OKINAWA & ZAMAMI
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| Zamami Jima - March 2015 |
ZAMAMI
A few words on today’s Zamami Island.
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| 1945 Victims Monument Zamami Jima |
Zamami is a small fishing port which was prosperous, after the war, thanks to whaling. As of early March 2015 it seems half-abandoned, out of time. The few hundred divers who come to observe whale sharks and humpback whales have not yet invaded the village. Visiting for a few days, the weather being not suitable for swimming and the ferries for Okinawa being stopped because of bad sea until further notice, all there is to do now is to explore this small island of a little more than 6 square miles and 924 inhabitants (3 to 4000 before the war) from top to bottom...
The village of Zamami must have been much prettier before the war (just as all the bombed places in Japan). The small traditional wooden houses must have been lined up along the few streets that went from the port to the municipal buildings. They are now replaced by concrete “bungalow” constructions, mostly unfinished, and partly deteriorated by the marine weather. Most of the recent constructions seem from the 80s. All of this makes it feel like an old communist military base or a dilapidated kibbutz. Along the way, through the forested hill behind the village, we discover an abandoned public park that borders a dam and a water reservoir. It makes one feel like they could be in an episode of "Lost". Going east, along the coast, on the most beautiful beach of the island, stands on one end a concrete tower worthy of a Mussolini mausoleum, a kind of old time electric transformer (electricity comes to the Island by submarine cables).
Around the village there are small cultivated plots scattered here and there between groves of vegetation and dwellings. Old peasants bent in two maintain their cultures, while others, a team of elderly men and women, clean the public spaces. Every day at eight in the morning, noon and five in the afternoon, a network of loudspeakers scattered on the island announces in music the beginning of the day, the lunch break and work end. The Audio installation is also used to broadcast messages of general interest such as the prolongation of shuttle shutdown due to bad weather ... All this obviously in Japanese with acoustic distortions and music like in a Chinese Communist propaganda message.
In Zamami time seems to have stopped... The rest of the island and the whole archipelago are part of the Kerama Shoto National Park, which offers breathtaking sea landscapes as well as coral reefs, lined with sand beaches that have nothing to envy the tropical islands further south. It is well worth a visit if you pass between mid-April and mid-May when the islanders are ready for visitors season. Before that period the weather is harsh, the touristic offer non-existent and the islands almost deserted.
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| Walk on Zamami |
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| Zamami beaches |
OKINAWA
In Okinawa, near the main city of Naha, there are two museums that are worth the small trip to the suburbs:
• To the south: The Okinawa Prefecture Memorial - Museum of Peace:
This museum is important because it brings a counterpoint to all the other peace museums that speak of World War II in Japan. It is both an analysis and the memories of the lived experience of the people of Okinawa. The museum is the only one that criticizes, with proofs, the actions of the army and government of Japan *on the archipelago. Another point of interest of the museum is the exhibit about the post-war period, the American occupation and the transformation of Naha into a suburb of Las Vegas with its drive-ins and green lawns: The american way of life diktat.
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| Peace Museum, Okinawa |
Today, american bases occupy 20% of the total surface of the island, the least inhabited part of Okinawa. Everywhere else is overcrowded. 75% (about 40,000 soldiers) of US forces in Japan are based in Okinawa. The inhabitants of the island would like the GIs to leave in order to recover their land and stop the nuisance of military flights over their heads. The island served as a US base of attack for the Korean and Vietnam Wars and as a warehouse for the Agent Orange ... In Okinawa, war is indeed always here.
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| US Navy presence in Okinawa |
• To the north: The Sakima Art Museum *:
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| Kimono with War motifs - Sakima Museum |
Located about 20 minutes away from Naha by local bus, sitting right on the edge of the American base of Ginowan, stands the Sakima Art Museum. One of its attractions is a staircase leading to the roof of the building that grants a panoramic view of barbed fences and of the American base. From there you can admire the takeoff of the "Ospreys" Helicopters: It must be quite “Apocalyptic” at sunset… The artistic collection of the museum is of very high caliber, especially on artists who worked from the 50's to the 80's and who expressed their vision of conflict and war. One can also admire the exceptional work of the two artists from Hiroshima, Iri and Toshi Maruki, who produced a series of huge ink drawings on the battle of Okinawa. very poignant.
The Aquarium of Okinawa in the north of the island is a haven of peace and beauty in contrast to all these challenging tours.
A must see!
* One bad point though and common in most other museums in Japan: it is forbidden to take pictures, even sometimes to draw sketches! It's very frustrating and pretty stunning in a country where taking photos is the favorite pastime! This is not an exaggeration, the Japanese and Photography make one. Go figure!
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