Velotaxi Okinawa Offers Unique Perspective of Naha City

Driving a car around a tour destination may not be an ideal option especially when you want closer look of the area you are visiting. Walking around the destination can be too much of a physical load, so traveling on foot is not your option either.

If such situation is a case you are facing, then you might want to consider Velotaxi. 

Velotaxi is a German-born tricycle with a wide backseat for two passengers to be seated comfortably.

According to Vlotaxi's homepage, the service is spreading all over the world, especially in ecology-conscious cities. Those man-powered vehicles have been used in many tour destinations around the world as a part of eco-friendly tour movements. Ecomo.i, (pronounced as "eh-comoh dot ai") a non-profit organization based in Okinawa's capital, became a partner with Velotaxi and has been offering eco-friendly transportation services for the last several years.

Etsuko Takaesy, the representative of "ecomo.i,"together with Okinawa Miyako Hotel, jointly announced an experimental project scheduled to start on Nov. 16th this year. In this travel service project, the Velotaxi drivers will guide passengers through the streets of Naha and Shuri, the former capital of Ryukyu Kingdom. (Few foreign travelers know this prefecture had been a small kingdom nation up until 1879.) The experiment will be conducted till the end of this year. If proven to be successful, the corporation will continue the service in the next year.

The corporation has come up with those three tour courses;

  1) The tour of the ancient capital's historical sites

  2) Awamori rice wine distilleries hopping

  3) The tour of traditional confectioneries

(A local newspaper printed the price of each tour to be JP\4,500 per passenger, and JP\8,000 for two. Admissions are included in the fare. Confirmation regarding the price and the tour courses recommended.) 

  Tel. 098-868-5105    E-mail: okinawa@velotaxi.jp

The drivers will offer guiding services as well as some music performance to entertain passengers with Okinawa's traditional songs along with exotic "Sanshin," a three-string musical instrument originally introduced from China. 

"I have long wanted to make this kind of tour happen, so that we could take tourists around Shuri. But the numerous uphills in Shuri district have long prevented us from realizing the service," said Ms. Takaesu. 

To overcome this challenge, the corporation is planning to increased the number of three-wheelers equipped with two batteries instead of just one. The drivers will also be trained to meet the demands for extended courses, whereas the corporation so far covered districts limited to the flat downtown area of the prefecture's capital. With the introduction of two-battery Velotaxi vehicles, those drivers are highly motivated as they are empowered to take passengers to the ancient area on the city's highland where Shuri Castle and other historical monuments await visitors.

Autumn Open Gardens in Nanjo City

Gardening lovers in Okinawa are looking forward to visiting private gardens in 24 locations opened to everyone for "Open Garden" which is taking place in Nanjo City, Okinawa. The owners of those home gardens have long worked on their private properties and prepared for the unique event.

I was watching a local TV program in which Mr. Awa, one of the owners who participated in the event, answered for the interview, saying he worked on his 6,611㎡ of land for many years.

He said, "I enjoy working on my garden. Many birds come here. I'm happy to share the environment with many visitors."

Various hibiscus flowers are among the most attractive plants, pleasing the eyes of visitors. Other plants includes Chinese Ixora (Jungle Flame or Needle Flower), bush morning-glory, cycads, etc. Mr. Awa even took advantage of a rugged natural lime stone in his garden to find a perfect blend of arrangement by human hands and beauty through natural processes.

Nanjo City Tourism Information Center created "Open Garden Map" for the event. Maps are available at the center for ￥200 per copy.
★To locate of the tourism center, click here for Google map
Transportation by car from Naha Airport (A) to the tourism center (B)

The city's tourism association held Spring Open Garden earlier this year, when 13 citizens opened their private gardens. This time, in the period of comfortable autumnal breeze, 24 owners are happy to take visitors around their gardens and share their pride and joy.

If you are familiar with British style or Japanese style gardens, Nanjo City's project will offer opportunities to see subtropical gardens, that is, a horticulture nurtured in a distinctly Okinawan manner.

Period: Nov. 8th (Mon.) through Nov. 14 (Sun.)
Hours: 9:00AM～5:00PM

Hinpun Gajumaru, An Old Banyan Tree in Nago City, Okinawa

Nago City Citizen Gajumaru Festival (Banyan Tree Festival) was held on October 23rd and 24th on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Nago City's gaining city status.


(Nago City is located in the central part of Okinawa's main island at the root of Motobu peninsula. Population over 60,000. Google Map: from Naha Airport to the tree) 



Many citizens gathered at the city's Gajumaru Green Area Park to hear what panelists would say about the tree at "Banyan Tree Symposium" which was coordinated by the delegate of Gajumaru Network. The symposists included a citizen's representative, a delegate of City Tourism Association's administrative office, the chairperson of Nago City Museum Friendship Association, and the deputy director of Nago City Board of Education.

The citizens pay particular attention to this banyan tree for two reasons. The first reason is that the tree has stood at the entrance of the city's main street for nearly 300 years and been registered as the natural monument by the national government. The other reason, a graver one, is because the tree has lately been in danger of falling over. A powerful typhoon hit the city a few years ago and almost blew the old tree down. Luckily, the tree has survived but the city had to shore up the large branches to prevent the tree from being further uprooted. In this early summer, the city's education board, an organizing body in charge of maintaining cultural properties, had to cut off many spread branches in order to lessen wind resistance before the typhoon season arrived.


At the symposium, the deputy director of the education board explained the measures the city has been taking to prevent the felling of Hinpun Gajumal. "It is important that every citizen, as well as the city office, give consideration to the banyan tree," he appealed.


The delegate of the city's tourism association proposed a number of suggestions, including plans to designate the area around the tree as "a power spot*," to organize a gourmet festival at the park nearby, and to train tour guides so as to systematically support the revitalization of the city's main street area.


* The phrase "power spot" is a Japanese people's coinage to describe a sacred place or a location with magnificent views where visitors are spiritually/emotionally energized.


The City Museum Friendship Association chair expressed a necessity to think about ways for helping the citizens become more appreciative of their own community. "One way to do this is to exhibit old photographs throughout the downtown area," he suggested.


On October 24th, the festival committee hosted other events including a music concert.


At the end of January through early February, Nago City cerebrates one of Japan's earliest cherry-flower viewing festival which attracts over 200,000 visitors each year. The banyan is introduced to first-time visitors as a tree that has protected the city for three centuries. 


Nago City people has started giving back a little of what they can to the old tree.

Harvest Season

The photo I posted below was taken at a rice paddy nearby.

I wrote about Naha City's Great Tug-of-War in this blog earlier. Tug-of-wars take place in various communities in Okinawa and those events (with Naha's as the largest) have their roots in the island people's agrarian life style. Straw ropes used in those games are made of rice straws. (Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture in Japan. Haha is the capital city.) 

This particular area shown in the photo is a remainder of once much larger landscape in the region called "Haneji," a place where the Kingdom of Ryukyu designated as one of the premier grain zones to produce dietary staple, rice. The kingdom was ruled by the Sho Dynasty that governed the chain of islands stretching across the East China Sea, located between the south of Japan and the north of Taiwan. Though tiny and hard to spot on the world map, it had existed as an independent kingdom for many centuries until 1879. I took the photo as a token of appreciation for the farmers who have preserved this field in the middest of rapid urban development. This small portion of traditional rural landscape in Okinawa reminds me of the good old days when the community people lived in harmony with the natural environment.

A scene of golden carpets of rice paddies that spread underneath the clear autumn sky represents what we all share deep in our hearts as Asians.

If you live in Okinawa, or if you happen to be having your vacation on the mainland Okinawa, you can take photos or enjoy oil-painting at the same point I took the photo. This photo is taken as of Oct. 23, 2010. Farmers may harvest the rice in a few week. 

Google Map here to spot the location. From (A) Kadena Air Base to (B) the rice paddy

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Sakura Translation Office

Translator/Certified Local Tour Guide  Shu Uechi

E-mail: sr-uechi@auone.jp

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Great Tug-of-War, Result: Draw

The world's largest tag-of-war event took place on Oct. 10th and the game ended in a draw.

As I wrote about the yearly event yesterday, two huge pieces of ropes--each weighs more than 20t--are connected before the game starts.

There is a YouTube video sent to me through Twitter which happens to show a close look of how it is like to take part in the tug-of-war event.

A local newspaper reports it took too much time to have those ropes just to get connected and the starting time was delayed half an hour, leaving little time for the event before the time limit for using the Japan't national route 58. So, this year's game lasted only 6 minutes.

Here is a URL of Daikon-no Hana (Restaurant Radish Flower) who posted the very good video.
(Dailon-no Hana operates a local restaurant chain, attracting local and non-local customers alike who are health-conscious eaters. Their buffet style lunch and dinner have attracted many patrons.)

http://am6.jp/9H6bay

Great Tug-of-War, Naha City, Okinawa, Japan

Naha City, the prefectural capital of Okinawa, Japan, annually holds the world's largest tug-of-war event, which attracts about 300,000 people in and around the island's capital. Out of this large number of spectators, only lucky 20,000 people get to pull those ropes.

Every year, on Oct. 10th, the event organizer prepares two giant ropes with rice straws. Each rope is about 100m in length (about 330ft), 1m56cm in width (about 61.5in), and each rope weighs more than 20t (about 44090lb).

Once the two ropes are connected with a large log ---the total length now reaches more than 200m---the great power game starts. Imagine a team of 10,000 men and women pulls the rope against another team of the same number.

Tug-of-wars have been played in many parts of the island prefecture, though they are in much smaller scale. Many villages and towns in Okinawa have long held festivities of fall harvest, in which tug-of-wars include, as a token of appreciation for good harvest this year and as prayers for the good harvest next year.

After the game is over, the ropes are cut into smaller pieces and given to visitors for free. It's believed that anyone who takes a piece of the rice straw ropes will be happy and live a healthy life for the whole next year.


YouTube video of Tug-of-War here

Okinawa Traditional Crafts Fair 2010

Besides being famous for beautiful beaches and lush landscapes, Okinawa is also famous for arts and crafts. If you are interested in textiles produced in Okinawa, you might want to visit 17th Annual Okinawa Traditional Crafts Fair 2010, an annual event organized by the Prefecture of Okinawa.

Did you know that 13 traditional textile craft centers in this island prefecture have been designated as Traditional Craft by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry? Considering that only 24 traditional textile centers have so far been designated throughout the country of Japan, the number is worthy of remark. Bingata dyed textiles and Bashofu banana-fibre clothes are among many that are known throughout Japan. 

If you visit the 3rd floor of Naha City Cultrual Tenbus, you'll find many textile producers exhibiting their finest products as well as affordable items like purses and coasters made with locally produced textiles.

Other crafts include glass wares, lacqure wares, potteries, etc.

This is a 2-day event and the place will be open at 10:00 AM on August 15th, Sunday. English-speaking volunteer staff is available at the information booth which is set up in front of the building.

Soft Creamy Caramel, A Rare Treat I Found in Nakijin

As a local tour guide, I need to visit as many regional destinations as possible and see things first hand. It is nothing special, of course. But, when you find a place or a thing in your area that you have somehow missed before, and if the place or the thing turned out to be your cup of tea, wouldn't you feel happy for the rest of the day? And wouldn't you feel like sharing your discovery with your family members or friends?

Well, this is my discovery today. The photo I uploaded here is a package of "Ryukyu-noh Shizuku." What contained inside the styrofoam box are wrapped, bite-sized brown-sugar soft caramels.

Soft caramels, or more popularly called "nah-mah carameloo" here in Japan, has become widely popular ever since Hanabatake Bokujo in Hokkaido introduced this new category of confection several years ago. Soon, dozens of other candy makers followed suit. I don't know how many confectionaries are out there now, having come up with their own products of soft caramels.

Here in Okinawa, we have this particular product for one. "Ryukyu-noh Shizuku" is a product of Ryukyu Aloe Ltd. (http://ryukyualoe.co.jp/). I happened to find a small wooden sign quetly put up by the roadside in the quiet community of Nakijin and the sign is written only in Japanese, making it almost impossible for foreign travellers to visit the confectionary.

Abundance of high quality brown suger -- as sugarcane is the main crop here on the island prefecture -- enables the candy maker to manufacture this rare sweet treat. It's rare because the amount of caramel it can produce in a day is limited and only a handful of stores with the license contract are allowed to sell this brand. (I have not yet checked which stores in Okinawa sell "Ryukyu-noh Shizuku.")

How does it taste? you ask.

Well, I'll put it like...it's soft and richly creamy and I recommend you taste what the lush, sun-kissed sugarcane on Okinawa has to offer in a very sweet manner.

Okinawa & Hawaii

I found a YouTube video clip featuring a former Hawaiian Sumo wrestler Konishiki and a popular singer from Okinawa, Rimi Natsukawa. Jake Shimabukuro, a ukulele virtuoso of Hawaiian-born, Okinawan decsent, is appropreately invited to perform his instrument for the concert. Enjoy the beautiful blend of Okinawan & Hawaiian melodies.

Clic ↓　to see YouTube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Nd5nqVwn4

Asia's Largest Aquarium "Churaumi Suizokukan"

Okinawa is a tiny island, I must admit. So it may not be easy to imagine that one of the largest aquarium is established here on the 100 mile long island. We don't have a vast expanse of land, yet we are surrounded by the huge body of water, located between the edge of the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea. If not mistaken, "Churaumi Aquarium" is one of the three largest aquariums in the world, and if you are planning to visit Asia, you might want to add this unique destination to your itinerary.

This huge aquarium proudly displays three shark whales -- the largest kind of shark existing on earth -- and the way those huge marine creatures swim in a grandiose manner in the aquarium is sure to dazzle every visitor.

It is my hope that more cruise ships will make port calls at Motobo harbor so that more foreign visitors have chanses to see the great aquarium.

Clik the URL below to virtually visit Churaumni Aquarium

http://www.kaiyouhaku.com/en/index.html

Kouri Island

Kouri Island is one of 49 inhabited islands in Okinawa.
My wife and I spent a quiet afternoon at a cafe with wonderful view.
I'd like to share some of the photos we took last winter.

A Late Afternoon Tea at a Cafe on Kouri Island

Hibiscus Water, Bottleled Soft Drink

I went to a local convenience store in Okinawa and found "Hibiscus Water" today. As the name suggests, this bottled water is pinkish and refreshing in appearance. As many know, it is the state flower of Hawaii, where the abundance of the plant make it possible to create many products such as T-shirts with hibiscus motif and hibiscus tea. But I don't think many people know that Okinawa has its indigenous type of hibiscus called "Akabana." This particular brand is made of Akabana type and I'm sure the name and color prompt a sense of affinity among Okinawan people.

Okinawa Bireley's Ltd. (http://www.okinawa-bireleys.co.jp/index.html), a soft drink maker in this island prefecture of Japan, has added this new brand to its product lineup as it has done with other soft drink products using subtropical fruits readily available here.

They say Cleopatra loved hibiscus tea to maintain her superb beauty. I didn't choose this particular  soft drink for a cosmetic reason, but I'm glad that the company has come up with this refreshing taste using the indigenous flower here on the island.