Okinawa has a very different vibe to the other places I’ve visited in Japan. What it lacks in elegance, it makes up for in culture, beaches and a fascinating history.
As the site of the bloodiest battle of the Second World War in the Pacific and several US military bases as part of Japan’s peacetime settlement, the island is suffused with American influence, epitomised by its very own “American Village”.
First, the history. I visited the former underground headquarters of the Japanese navy during the Battle of Okinawa. The site had a modest but very informative museum up top. As for the bunker itself, little except for the shell of the tunnel complex remains. Regardless, it gave a good sense of the desperate conditions that the soldiers stationed there were subjected to, aided by some nice artist illustrations.
Hundreds of thousands of Okinawans were interned in camps by US forces
The Japanese became so desperate that children as young as 14 were mobilised as soldiers and nurses
The relentless shelling from both battleship artillery and airstrikes that rained down on Okinawa is known as the “typhoon of steel”. An estimated 150,000 civilians died during the battle, representing a quarter of Okinawa’s population at the time
The tunnel was dug entirely by hand. I picked up a replica of the pickaxes used and it was bloody heavy!
My next stop was the Peace Memorial Park. Again, I started with the museum, which was surprisingly quite critical of Japan’s conduct in the war. I discovered that Okinawa was only incorporated into Japan in the late nineteenth century and therefore many Okinawans somewhat see themselves as distinct. It also didn’t help that the Japanese soldiers stationed there behaved pretty appallingly to the local population, even worse, the museum posited, than the Americans.
I’ve used the word “sprawling” quite liberally on this blog, but the memorial park was truly impressive. Similar to my experience at Seoul National Cemetery, I stayed for far longer than I’d planned to, exploring its meandering trails and enjoying the beautiful ocean views. There were individual monuments for each Japanese prefecture, my favourites of which I’ve included below.
Around 26,000 US military personnel are stationed on Okinawa today in military installations that cover approximately 25% of the island
The memorial honours the more than 200,000 Japanese, American, Korean, Taiwanese and British military and civilian personnel who perished during the battle
The trail took me pretty far away from the museum which made for a less enjoyable hurry back to collect my belongings before the museum closed
Best of all, though, was the “American Village”. The area is a cute caricature of the US, teeming with quirky shops and fun bars and restaurants. Arriving quite late in the day, I headed straight for the aptly named “Sunset Beach”, watching the sun’s warm, orange glow melt into the ocean before the place was reilluminated by a profusion of neon signs and fairy lights. Trust the Japanese to make even tasteless America appealing. As it was a Tuesday, things quietened down early, but I’d imagine it gets pretty lively here on weekends.
Postscript: Okinawa is also a great centre of Japan’s illustrious fighting tradition, exemplified by the iconic scene in Kill Bill: Volume 1, where Uma Thurman has her god-cutting blade forged by legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzo. It’s the home of karate, a martial art that I practised for many years to a reasonably good standard, though long since eclipsed by my black belt beast of a brother. I visited the self-dubbed “karate museum”, which was really just a dojo with a small gallery upstairs. Unfortunately, the more promising Okinawa Karate Kaikan, a dedicated 3.8 hectare complex fit with multiple dojos and a museum, was closed on the day I tried to go. So Okinawa, in the words of Beatrix Kiddo, it seems “you and I have unfinished business”.
