Nate's first time in Japan

Nate spent his first week in Japan! (Okinawa is technically Japan now, but it is incredibly different from the mainland.) We went to a symposium in Nagasaki, where we met lots of really neat people and went to fancy Japanese restaurants like this one.



The third day of the symposium was a bus tour of sights around Nagasaki. One of the stops was in Obama, a town that is using the connection to the U.S. president to try to increase tourism. In Obama, there was a foot bath that everyone tried out. This area of Japan is full of onsens or hot springs, that often contain hydrogen sulfide, giving them a smell that is a bit like rotten eggs. They are supposed to be very good for skin.



The tour of the "Jigoku" (also known as "hells") was pretty impressive. There is steam coming out of openings in the ground and pipes all over this area of Japan. In some places there are even puddles of boiling water. After the meeting, we stayed a few extra days and traveled to the east coast of Kyushu prefecture, to a town named Beppu. This town is famous for it's onsens (hot springs). We went to a private onsen first. Keep in mind that it was snowing outside and this was an open air onsen. The water is so hot that we had to acclimate ourselves to be able to sit in it and were actually sweating after sitting in it for awhile.

We also went to a public mud onsen. This was a really neat experience. Men and women go into separate changing rooms, get into a warm bath to acclimate, then go into the indoor men's or women's mud bath. The mud is rich in sulfur and is supposed to be very good for skin diseases. Most women were rubbing the mud on their skin. After this, there is an outdoor or open air mud bath where men and women are still separate but can see each other because the water is too cloudy to see through. It was quite an experience!



Of course, we couldn't miss the snow monkeys (Japanese Macaques)! We went to a "monkey park" that was started many years ago to keep the monkeys out of the crops around the mountain they live on. This is a place where wild monkeys are fed (to keep them on the mountain) but are actually totally free, no fences or cages. There a colony of about 1200 monkeys in this park and they are free to roam and even touch people if they want to (We watched one monkey try to get the gatorade out of a man's pocket...see picture below). People are told not to touch, feed, or look into the eyes of the monkeys because they are wild! It was a really great experience to be so close to so many monkeys! There is a video of one playing with rocks at the end of the blog.





We then went back to Nagasaki to visit the Atomic Bomb Museum, which, of course, was depressing. We all know about the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it was really interesting to see the Japanese point of view. We learned a lot that we didn't know and saw some photos and videos that would probabaly never be shown in the states. There were so many images and exhibits of what the bomb actually did to people and items. It was unbelievable. One of the things that struck me was the timeline showing increases in deaths from several different kinds of cancer that started anywhere from 20-60 years after the bombing. It is hard to believe that the people of these cities are still actively suffering from that bomb.

To cheer ourselves up, we went to the penguin aquarium. There we saw eight different species of penguins and were there for feeding time. It was really cool to see them and watch them for awhile. It made us happy again!



Well, we're back on Okinawa now. Back to the rough life of diving! We had a great dive today even though it was raining and a bit chilly outside.

The Usual Route

Tricia's visit ends today, but we've had a great time! We've done some more sightseeing, following the usual route provided by most places. While walking one evening we spotted some of the giant bats in the mikan (orange) trees next to the sidewalk. We didn't have the camera with us, of course, because they were literally in arms reach of us. So we went back for the camera and got some pictures of a different bat in another tree. You can't really tell from the picture, but the body of this bat is about 10 inches long and it's wingspan is probably almost two feet! For comparison, the mikans are like small tangerines.



We took Trish to the aquarium and our timing was right on. We got to see the whale sharks feeding and then the dolphins feeding too! We spent the night in a hotel at the north end of the island so we could do some more sightseeing. We sat on the tatame and practiced making origami birds and airplanes.


On the way back from the north end of Okinawa, we explored some more islands. On Ikeijima, we stopped at this cafe for lunch. It was quite a place with a very entertaining owner and even a drunk customer that made friends with Trish and bought us all coffee. Trish had taco pizza, Kris had smoked chicken curry rice, and Nate had Okinawan pizza, which was full of seaweed!



What would a trip to Japan be without some Karaoke? A bunch of us got together and went to do Karaoke Japanese style. Here, you get your own room and so you sing for only the people you know! I'm not sure how this makes it easier to do, but it was a ton of fun and we all sang many songs. The videos are great too. They replace the videos of the songs with Japanese people, coral reefs, and the occasional Fabio-looking man on a motorcycle.



All in all it was a great two weeks and we'll miss Trish when she leaves!

Our first visitor!

Tricia (Kris' sister) is here for a visit! We've been showing her around even though it's been pretty cold for a subtropical island. We went to Okinawa Soba and ate some Soki Soba, which is a soup with noodles and pig legs. The pork tastes like BBQ ribs and is so delicious. We also went to check out the Nakagusuku castle ruins. This is a historical castle from which you can see both the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. We noticed hat looked like an old abandoned complex next to the castle. Trish overheard someone say that it was an old hotel that was never opened because it was haunted! So, naturally, we walked over and checked it out! We were able to walk to the top of it and take some pictures. It was even higher than the castle!


New Years on Okinawa is very different from New Years in the States. It is a time to spend with family, not so much to party. On New Years Day, people traditionally go to a shrine to say prayers. Most businesses are closed January 1-3 and there are festivals and the shrines are decorated in bright colors with lines of people over 300 meters long waiting to say a prayer at the shrine. We also went to the Shuri Castle, where they do a reenactment of a traditional New Years Day of the Ryukyuan Kingdom before it was part of Japan. There were prayers and Ryukyuan dancers.



We've also been doing a bit of shopping, below you'll see Tricia, the banana at a thrift store; and a whole of lot eating. Nate and Trish rode in the "Pop 'n Ride" near the Indian restaurant we went to for dinner. A little boy ran up to check it out as the car moved around with flashing lights and crazy noises so Nate and Trish got out and let him jump in. His mother was trying to tell us that we didn't need to do that, but the little boy was already in the car playing with the knobs.



Off to do some more sightseeing!