８月６日（木）

there is also an art museum, but I have never seen it

Today was nearly a repeat of the day before yesterday. I went to Okinawa Prefectural Museum again today but entered the main exhibit rather than studying in the media center. I made a new friend who was trying to learn English. He was probably a college or high school student, but it was really hard to assess his age. He was from Nagasaki but was traveling on vacation. We exchanged contact information so we could help each other with language learning. He called me お姉さん (oneisan, older sister), which is just a way to refer to a woman a little older than oneself. I have also heard it used by grown women to talk to preteens, though. Sort of like "young lady." The exact usage it hard to explain.

Some places have lockable umbrella racks, kind of like luggage lockers. It's pretty cool.

I was tired today so I indulged in one of my favorite energy drinks before going to Jurassic World (3D)!

oronamin C drink

Only the 3D version was of the movie was dubbed in Japanese, and I wanted to get some listening comprehension work in, so 2D was right out. I learned a couple abbreviations for movie listings.

[字] literally just means letter, but this means the movie is subtitled in Japanese.
[吹] means the movie is dubbed in Japanese.

I didn't realize at Japanese movie theaters you need to bring your own 3D glasses or buy them at concessions for 3D movies. It's kind of a ripoff, but now I have my own clip-on 3D glasses.

super nerd

Jurassic World was great in Japanese. Chris Pratt is already amazing, but his manly Japanese voice actor just made the experience even better. Two thumbs up.

８月５日（水）

Today I found out that my personal hero's research facility 沖縄国際平和研究所 (okinawa kokusai heiwa kenkyuusho, Okinawa International Research Institute), which I went to before with the study tour, is only a 3-minute walk from my guesthouse. I kind of freaked out and immediately walked over. It was the staff's lunch break but he was so kind he offered to let me in anyway. I told him it was ok and went to get lunch myself at a コンビニ (konbini, convenience store) before returning.

sign for institute

In the institute's museum I took quite some time collecting words, and marveling at the handbills especially. The staff spoke with me at length about Okinawa's economy since I expressed interest to him. He told me some interesting points:

1. Most businesses on International Street are mainland- or foreign-owned, so don't shop there. Okinawa has one of the lowest GDP per capita of all Japanese prefectures. Of course the businesses employ Okinawans, but the main profits of the businesses go to the mainland or abroad. I had been unaware of this so I will now advise people to buy their souvenirs elsewhere and from confirmed locally-owned shops if possible.

2. Most work in Okinawa is part-time, as there are few companies in Okinawa hiring full-time workers.

3. Many Okinawans don't have adequate health insurance so they don't visit the doctor. The health system on the mainland is really incredibly good. But since most work in Okinawa is part-time, the health benefits are lousy.

4. Most businesses in Okinawa are actually mainland-owned. So, growth of Okinawa's economy is very difficult.

As a side note, one of the most prevalent American arguments for US bases being helpful to Okinawa is that the bases provide Okinawan business opportunities, since soldiers shop in areas surrounding the bases frequently. The information that most businesses are mainland-owned, however, means that this argument has a basic logical flaw: the assumption that the businesses catering to US bases are Okinawan-owned and mean Okinawan profit.

There was another visitor at the museum, and I spoke briefly with her and the staff before I ran back to my guesthouse to get my notebook for a signature from the former governor. I had forgotten at the other meeting I had with him, so I came back and asked the staff if I could leave it for him to sign. Apparently the former governor was in his office, though, so the staff got him to meet with me a second time briefly. Not only did he sign my notebook but he gifted me two English books sold at his office and signed them as well. He told me he hoped they would help me understand Okinawa's situation. I was ecstatic.

The staff and I returned to the museum area of the institute and spoke about bombs used by the US during the Battle of Okinawa with the other visitor. She and I also began to talk and she offered to show me around Okinawa the day after tomorrow since she has a car and can drive me around. I was very happy to make new friends with Sumiko.

After leaving the museum I went to a mall near Kenchomae Station, and got ソーキそば (souki soba, pork spare rib soba) for dinner. I recommend this soba, the meat is usually soft and delicious. I also found that the mall has a fair international beer section. I grabbed a beer from Japanese brewery, Baird Beer, I have never tried. The beer itself is Shimaguni Stout. It had the flaw many dark beers in Japan seem to have: they taste watered-down and just don't have a full body. On the upside though, it was pretty decent otherwise and I enjoyed it.

Saw some things on the way back from the mall.

shisa outside of Naha City Hall

Naha City Hall

found what I think is a loud right-wing vehicle

Here's the beer I tried.

Shimaguni Stout

I didn't travel far today, but I feel like I accomplished a lot.

８月４日（火）

Today I went to use the media center at 沖縄県立博物館 (okinawa kenritsu hakubutsukan, Okinawa Prefectural Museum), which is free! There are many books on Okinawan culture and history there, and you don't even need to buy a ticket to the museum or pay a fee, it is completely open for public use. I sat and read part of a book on Okinawan culture and learned about some 民俗芸能 (minzoku geinou, folk entertainment) and 祭祀芸能 (saishi geinou, ceremonial arts) unique to Okinawa. Some are religious rituals, and some are more like theater performances and even archery.

entrance to the museum

entrance sculpture

entrance sculpture

サボテン (saboten, cacti) on top

After a couple hours of reading practice I went back to Naha Main Place where I had bought a ticket for the movie バケモノの子 (bakemono no ko, The Boy and the Beast) and enjoyed the show. In order to save money on movie concessions I bought some meiji almonds (delicious!) and other snacks beforehand in the grocery store within the mall. The movie was very good, if it is released in the US I highly recommend it.

Sometimes it is nice to practice language in ways you find fun. I like reading about topics I have interest in, and watching movies, so today was low-key Japanese practice catering to my likes.

８月３日（月）

This afternoon I met Emma at Naha Main Place near Omoromachi Station. Later, she had a meeting with a lawyer who had been involved with cases related to forced land leasing of Okinawan land for use by the US military, and Okinawan land-owners requesting damages. We wandered the mall together, ate lunch, and snacked on some gelato while brainstorming questions for the lawyer a little. Soon Emma's friend Manako came to pick us up.

We went to 沖縄県憲法普及協議会 (okinawa-ken kenpou fukyuu kyougikai, -no official English title listed so 'Okinawa Prefectural Conference on the Popularization of the Constitution' may be a fair translation-) and met with a few colleagues at the conference center, and also with the lawyer. The meeting was conducted entirely in Japanese and I had quite a bit of trouble understanding the language since it was law Japanese, and many laws themselves were cited. Thankfully I was able to pick out bits and pieces and the general flow of the conversation, but Emma had to rehash it to me later in English.

One situation we focused on was that in 1945 on into the 50s, American seizure of land in Okinawa was against the Hague Convention of 1907. The US was at fault for that, but since Japan was under military occupation the Japanese government was not responsible for Okinawa's land at the time. Upon reversion to Japan in 1972, however, Okinawa's land became Japanese, and the Japanese government's responsibility. The allowance of land for use by already established bases then is still a matter of debate.

Post-meeting Emma and I and some of the colleagues from the conference center went to dinner together. On the way I saw a cat cafe. These are a great way for cat lovers who can't keep cats themselves to still get time to socialize with them. I always want to go!

めんそーれ (mensoore) is Okinawan dialect, 

meaning "welcome"

にゃん (nyan) is like "meow" in Japanese

So nyansoore... just ridiculous.

At dinner I got to speak with a law professor who had taught the lawyer we spoke with at the conference center. He was very interesting. When he asked about what I had done at school in Osaka I mentioned practicing judo. I asked about him and he replied that he taught kenpo. I thought he was connecting my experience to his and talking about martial arts with me. It took me a few confused exchanges to catch that he taught 憲法 (kenpou, constitutional law) not 拳法 (kenpou, kenpo -martial arts-). It was a good laugh and since his English was really great we got to speak bilingually about his time growing up in Okinawa and about changes that came with reversion to Japan like traffic laws and currency.

After dinner I treated myself to another beer. It was actually pretty good. I was impressed because I normally don't like Asahi so well.

not bad, Asahi

another style of taste indicator

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)

８月２日（日）

Today I went to a famous aquarium, 美ら海水族館 (churaumi suizokukan, Churaumi Aquarium). I had checked the bus route ahead of time, but had trouble finding the exact spot to board because there are many bus stops in a small area. Some Americans in a taxi saw me searching, asked me what I was looking for, told me where my stop was, introduced themselves, and shook my hand. They were all young men, perhaps military personnel on their day off, perhaps tourists, I couldn't be sure. They invited me to "party" later. Not a particularly tempting invitation when you're a woman traveling alone and your hosts would be three unknown men. I politely declined. If it were three Japanese men I don't think they would act the same way, unless they were drinking and it was evening. It's interesting how culture completely shapes behavior.

I boarded the bus from Kenchomae, and took it about an hour and a half north to Ocean Expo Park. I arrived about the time Churarumi opened with the intention of spending my entire day there. The aquarium did not disappoint. There wasn't a moment during the day that I was bored. Throughout the day presentations were offered at each exhibit, and I spent a lot of time toggling between attending these for listening practice and "collecting words." One of my favorite activities in museums of any sort in Japan is to read every display, pamphlet, or description I can get my hands on and make copious notes of words I don't yet understand. I call this collecting words. It's a ridiculously nerdy habit. Museums are great for this, though, because in one day you see many repeated words and you can actually internalize new vocabulary quickly. I recommend this technique to language learners who are trying to expand their vocabulary. If the museum offers descriptions in your native language, only use them as comparison to help you more fully understand how to use your new vocabulary in context. Don't fall back on reading them unless you are low on time and your interest in the topic at the moment is stronger than learning a foreign language.

fountain in the midst of Ocean Expo Park

shisa fountain

hermit crab shrubbery?

dolphin mister

whale shark statue

the ocean

wow

The first thing inside the aquarium was a touch pool. Despite the fact the attendants constantly advised お水の中に触ってください (omizu no naka ni sawatte kudasai, please touch within the water) and お水から出さないでください (omizu kara dasanaide kudasai, please don't remove anything from the water), even adults all around the pool continued to pull the creatures out of the water whether just absent-mindedly or to take silly photos. I was a little shocked. Most of the visitors were probably tourists and not Okinawan people, but many of the people I saw doing this were speaking fluent Japanese to each other, so they had to have clearly understood the instructions. Maybe it's because Okinawa is a bit looser on rules than the 本土 (hondo, mainland).

touch pool

There were displays of くらげ (kurage, jellyfish), サンゴ礁 (sango-shou, coral reef) and 熱帯魚 (nettai-gyo, tropical fish). On a side note, I guess selfie-sticks are becoming so commonly used they are becoming a problem...

使用禁止 (shiyou kinshi, use is prohibited)

サカサクラゲ (sakasa kurage, upside-down jellyfish)

 I found some truly amusing Japanese through this. Some Japanese visitors were laughing at the exhibit of the upside-down jellyfish, and I thought maybe it was a pun on the word. I thought so because many Japanese words sound alike, so people sometimes need to clear up misunderstandings of words. The puns are fairly common so a lot of Japanese humor is based on ambiguity.

It turns out 逆さクラゲ (sakasa kurage, traditional love hotel) has pretty much exactly the same meaning but for different reasons. This word means a traditional love hotel because the symbol for an onsen looks kind of like an upside-down jellyfish. It was just a polite way of referring to the place, I suppose.

くらげ (kurage, jellyfish)

サンゴ (sango, coral)

lionfish (name in Japanese changes depending on type, unsure)

フグ (fugu, puffer fish)

love the natural light coming in through the top

メガネモチノウオ (megane mochi nouo, humphead wrasse)

some crazy type of starfish

マガネ (megane) means glasses, and モチ can be a form of the verb to carry or wear, so I think the fish's name has something to do with wearing glasses. Cute!

ニモ！ (nimo, Nemo), Finding Nemo is so popular here everyone calls clownfish Nemo

ウニ (uni, sea urchin)

These are a type of えび (ebi, shrimp), but they're huge! Just the folded body of one is longer than my forearm!

pretty

After ブラブラ (bura bura, wandering aimlessly) awhile, I went out to watch the いるか (iruka, dolphin) and くじら (kujira, whale) show at オキちゃん劇場 (oki-chan gekijyou, dolphin theater). I didn't know that oki-chan could be a nickname for dolphins. Maybe it is derived from an Okinawan word?

Before watching the show I grabbed a benimo soft cream from the nearby shop. I highly recommend it. The ice cream was obviously naturally flavored because you could really taste that it was made from sweet potato. I absolutely loved it.

餌やり (esa yari, feeding) !

I would have wanted to feed the dolphins, but it was Sunday and it looked like all the children wanted to do it. I couldn't take the opportunity away from a child.

餌 (esa, animal feed) is used to refer to any food you feed to 動物 (doubutsu, animals).

whale

dolphin/whale show

so cool

:)

Hi, whale!

cute trick

diver show

At the diver show they asked the audience questions about dolphins' anatomy and evolution. They gave stickers to the people who answered correctly. It was really cute! I didn't know that dolphins and hippos were related before.

Singing!

 Tricks!

Manzai? (Japanese duo stand-up comedy)

After the dolphin/whale shows I grabbed a small lunch of 沖縄かまぼこ (okinawa kamaboko, a kind of Okinawa fish oil-fried food). I ordered ジャガチーズ (jyaga chiizu, potato and cheese) kamaboko and it was yummy. I recommend trying kamaboko.

ジャガイモ (jyagaimo) means potato and チーズ (chiizu) means cheese, so a shortening of the two might become ジャガチーズ, but today was the first time I ever saw that particular abbreviation.

potato and cheese kamaboko

Next I saw the manatees in a separate, special manatee area. They were a mother and son.

There was feeding back at the tropical fish display within the main aquarium, so I returned to watch.

frenzy

This fish changes color when it eats!

Unfortunately, I came to the second feeding of the day, so the fish was already in its post-feeding state. When I asked the woman who gave the presentation how quickly the color would change, she said almost immediately after it ate. Apparently the change only take a minute or two to complete. She also told me it depends on the day, though. I wish I had seen it happen!

post-food

feeding time

There was a presentation above a huge tank with 甚平鮫 (jinbeizame, whale sharks) and other creatures. It was an impressive tank and I learned that females can be pregnant with even 300 babies at a time. Amazing!

whale shark

from the side

tank from above

whale shark from above

and from below

Took some random photos.

seahorse

シャコガイ (shakogai, giant clam)

anemone

There was a shark research lab... well Japan, this is a bit morbid. Children you are just taking apart that shark.

pretty cool

There was a small turtle exhibit separate from the main aquarium, too.

Once I got my fill of Churaumi Aquarium I made my way home on the bus. A sweet lady at the bus stop seemed worried that I was sitting in the sun and let me share her parasol, it was very kind of her. I slept most of the way home on the bus. The views were very nice from the bus, too.

ocean from the bus

A good day deserves a beer tasting, so I grabbed a beer I'd never tried from the convenience store. It wasn't half bad, fortunately. It's a limited release, too!

旨み (umami, umami), 香り (kaori, nose), 苦み (nigami, bitterness), ボディ (bodi, body)

限定 (gentei, limited)
醸造 (jyouzou, brewing)

I had such an amazing day! Everyone should go see Churaumi Aquarium if presented with the chance.