Blog #8:Okinawa

    Hello, this is Junsei. Today I want to write about a trip to Okinawa during this summer vacation. Have you ever been to Okinawa?  I went there to see my friends who are students in Okinawa. It's been about 5years since  the last time we've met. I only went to areas adjacent to Naha because I made this trip so suddenly.
    Talking of Okinawa, what images do you get? I can image the beautiful sea, nice seafood, resort islands surrounding Okinawa and the time that makes me feel it's passing slowly. I also can image a samisen. The tone from it is quite beautiful and I feel a great sensation. I once got instruction of how to play a samisen, but I almost forgot. It's pretty easier than playing a guitar though.
    The weather was not so good, it's almost always cloudy during my stay. I went to the beautiful beach and the local restaurants and the local market. Friends taught me some places that are not introduced on the guidebooks, but it's boring enough to let  me feel down.
     At night we enjoyed drinking, I don't like "Awamori" but there were 2bottoles of  Awamori and we were so crazy to try to finish them. Naturally I spoiled the next day because my brain didn't work.

     I want to go Okinawa again. This is so beautiful sea but it's cloudy.

    In residential areas, there're stones engraved words "Ishigantou" in many places. Do you know what this object means and used for? It was used the same way as "Shi-Sa-", I don't know how to say in English, maybe "a little lion-figured object used to save people and houses from monsters". The monsters were not able to turn left or right at the corner, so people in Okinawa built these stones at the corner in residential areas. So if you find this stone in the city, maybe that city was built in the place where there was once an old residential area. (Because it's not good to break this stone)