Okinawa

Okinawa is an island in the middle of the Ryuku Island chain, which extends in a long arc from Kyushu to Taiwan. The whole Ryukan chain is part of Japan, and Okinawa is the principal island in the group. The island itself is long and narrow, about 60 miles in length overall, and about evenly divided between urban and rural areas. Okinawa is surprisingly hilly, with a spine of low mountains that extends roughly the length of the island from south to north.

The southern part of the island is fairly built-up, the low areas being covered by the cities of Naha and Okinawa City, and their suburbs, as well as various US military facilities (which in fact are some of the greenest areas in the southern part of the island). The northern third of the island is still fairly pristine, with much of the original forest preserved and a number of beautiful beaches. Some of these beaches are backed by impressive cliffs, as is the case at Cape Hedo, the northernmost tip of Okinawa.

A fair portion of the rural parts of the island are devoted to agriculture; sugar cane is a major crop here, as are pineapples and sweet potatos. The oddest thing I've seen is herds of cattle in the forests -- apparently, there is adequate grazing among the pine trees.

The flora of Okinawa is quite varied, with thick tropical and subtropical forest being the natural state of the island. Of course, coconut palms are a common sight, but I think the banyan trees are perhaps the most striking trees one encounters here. Other common plants are red and yellow hibiscus, some sort of vine which blooms with a purple flower that resembles a morning glory, something else that has large leaves shaped like elephant ears (taro plants?), and some kind of Ryukan pine tree. There is also a very odd sort of tree which may or may not be a Norfolk Pine -- I've never been able to find out for certain. And there is one other tree worth mentioning: a broad-leaf tree that has leaves that resemble those of the bodhi tree (it isn't that species though), and which blooms with beautiful yellow flowers. The forest of the southern part of the island (what's left of it) is very like a jungle, whereas the northern part of the island is not unlike the woods of South Carolina and Georgia.

The weather here is sub-tropical. Summers are hot and humid, not unlike the weather of the coastal south-eastern United States. If anything, though, the humidity here is even more oppressive, and the sun is extremely intense. In the autumn, Okinawa usually endures several typhoons, the most impressive of which recently was Super-typhoon Bart, which packed sustained winds of the 140-150 knot range. My understanding is that the highest wind gust recorded on the island was 196 mph! I can affirm that it was in fact one hell of a storm. The winds rose from a steady moan to a howl, then on to a shriek, a scream, and at last the sustained wail of the banshee -- it was truly a horrifying sound. And the winds caused windows to bang in their fixtures for hours on end, as though something outside were trying to get in. Very creepy. Fortunately, Okinawans build for rough weather, and in the end, though there was some damage to trees, generally man-built structures were unharmed.

Late fall and winter here are pretty nice -- we get "tropical paradise" weather (moderate warmth and low humidity) all the way into January. Late January, February, and March are cool and wet, and then the nice weather returns in April. The serious heat begins again in May or June. Of course, because Okinawa is an island, the weather can change at any time and there is a lot of variation within seasons. And it is fair to say that it rains a lot almost all year round.

The seas around here are great for diving (beautiful coral reefs) and for sailing as well, but one is advised to take care as there are both dangerous tides and critters in the waters around the island.

Speaking of critters, there are quite a number of remarkable creatures on the islands. Geckoes are ubiquitous, dwelling in trees, on walls, among stones, and also within houses. They are nice to have around, actually. At first, the sight of lizards scurrying up and down one's walls is a bit surprising, but they keep the bugs down and make pretty good "pets." The only drawback is that cleaning up gecko poop is a regular household chore around here, but one gets used to that.

Bugs of course are impressive here in the tropics -- we have all the usual suspects: large spiders, four-inch-long flying cockroaches, you name it. We also have several varieties of snake (some venomous), and at least one somewhat dangerous venomous centipede.

Our bats are one of the top attractions, in terms of the local fauna. We have some sort of large fruit bat (or flying fox) that lives here, which grows to an impressive size, perhaps a three-foot wing span. (Needless to say, these guys are not easy to photograph, but I'll see what I can do.) I can report that they can be filmed -- I have recorded them on videotape, as they like to fly around at sunset seeking trees from which to feed. They can be quite noisy, actually, when they roost in trees near a house. We also have a species of mongoose (not native to the Ryukus) which were apparently brought in to control the snakes; my understanding is that this did not work out as planned.

Another flyer of note is a Ryukan hawk of some kind. These are migratory birds, and are only here in the winter, but they are elegant and quite fun to watch when they are around. I've also seen some sort of white crane, but I'm not sure whether they live here all year round or not.

The people here are quite nice; Japanese is the predominant language on the island, but of course the large US military presence does change the atmosphere somewhat. All in all, it's a good place to live; my impression is that military-civilian tension, while present to some degree, is greatly exaggerated by media reports. On the whole, the locals are quite kind to Americans, and the atmosphere is very peaceful. And while the island is a part of Japan, it has its own unique local culture and tradition; an example is the peculiar Okinawan tomb, which I think is unique to the Ryukus.

Because of the climate, people whenever possible build their houses to take full advantage of the sea breezes. The house that I live in is also well designed for both the everyday weather and the storms.

As I said before, the surrounding seas are dangerous. Not only are the weather and currents treacherous, there are many submerged reefs that threaten ships. This, the local lighthouses, such as the one on Bolo Point are very important.

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Copyright © 2001 Scott Carr

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