into a hillside and has a convex top like a turtle. 
They are all over Okinawa and unique in the world.

 

But Clyde was more interested in the amazing
assortment of goods available in the vending machine.

 

This a separate area devoted to the memory of 220
high school girls who were pressed into service
to nurse injured soldiers in "Hospital" tunnels.
If you look closely you can see the entrance to one of the
tunnels honey combing this hillside.  The museum showed
the inside of one of them- very crude.  Only 18 of the
girls survived.

In a park adjacent to a peace museum there was row after row of
granite monuments with the name of the more than 200,000 Okinawans
and 11,000 US and allied people who lost their lives in a very bloody battle.

Our guide Yoko and our driver especially enjoyed Clyde's version of
the old Japanese song "Sakura"

Clyde couldn't help but purchasing a tee shirt
to commemorate his visit to Okinawa.  He did a special
dance on the edge of our balcony to the rhythms of
the drumming on the dock as we sailed away.