Comparing Kitum Caves in Mt. Elgon National Park, Gyokusendo cave is truly a wonder. With a total length of five kilometers, Gyokusendo Cave is the longest of the many caves in the south of Okinawa Island, and Japan's second longest. About one (1) kilometer of the cave is open to the public and features spectacular hundreds of thousands of stalactites and stalagmites. See picture left. Water drips from the ceiling and flows through the caverns forming these magnificent features. 
Gyokusendo Cave is located in a theme park called Okinawa World, in Tamagusuku Village, on the southern portion of Okinawa. Geologists believe the cave was formed as the island's native fossilized-coral-turned-limestone slowly eroded from thousands of years of rain and runoff.
These caves have held a special place in the history of Okinawa. Over the millennia, residents have used the caves (which are numerous due to the island's geologic composition) for shelter, as burial places, and as hospitals and bunkers during World War II, and more recently, for storing and aging awamori. The island's southern residents had long known about Gyokusendo, and even used it as a hiding place during the Battle of Okinawa. Please read my article on the BATTLEGROUND OF HELL.
The job of developing Gyokusendo into a tourist attraction fell to the Caveland Tourist Company. Some 890 meters of the cave was opened to the public on April 28, 1972. I was not even born, i think my parents were in the university by then.
Its well done and its worth the entry fee. Remember this is the longest cave in Okinawa and the second longest in whole of Japan. There are well caved metal walkways which allows you to safely explore the wonders of mother nature.
By the way i was so surprised to find a long escalator in the cave on my way to exit, and yet the cave looks as natural as God made it. Amazing!
For Kitum caves in Kenya, i now believe can be developed as a tourist destination, and not just as an elephant salt lick, and housing for the hundreds of bats. See also Shimoni caves in Kenyan Coast, Indian Ocean.
These caves have held a special place in the history of Okinawa. Over the millennia, residents have used the caves (which are numerous due to the island's geologic composition) for shelter, as burial places, and as hospitals and bunkers during World War II, and more recently, for storing and aging awamori. The island's southern residents had long known about Gyokusendo, and even used it as a hiding place during the Battle of Okinawa. Please read my article on the BATTLEGROUND OF HELL.The job of developing Gyokusendo into a tourist attraction fell to the Caveland Tourist Company. Some 890 meters of the cave was opened to the public on April 28, 1972. I was not even born, i think my parents were in the university by then.
Its well done and its worth the entry fee. Remember this is the longest cave in Okinawa and the second longest in whole of Japan. There are well caved metal walkways which allows you to safely explore the wonders of mother nature.
By the way i was so surprised to find a long escalator in the cave on my way to exit, and yet the cave looks as natural as God made it. Amazing!
For Kitum caves in Kenya, i now believe can be developed as a tourist destination, and not just as an elephant salt lick, and housing for the hundreds of bats. See also Shimoni caves in Kenyan Coast, Indian Ocean.Gyokusendo Cave is rich in numerous animal species including bats, birds of prey, fish species (see eel pictured left), and thousands of insects and small mammals. The cave is also a source of underground streams and springs. I would love to visit the cave again.
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