Sharing favorite finds from across the archipelago
I've long been neglecting the blog and for those of you who may still be reading, I deeply apologize. Part of the summer was spent back in Japan, visiting friends in each of the locations we called home over our eight years. Loose plans are in the works to hopefully be able to return to... Continue Reading →
Every January for the past few years, I've started off the new calendar with a list of my travel goals for the upcoming months. I just took a glance back at the last few lists and I am pleased to say, I've covered a lot of what I set out to do. We did indeed... Continue Reading →
If you're visiting Shuri Castle in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa, I highly recommend you detour just five minute's to the west to the fantastic hands-on arts center of Shuri Ryusen. Shuri Ryusen focuses on the traditional Okinawan art of bingata. I wrote a little bit about bingata itself in a Crash Course the... Continue Reading →
My recent trip to Okinawa and the importance of 2015 as the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II made me want to highlight this relatively unknown holiday on the Japanese calendar. It's not an uplifting holiday, like many of the other celebrations I have mentioned (such as New Year's or Girls' Day)... Continue Reading →
A few of you have mentioned to me in the comments or elsewhere that you were surprised to hear that Ā 1) I actually lived for quite a while in Okinawa and 2) I didn't really like it all that much at the time. True, and true. I'm certainly much happier here in Kyushu, without the... Continue Reading →
Last weekend, my family and I returned to Okinawa. It was a surprisingly emotional trip in a way. We left Okinawa when my daughter was 1.5 years old and returned twice when she was around two years old. But this was the first time that she could form actual memories of the island and she... Continue Reading →
My husband is in Okinawa (again) this week and normally, I wouldn't give it a second thought. (Except to lament how long the weekends feel when you are single parenting! š ) I've made no secret of my .... ahem, lack of love for Okinawa, whose steamy climes I called home between 2009-2012. Yet as... Continue Reading →
When I was looking online for a picture ofĀ Takako and the Great Typhoon the other month, I stumbled across an ad for another book relating to Okinawa - Above the East China Sea by Sarah Bird. As there really aren't many mainstream works of fiction that focus on the Ryukyu Islands, I immediately jumped at... Continue Reading →
Though I didn't plan it this way, today's review is rather timely. Last week, a major typhoon barreled its way across Japan. Though somehow - and looking at the radar images, IĀ still can't figure out how - the typhoon dumped no more than a handful of drops on Kumamoto, poor Okinawa got a bit drenched... Continue Reading →
Bear with my continued Okinawa obsession this week. I really don't know where it's coming from. It's enough to even make me trot off to the grocery store for some goya (bitter gourd) to makeĀ champuru (stir fry). If you've ever tasted goya, you know just how serious this obsessionĀ is becoming. š Anyway, in trying to... Continue Reading →
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