GYOKUSENDO CAVE

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.

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.

BATTLEGROUND OF HELL

Today August 09, 2009 i visited Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum where in March 1945, a fierce battle never seen in history. This battleground of hell took place on the southern part of Okinawa Prefecture (Japan), a small Island South of Japan. In my opinion it is a price too high to pay for peace!

The battle tagged the Typhoon of Steel lasted for ninety days disfiguring mountains, destroying much of the cultural legacy, and claiming the precious lives of more than 200,000 people. The Battle of Okinawa was the only ground fighting fought on Japanese soil and was also the largest-scale campaign of the Asia-Pacific War. Thousands of Okinawan civilians were fully mobilized for the construction of air bases and encampments.

How did it all begin? In the rush for modernisation, Japan adopted a policy to enrich itself with a powerful army expanding armaments and setting out to invade its neighboring countries. The national war effort escalated into the Manchurian Incident, the Shina-Japanese War and the Asia-Pacific War, in which Okinawa became the last battle ground of the so-called 15 –year war that started in 1931.

Avoiding a decisive battle in the Shuri area, the defending Japanese army chose to withdraw to the southern part of the island to wage a bloody war attrition.

Subsequently, the Japanese troops were cornered at the southern tip of the island and were wiped out. In the end, the area turned into an inferno where civilians and troops fled from one cave to another in a desperate scramble for life. In some caves, Japanese soldiers slaughtered civilians, or forced them to commit mass suicide. Other residents died of starvation. Outside the caves, hell broke out as artillery fire, mortar shells and flame throwers killed Japanese troops and Okinawa residents in masses.

A significant aspect of the Battle of Okinawa was the great loss of civilian life. At more than 100,000 civilian losses far out-numbered the military death toll. Some were blown apart by shells, some finding themselves in a hopeless situation were driven to suicide, some died of starvation, some succumbed to malaria, while others fell victim to the retreating Japanese troops. Under the most desperate and unimaginable circumstances, Okinawans directly experienced the absurdity of war and atrocities it inevitably brings about.

This war experience is at the very core of what is popularly called the "Okinawan Heart," a resilient yet strong attitude to life that Okinawan people developed as they struggled against the pressures of many years of U. S. military control. The "Okinawan Heart" is a human response that respects personal dignity above all else, rejects any acts related to war, and truly cherishes culture, which is a supreme expression of humanity. In order that we may mourn for those who perished during the war, pass on to future generations the historic lessons of the Battle of Okinawa, convey our message to the peoples of the world and thereby established, displaying the whole range of the individual war experiences of the people in this prefecture, the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum.

May every peace loving human being inscribe peace, love and unity in their heart. This should never be repeated.

TAIFU

Typhoon is knocking in Okinawa Island of Japan. (Fortunately or unfortunately its heading towards Ishigaki Islands of Japan near Taiwan, and Taiwan through China.) TAIFU in Japanese for typhoon is a large low pressure system, originating over the Northwest Pacific Ocean. It is accompanied by strong winds of up to around 200 km/h, a rise of the sea level and torrential rainfalls. Over the Atlantic Ocean, typhoons are known as hurricanes.

About thirty typhoons form each year over the Northwest Pacific Ocean, of which typically about seven to eight pass over Okinawa Prefecture. Most typhoons hit Japan between May and October with August and September being the peak season. Typhoons later in the season tend to be stronger than typhoons earlier in the season. A typhoon moves at a relatively slow pace (around 20 km/h), and its path can be predicted quite accurately in advance. Japanese media provides detailed typhoon coverage, informing the public about the predicted path, weather warnings and impact on transportation.

Strong typhoons often bring the region's transportation system to a standstill, with airplanes and trains being stopped and expressways being closed. Yet, transport and accommodation operators are usually cooperative in rescheduling or canceling typhoon affected reservations at no cost. The biggest dangers posed by typhoons are landslides and the sudden rise of water levels.

Typhoon is more less like a tropical storm or cyclone. The term is most often used for cyclones occurring in the western Pacific Ocean. The word is an alteration of the Arabic or Persian word, tufan, meaning hurricane, and the Greek word, typhon, meaning violent storm. It was also influenced by the Cantonese word tah fung (literally "striking wind", but actually used to refer to tropical cyclones).In Greek Typhon, is the god of the winds, who personifies storm thunder winds.

According to statistics, nearly one-third of the world's tropical cyclones form within the Western Pacific. This makes this basin the most active. Pacific typhoons like the one we are experiencing now in Okinawa Japan, have formed year round, with peak months from August to October. Along with is a high storm frequency, these typhoons have the most globally intense storms on record.

OKINAWA: Stocking the Ocean with Baby Sea Turtles

Over 120 sea turtles have been set free to the ocean. This annual event and a very special program of restocking the ocean with baby green sea turtles was held at the Okinawa Expo Memorial Park, favourably known to many as Chura Umi Aquarium.

In my hands is a baby green turtle (July 26, 2009).

Today the greatest threat to wildife is human carelessness, and this alone threatens the lives of thousands of wildlife species around the world. Just like Kenya Wildlife Service, Chura Umi Expo Memorial Park is taking vital management strategies to conserve sea turtles and other marine species.

Mr. Hideaki TAKA, a conservationist at Chura Umi Expo Memorial Park says "It takes about 30 years for the turtles to come and lay eggs on the beach. But today, alot of construction and destructions on the same beach has taken over the nesting grounds of these severely threated turtles."

Mr. Taka talking about the life of green turtles ->

"The nesting habitats have tremendously decreased with little nesting success. This also has resulted in abnormal survivorship of eggs and hatchlings. So we protect the remaining hatching grounds and take care of the eggs and hatchlings too until they are safe and big enough to be released in the ocean," says Mr. Hideaki Taka.

There are a number of substantial reasons why the Green Turtle(s) is under threat today:

1. Threats in the Marine Environment
Turtles entangled in these types of fishing gear may drown and often suffer serious injuries to their flippers from constriction by the lines or ropes. In addition to entangling turtles, longline gear can also hook turtles in the jaw, esophagus, or flippers.

2. Marine debris is a continuing problem for marine turtles

Marine turtles living in the open ocean like Okinawa, they end up becoming entangled in marine debris like tar balls, plastic bags, plastic pellets and cups, balloons, and construction materials, as they feed along oceanographic fronts, where debris and their natural food items converge.

3. Threats in the Terrestrial Environment

Loss of nesting habitat resulting from erosion control through beach nourishment and armoring, beachfront development, artificial lighting, and invasive vegetation is a serious threat affecting nesting females and hatchlings.

Hundreds of Okinawa residents and turtle lovers join in the exercise of restocking the ocean.

• Beach armoring like seawalls and soil retaining walls can impede a turtle's access to upper regions of the beach hence limiting the amount of available nesting habitat.
• Artificial lighting on or near the beach adversely affects both nesting and hatchling sea turtles. It also deters adult female turtles from emerging from the ocean to nest and can derail emerging hatchlings away from the ocean. Hatchlings have a tendency to orient toward the brightest direction, which on natural, undeveloped beaches is commonly toward the broad open horizon of the sea. However, on developed beaches, the brightest direction is often away from the ocean and toward lighted structures.
• Invasive vegetation have invaded many coastal areas and often outcompetes native species. Non-native vegetation is usually less-stabilizing and can lead to increased erosion and degradation of suitable nesting habitat. Exotic vegetation may also form impenetrable root mats that can prevent proper nest cavity excavation, invade and desiccate eggs, or trap hatchlings.

The Okinawa Expos Memorial National Park is located in Motobu Township, where Japan's first International Ocean Exposition was held in 1975 to help the economic development of Okinawa. After the exposition the site became a park operated by the national government. It is a tour stop and a leisure spot for visitors as well as prefectural residents. The turtles have weak shells though, relying on only a relatively strong skin for protection.

ALARMING: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says too many turtles are being hunted by humans, and if the trend continues, they will face extinction.

THE PURSUIT FOR HAPPINESS

The pursuit of happiness is a chase of a lifetime!

It is never too late to become what we might have been. Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Friends are like balloons; once we let them go, we might not get them back.

Sometimes we get so busy with our own lives and problems that we may not even notice that we've let them fly away. Sometimes we are so caught up in who is right and who is wrong that we forget what's right and wrong. Sometimes we just don't realize what real friendship means until it is too late. I don't want to let that happen to me.