JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

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Some of the local residential holiday lighting displayed on Okinawa this year.

Even after all these years on island, sometimes things happen that are just too funny. I recently went to get new reading glasses. During the eye exam, I was asked to read a chart. The selected item looked like something that might be written in Japanese, but wasn’t clear. So I explained that I didn’t read Kanji very well. The local eye examiner replied in Japanese language, “This isn’t Japanese it’s an alphabet letter.” We both giggled, then she adjusted the lens and asked again. It still wasn’t completely clear, but I could faintly make out a “P”. Giggling I told her it still looked more like a Katakana ”?” to me. We both laughed some more and continued the exam.

Well another Turkey Day is over. Although many locals have picked-up on the Halloween fun, Okinawans don’t celebrate Turkey Day. It remains one of the few strictly American holidays. For weeks now the Christmas glitter has lined the windows and pathways of local stores, as retailers jump from one celebrated party time to the next. And eager celebrators quickly jump in and begin dressing their homes and businesses with the ever increasing array of decorations. When I was growing-up, our family tradition was to decorate the home the first weekend of December and leave the decorations up until the day after New Years, thereby providing for a month of holiday cheer. The locals however have two months of partying (otherwise known as cheers) in which they bid farewell to this year (in December) and welcome the new year (in January). In effect, one ends up with close to one-fourth of the year surrounded by Christmas decorations.

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Since there has been a lack of wind and rain from typhoons this season, the local flowering plants are exceptionally colorful this year.

In an earlier post I discussed how living on an island helps a person to appreciate the little things. One example used was Kraft’s macaroni and cheese. Little did I know, until today that is, that the regular version of the product is almost an obsolete item in the lives of the new generation. Or at least that’s how it was presented in an article in one of my favorite food review sites Taquitos.net. Sometimes a person never realizes how much of a bubble one is living in until something seemingly insignificant pops in front of their eyes.

I just saw the trailer for the movie ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ on the Yahoo home page. Based on the well-known book, it looks like this movie will be a must see when it is released in December. The reality of the situation in modern Japan is Geisha are a dying breed. More often than not, all one sees or can afford nowadays are bar hostesses.

Having lived on Okinawa since 1973, I have seen many changes in the type of merchandise that the island provides the mainstream tourists. Back in 1973 the mainstay of sales was aimed at the American market. After all there were few large Japanese tourist hotels; numerous American soldiers were stationed on island; and the yen rate was 365 to a dollar. The type of merchandise found in many of the “tourist” gift shops consisted of wooden products mainly from the Philippines; such as hands shaped in the peace sign formation and Hotei. Hotei is still one of the Asian Gods that Westerners confuse with Buddha. He is the fat jolly God of Contentment and Happiness, also known as the Laughing Buddha. Another of my favorite souvenirs included the brass Shisa incense burners. These type of “tourist” souvenirs are not seen as frequently as before as the focus of the island tourist industry has been redirected to the water sports industry. I still have those reminders of less complicated times on island and sometimes I miss seeing those simple, but charming, Asian goods.

For those of you who didn’t have Eisa performers in your neighborhood or didn’t get the chance to see the performance, there will be another chance this weekend. First on Gate 2 Street on Friday 26 August between 7 and 10 p.m., then at the Okinawa City Athletic Park on Saturday and Sunday 27 and 28 August.

Last week I was reading an article in one of the online English language Japanese newspapers on the philosophy of “bi” (pronounced bee). The article discussed the obsession with outer beauty and the numerous possible methods used in the quest to achieve perfect external beauty. This obsession with perfection in beauty seems to be one not only of Japan but of the world. I had heard somewhere that two years ago the number two graduating present for female high school seniors was plastic surgery. Personally, I prefer the Japanese philosophy of “wabi sabi”. This is not the green horseradish used on sushi (wasabi), but the philosophy of finding the beauty in imperfection. In Western terms the difference between the two philosophies could be described in does one see the glass half empty or half full. As I see it, proponents of “bi” are seeing the glass as half empty and are forever on a quest to improve on an imperfection. On the other hand, the proponents of “wabi sabi” are viewing the glass as half full and are replenished by exploring the character of what is already there including the imperfection.