We visited the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Museum & Memorial Park Thursday afternoon, Dick's last full-day with us. It was a bit rainy outside, but the Memorial Park was beautiful despite the slight drizzle.
We borrowed English translation headsets to walk through the museum. The museum covered a brief history of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the takeover by Japan, the events leading up to the Battle of Okinawa, the Battle of Okinawa, and the events after the Battle leading up to present day. It was interesting, disturbing at times, and quite a learning experience. It's always interesting to see things from someone else's perspective. I know it's called a Peace Museum, but it was a far cry from Hiroshima's Peace Park & Museum. The bitterness of the Okinawa gov't/people towards Japan was extremely evident in the first half of the museum. Then the bitterness of the Okinawa gov't/people towards the U.S. was showcased in the second half of the museum. I will say this for the museum - it is the best museum I have ever visited in terms of displays and use of many different type of mediums to drive the points home. I was very impressed!
We did a quick walk through of the Memorial Park, as well. Stopped to take in a number of monuments and look at some of the memorial wall. The gardens there are so beautiful! On our way out, we stopped to get Dick a last beni-imo ice cream cone...Brandon and I couldn't resist the opportunity for beni-imo ice cream, either. Being chilly and wet couldn't dampen our enthusiasm for beni-imo ice cream, no sir! :) We figure getting Dick hooked on beni-imo gives us additional insurance that he will come back to visit us again! :)
Finished out the day by stopping at Taro Tonkatsu for a wonderful dinner of tonkatsu. I had a great combo set with shrimp, chicken, and pork cutlet tonkatsu. The boys enjoyed their tonkatsu sets and tried Apricot Stone Tofu for dessert. Very tasty!
We were sad to say goodbye to Dick the following morning, but we hope to see him again on our island soon! As the sign in Okinawa World says, Dick, "Let's meet you in Okinawa world again" or as they say in Jamaica, "Soon come back!"
---Arielle
