JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

Although not as common as in previous years, water rationing is a fact of life on island. (I know that sounds funny coming from an area that’s surrounded by water, but that is salt water.) As a way to prepare for such a probability, many home are equipped with personal water tanks.

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We must have one of the busiest residential streets on island. Another typhoon condition declared, and another cherry-picker repair crew appears.

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A random shot of a local residential street late in the afternoon on a sunny August day.

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I was taking random pictures the other day and ended up with this unexpected picture of the late afternoon sun’s rays beaming down from a telephone pole next to the former van’s parking space.

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Another rooftop view of the local scenery from in between buildings.

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Another item that was very popular in the ’70s. This particular one was given to my niece, who looked like a Gerber baby at the time, by a salesclerk at East and West Gift Shop (no longer in business). Even though there are plastic versions of this available, the simplicity of this bamboo version of a back scratcher (which is still being used frequently by Hubby and me) tends to be less abrasive on the skin.

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Today Hubby will be taking our van to a local vehicular heaven (junk yard). The van has served us well, hauling all sorts of band and other equipment, for the past fifteen years. Farewell old friend and enjoy your remaining days in the sun.

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This is another of the very popular souvenirs that I picked up, which could be seen in almost every gift shop (and on-base teenager’s room) when I first arrived in 1973.

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NOTE: If you lived on island during that time period and haven’t seen these great pics yet, you should check ’em out:

Okinawa 1970-1972 Created by JRWebb

This little souvenir I picked-up, which was extremely popular and could be found in most shops around Koza (Okinawa City) when I first arrived on island in 1973, is still being used to burn incense every day.

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