ToJo in Japan: Back by Popular Demand!

As many of you have reminded me, I've been remiss in keeping this blogsite current. In an attempt to catch-up, I've posted a series of photos starting with Christmas we're we last left off. Most of the photos are of random events and activities that occurred during Nicki's holiday visit. Unfortunately, the weather during her visit tended to be cool and overcast, hence, the gray skies in many of the outdoor shots. I'll do my best in trying to bring the blogsite up to date.

A Belated Merry Christmas

Singing in the Rain at the nearby Sunabe Seawall

Sunabe Seawall Artwork

Never Too Far From Home

One of the more humorous aspects of living in Japan is looking for signs with misspelled English words. A local massage studio had a sign out front that read "Let us relive your stress"....

Borrowed from a NASA Cafeteria?

Teenage Japanese girls made their fashion statement this winter by wearing outfits comprised of a t-shirt adorned with some meaningless statement worn under an open plaid flannel shirt. The ensemble was completed with fur-trimmed shorts and knee-high, high-heeled leather boots.....

After much deliberation Joanne & I decided to forgo purchasing these pajama sets. They remind me of Ralphie's bunny outfit in the movie A Christmas Story....

And speaking of A Christmas Story, this treasure was on display in a Tokyo store window....

Mickey & Minnie Wearing Their Holiday Finest

The American occupation of Okinawa after WWII brought with it mountains of discarded soda & beer bottles. The resourceful Okinawans melted the bottles for use in glassblowing and developed a style of glassware that is unique to the Ryukyu Islands. One such glassblowing craftsman is Seikichi Inamine who has his studio here in Yomitan, and is one of Japan's "Living Treaures." On several ocassions we have observed him at the studio supervising his apprentices in the art of glassblowing. The photos below were taken at another glassblowing studio located in the southern part of the island. The mosaics are all made of glass....

Peace Monument at Cape Kyan in Southern Okinawa

Nicki Proudly Displaying Her U.S. Forces Driver's License

The photos below were taken at the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park, a very large park divided into three major sections, The Okinawa Prefecture Peace Memorial Museum, The Cornerstone of Peace, and the Okinawa Peace Hall. The park is located in Mabuni Hill, the site of the last fight of the Battle of Okinawa. The battle of Okinawa took place in 1945 and it is considered to be the fiercest and only ground battle fought on Japanese soil. It was the last battle of the war, and has been called "The Typhoon of Steel". The battle only lasted ninety days and more than 200,000 people died, of which 100,000 were civilians who were caught in the midst of fighting, starvation, malaria, suicide, and thousands killed by the retreating Japanese Army troops. It was after this terrible battle that President Truman, after considering the cost of human life that would have to be paid if an invasion of mainland Japan was to be materialized, ordered the use of the atomic bomb, ending the war at once. President Truman has been quoted to have said "I do not want another battle of Okinawa". A "Prayer for Peace Statue" of the Buddha stands inside the Okinawa Peace Hall. During the day of our visit the Buddha was undergoing a semi-annual cleaning. Nicki was invited to partipate in the cleanup effort, which also included an interview and being filmed by a news crew....

Adjacent to the Okinawa Peace Hall is a butterfly botanical garden. For some reason the butterflies found me irrisistable. I guess I carry the right mix of phremones that drives them wild....