７月３１日（金）

Today started out slow because I am still pretty tired, although my cough was mostly gone. I spent more time planning travel and blogging in the morning. The owner of the guesthouse knocked on my door and chastised me for not opening my window, and commented that I "don't go out much." His English is pretty good but it still strikes me as kind of strange he chooses to use English to talk to me. In Japanese maybe his comments wouldn't seem as misplaced, but it's definitely a little difficult to understand his intent because his tone in English doesn't clearly convey his thinking.

In the afternoon I met Emma at 国際通り (kokusaidoori, International Street) to do some wandering around and observe a protest to the security legislation (allowing use of Japanese troops overseas).

First we found a place that serves gouya (bitter gourd) ice cream. It was a strange flavor, but not bad.

ゴーヤアイス (gouya ice cream)

Emma had been telling me about a place the sells fresh-squeezed さとうきびジュース (satoukibi jyuusu, sugarcane juice), so we found it and I tried some. It's very sweet and a bit dehydrating, but with a peculiar taste that is pleasant. It's available in Okinawa because sugarcane is often grown here, but not in mainland Japan.

juice being squeezed as you can see in the window, sanshin hanging above

sugarcane juice!

first time trying sugarcane juice, according to a sign at the shop it's good for preventing cancer

Emma and wandered off of international street so she could introduce me to a few of her favorite shops. We saw an adorable cat near a little indie movie theater and book shop. We also sat at a park for a short time before heading to the protest on International Street.

ちんこすこう (chinko sukou, penis cookies)... Really, Okinawa?

猫ちゃん (neko-chan, kitty-cat)

beautiful tree

you don't see brooms in the trees every day

Emma and I saw some people we knew from the last few days on the study tour at the protest, and Emma also met a friend of hers. One college boy handing out fliers took an interest in telling me about a student action club protesting security legislation at his school that he was working for, and suggested that I try to participate at  similar venture at Kyoto University that will start up around October. I had to tell him I'd already be back in the US, but I find it interesting that protest groups are also forming on the mainland. There don't seem to be many issues that Japanese people on the mainland will get fired up enough about to congregate and protest, but protecting Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan (the "no war" clause) seems to be one of those few things.

The banner means "the constitution has decided that we do not involve ourselves in war." I can't see the second part but it appears to be the name of the organization.

右翼団体 (uyoku dantai, right-wing groups) dissent the protesting, and try to disrupt the protests with loud announcements

There was a march, but since Emma and I both felt that commenting on the Constitution of Japan really is not our place as Americans, we declined participating in the march and went home.

I had a quaint dinner from the convenience store.

おにぎりとコロッケ (onigiri to korokke, rice balls and fried potato patty)

さきいか (saki ika, dried squid snack)

塩のはちみつレモン (shio no hachimitsu remon, salt honey and lemon)

Culture note: Dried squid snacks like the one pictured above have the image of being liked by middle-aged and elderly men.

It was a good, calm day.

Travel tips:
24. Don't let what other people say about your behaviors stop you from traveling in the way you like. Some people fill their schedules with activities and some let adventure find them. Some do both. Do what suits you. My guesthouse owner commenting on my actions annoyed me a lot, but it really shouldn't bother me what other people think of how I choose to travel.

７月３０日（木）

I seriously needed a day to relax after all the activity of the last several days on the study tour. Today I took it easy in the guesthouse where I will be staying the next 2 weeks.

Honestly, when I arrived at the guesthouse yesterday I thought the place was pretty sketchy. It's a bit drab and not perfect, but at least I get a private room. The isn't enough room to do exercises, but at least there's a small park at the back of the guesthouse, so I can work out there.

Here's an introduction to the place!

my bed, poster advertising Naminoue Beach above

doorway

vertical view

"locks"

Did this get pulled out of the wall once?

The weird box on top of the TV looked too much like a camera for me to trust it, so I covered with a bag.

if I put 100 yen into this I can use the AC for 2 hours, up to 14 hours at a time

LAN internet connection through the doorway strung across the ceiling in the hallway

"fixed" the ripped curtain with my hair bow

how I lock my door when I leave

If someone wanted to, he or she could use one of these and lock me in my room. Plus there are bars on my window so I wouldn't be able to escape that way. Fortunately the walls are flimsy so I could just break out if I needed to. Still kind of seems weird to me that someone could lock my door from the outside, though.

a style of electric kettle in Japan, these are great

at least our toilet is surrounded by pretty ocean views

the shower

plastic-covered soap shelf

bathroom lock

So this will be my abode for the next couple weeks.

I used my time to plan my some of my trips throughout Okinawa.

Here are some useful tools for planning routes in Okinawa!
1. Route Finder Okinawa
2. Kotsu Bus Okinawa
3. Yui Monorail General Information and Deals
4. Yui Monorail Timetables

Here are just a few places I would recommend you see:
1. Churaumi Aquarium
2. Shuri Castle
3. Okinawa International Peace Research Institute
4. Himeyuri Peace Museum
5. Ryukyu Glass Mura
6. Okinawa Prefectural Museum
7. Michi no Eki Kadena (website and exhibit Japanese only)

７月２９日（水：final day of study tour）

Teruya gave us a lovely breakfast very early, and the garden in the morning was beautiful.

early morning garden

our spread

Some of our group met early in the morning to join protesters at the gates of Camp Schwab to try to keep trucks from hauling dirt used for landfill work related to Henoko construction into the camp. We sat for some time in front of one of the gates where the trucks hauling dirt were meant to come. We were informed the riot police would come try to break up the protest as usual (it has become a routine, apparently) but we were to link arms with other protesters and try to delay the trucks as long as we could.

just a few protesters at another gate, not the one we were blocking

a banner across the street from Schwab

Scene at another gate. Signs say: "opposing all bases," "love and peace," "let's cease investigations into drilling at once," and "opposing new bases" (photo courtesy of tour member)

This shows some of us among the local protesters, with some Japanese security personnel behind us. Signs say: "opposing all bases," "opposing the war bill," and "no new base at Henoko." (photo courtesy of tour member)

 "The war bill" refers to legislation looking to allow Japanese troops to fight abroad in supporting conflict for the first time since WWII. Many Japanese people see this as the first step toward re-militarizing and strongly oppose it.

us talking to the protesters, base security guards in the back [photo courtesy of tour member]

We had to leave after a while to stay on schedule. The protesters had decided to get as many people together as possible, so it had been an especially busy day in front of Camp Schwab. Apparently just after we left the riot police came and got the protesters out of the way for the trucks to come through. They hadn't wanted to make a scene in front of an international audience like our group, but once we were gone the locals were fair game. It's pretty messed up.

On the bus ride to 沖縄国際平和研究所 (okinawa kokusai heiwa kenkyuusho, Okinawa International Peace Research Institute) we all swapped thanks for the trip and reflected on some high points. Chie also gave us a speech presentation on some facts about the bases that we had wanted to hear all trip.

When we arrived at the Peace Research Institute the staff explained some of the photograph displays to us. There were also many ビラ (bira, handbills) of both Japanese and American make from WWII. It's always interesting to see what tactics each side uses to try to get the other side to change its mind about fighting or lower moral.

After a short viewing of the displays we got to meet with the former governor of Okinawa Prefecture and founder of the research institute. He has dedicated his life to peace and educating people on the horrors of war and the Battle of Okinawa in particular. Most of what he spoke with us about were facts relating to the bases that he has repeated time after time in his writings and interviews, but he answered our questions and I learned for the first time that he once worked at Kadena.

My two heroes!

Some of what the former governor spoke of was his time participating in the Battle of Okinawa. During his time as a mobilized civilian in the 鉄血勤皇隊 (tekketsu kinnoutai, Blood and Iron Corps) he lost his faith in people when he saw the supposedly honorable Japanese soldiers fighting and killing each other over a little food. The conditions were very bad. Okinawans in the Corps were given 2 grenades, as were many other Okinawans. One was to be thrown at invading Japanese soldiers. The second was for suicide in order to avoid capture.

Our whole group! (photo courtesy of accompanying journalist)

Emma and I had both decided to stay in Okinawa ahead of time, and one other member of the group was already staying here on a research grant. The others, though, headed off to the next destination on their journey from Naha Airport. It was a tough goodbye after having such an active few days together.

I checked into my guesthouse after dropping the others at the airport and took the rest of the day easy. There was nothing more exciting I could do after meeting my most respected hero in the morning.

７月２８日（火）

Our group went out on protest boats from Teima Fishing Port to oppose construction of a replacement facility for 普天間飛行場 (futenma hikoujyou, Futenma Air Station) in 大浦湾 (oura wan, Oura Bay) today! It was a really amazing experience. The 海上保安庁 (kaijyou houanchou, Japan Coast Guard) and the 沖縄防衛局 (okinawa boueikyoku, Okinawa Defense Bureau -ODB-) were also out in the water, simply onlooking or telling us to turn back. The Coast Guard used 敬語 (keigo, highly polite language) to tell us to turn back. It seemed sort of cold because keigo creates a distance between the speaker and listener. It felt peculiar to be spoken to so sternly but politely at the same time.

apparently this is the house of タレント (tarento, television personality) who I don't know

beautiful water

wow wow wow

:)

and the cloud cover

our boat crew

the other boat

peace boat flag

Emma and me (photo courtesy of accompanying journalist)

checking out some coral reef (photo courtesy of accompanying journalist)

We all had a chance to speak out against the construction of the replacement facility in Oura Bay over the loudspeakers on the boats to let the Coast Guard, ODB, and other protestors (mainly women in kayaks). Had I realized I would get to speak out, I would have prepared something! What I ended up saying in Japanese was just that even as an American I opposed the construction of an American military facility in the area, and especially after seeing the bay myself I felt more strongly that the building of a facility here would be wrong. Our boat driver was a bit more fiery: he basically asked that the Coast Guard and ODB trying to keep protestors out of the construction area should go home and stop working for the Japanese government in their unyielding deaf ear to local opposition.

カヌー (kanuu, kayak) [photo courtesy of tour member]

[photo courtesy of accompanying journalist]

me speaking to the Coast Guard [photo courtesy of accompanying journalist]

Emma had a way of speaking that left me inspired. She was polite and understanding with her words, and even acknowledged that the jobs of the Coast Guard and ODB must be difficult. Her use of Japanese was much more on-point and polite than mine had been. I think that was an enlightened way to approach the situation, and may have created some internal dialogue for her audience.

Next on our tour we stopped by the Henoko Fishing Port sit-in tent, ate lunch there, and met with the leader or man contact of the 座り込み抗議 (suwarikomi kougi, sit-in protest). It's been a long-lasting protest, over 11 years straight. He told us that in comparison to the beginning of the protest popularity of participating has gone through ups and downs, but overall the participation nowadays is better. There are also more people from abroad who come to learn about the situation and sit-in themselves (like us), and there are hundreds of people that protest every day. We were all impressed that he is very kind, bright and optimistic.

days of the sit-in

beautiful area

look at that color

our group with the head of the Henoko protest [photo courtesy of accompanying journalist]

talking with head of Henoko protest [photo courtesy of tour member]

Culture note: When Japanese people have a cold they will often wear a medical mask to limit their likelihood to spread the germs while going along their usual business. I wasn't sick but I had a bad cough, so I wanted to avoid coughing on everyone.







Once we'd had our fill of the Henoko tent, we headed to a tent sit-in protest across the street from Camp Schwab. We stood before the gathering, introduced ourselves, spoke briefly, and joined the sit-in for a short time. They handed us drums used when doing エイサー (eisaa, eisa dancing -a traditional Okinawan style of dancing-), and asked us to dance with them while accompanied by a 三線 (sanshin, sanshin -an Okinawan string instrument-). It was perplexing at first because none of us knew what to do, but the local protesters were very friendly and we had a great time. Once the dancing was done the protesters continued taking turns performing songs. For one, we heard a song from the war era called simply 花 (Hana -flower-). One man sang some songs to familiar tunes with his own lyrics to voice dissent to Prime Minister Abe and the Japanese government's policies regarding American bases.

eisa drum

Camp Schwab

Camp Schwab gas station, right next to the public road

performances at the sit-in tent

our group member from the Jeju Islands (with similar issues to Okinawa) performing

us dancing with the local protesters [photo courtesy of tour member]

The local protesters were also kind enough to treat us to some Okinawan treats, ポーポー (pou pou, -an Okinawan rolled pancake snack-).

ポーポー

Yum!

Once we were done at the tent it was only about 4pm, and we got on the bus to go to Teruya Inn. The owners were very kind. We all relaxed a little before dinner, and a journalist accompanying us interviewed each of us briefly about our thoughts and experiences on the boat and at the protest sites. Some of our group helped the inn owner make bread for our group, and later I took some time to help him cut it to go with the barbecue we had. There were some Henoko construction and base opposing people who joined us: one well-known author, a Nago city council member, and others. It was a good night and the barbecue and bread were all really delicious.

It was a great time hearing some of the people who came to meet us talk about their work, and to swap stories together. Overall it was a long day but we all felt accomplished. She was a bit surprised I asked, but Chie gave me her autograph and I was very happy.