Every day at 5.00 pm a chime
rings out in my local ward of Tokyo. It’s a peaceful 30-second motif
played from speakers positioned on top of various tall buildings. Each of
the 23 wards of Tokyo has its own unique chime. The chime marks the end
of the day and can be heard clearly whether I’m in the office, in the park or
at home. Today, the 5.00 pm chime not only signifies the end of the day,
but the end of my time in Japan.
After 1 year, 1 month and 20
days, my time is up.
During this time, I think
I have experienced more things than I have in the previous five years combined! Stretching for 2,892 km from the snows of
Hokkaido to the tropics of Okinawa, there is so much to enjoy in Japan.
Of all my memories of Japan,
my fondest will certainly be of the people I have met here. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and
kind, particularly at my workplace in Tokyo.
All of my colleagues have been utterly fantastic. I honestly don't think I have thanked them enough for this. I now feel inspired to
adopt “Japanese levels” of kindness when I return to Australia!
For the last time, thank you
for reading and take care.
Our Man in Japan
Above: A video of the chime in my local ward of Tokyo. Shiroyama Plaza Garden, Kamiyacho, Tokyo.
Last week, I made my final internal trip within Japan. Given it was my last trip (for now!), I
wanted to go as far afield as I could while still remaining in Japan. So, I headed to the most south-western edge
of Japan—Yonaguni Island.
Okinawa, in brief
Yonaguni Island is located in Okinawa Prefecture (“Okinawa”). Okinawa is a collection of islands spreading
south-west of Japan for over 1,000 km. This
was my third trip to Okinawa. I have
developed quite an interest in this region which is so different to the rest of
Japan.
Okinawa is a world of tropical humidity, sugar cane,
pineapple plantations and some of the darkest looking Japanese people you will
ever see. It certainly doesn’t fit with
the typical image of Japan!
A typical image of Okinawa. No Mt Fuji or cherry blossoms to be seen!
For centuries, the islands of Okinawa were a separate
country called Ryukyu. Culturally,
Ryukyu was heavily influenced by China and had its own language. In the early 1600s, Ryukyu was invaded and
conquered by Japanese clans from the southern regions of the Japanese main
islands. In the late 1800s, Ryukyu was
renamed Okinawa. During WWII, the main
island of Okinawa was subject to fierce fighting and was significantly
damaged. Following WWII, the US occupied
Okinawa up until 1972 when it was returned to Japan.
Vestiges of Okinawa’s history are still visible today. I think that the Chinese influence can still
be found in Okinawan food, which is decidedly different to the cuisine of the
rest of Japan, and Okinawan architecture.
In relation to architecture, almost every house in Okinawa has two
statutes of lions, called shisa, at
its entrance. I’m no expert on Chinese
culture, but shisa look decidedly
like Chinese dragons to me (please see photo).
The shisa is like a symbol of
Okinawa. Shisas of all sizes are sold at souvenir shops and a shisa is the emblem of the local
airline, Ryuku Air Commuter. The US
influence in Okinawa is still considerable given the number of US military personnel
stationed there. On my second trip to
Okinawa, I stayed in a region called Chatan which is right next to the largest
US base and filled with US military personnel.
Chatan is sometimes even referred to as Okinawa’s California!
A large shisa in Naha, Okinawa
A shisa on the tail of a Ryukyu Air Commuter plane.
Aside from the above distinctive characteristics, Okinawa
has two other claims to fame: (i) it invented karate and (ii) Okinawans (on average)
live longer than people from other parts of Japan. Given that longevity and karate are two
things often associated with Japan, Okinawa is in some ways very Japanese while in other ways, not Japanese at all.
The south-west corner of Okinawa
The most western point of Japan. Next stop, Taiwan!
Getting back to my trip to the south-west corner of Japan, I
flew to Yonaguni which is the most western island of Okinawa and Japan.
Yonaguni is 2,100 km from Tokyo and metaphorically 1,000
miles away! The island has a population
of approximately 1,500 people, few facilities and a circumference of about 30
km. The most western point of Yonaguni,
which is also the most western point of Japan, is a mere 108 km from
Taiwan. On a clear day, you can see
Taiwan in the distance.
The most southern point of Japan. Next stop, the Philippines!
In addition to Yonaguni, I travelled to Hateruna Island
which is slightly further south than Yonaguni and the most southern island of
Japan. Hateruna is even smaller than
Yonaguni having a population of approximately 600 people. The most southern point of Hateruna is a
rocky coastline battered by the Philippine Sea.
This is Japan’s “Land’s End”.
From here, the next stop is the Philippines. The northern side of Hateruna is decidedly
different featuring a beautiful white sand beach called Nishihama, which is a major attraction for visitors.
When visiting Hateruna, I felt as if I had truly reached the
end of Japan. The cedar forests and
rugged snow-capped mountains of Japan’s main islands had been replaced by pale
blue seas, coral reefs and suffocating humidity. If I went any further, what remanents there were
of Japan would quickly be replaced by the geography and culture of the South
Pacific.
Nishihama Beach on Hateruna Island.
The southern most coast of Japan is battered by the Philippine Sea.
The Beginnings of Civilization?: The Yonaguni Monument
The main reason I visited Yonaguni was to see the mysterious
Yonaguni Monument (Kaitei Iseki). The Yonaguni Monument is an underwater rock
structure about 150m by 40m. The top of
the structure is 5m below sea level while the base is about 30m below sea
level. The mystery of the Yonaguni
Monument is its origins. Some believe it
is an ancient ruins built by humans, while others believe it is a bizarre
naturally occurring rock formation.
Left to right: Me, Mr Aratake and a fellow diver.
The Yonaguni Monument was discovered by Kihachiro Aratake, a
local Japanese diver, in 1987. Mr
Aratake now operates one of the diving centres on a Yonaguni and captained my
diving expedition to the ruins. Here is
a photo of Mr. Aratake, myself and the other person I dived with. A small number of academics have studied the
Yonaguni Monument, but this has been made difficult by the remote nature of
Yonaguni and the fact that the Yonaguni Monument is underwater in an area which
is often rough and subject to strong currents.
Professor Misaaki Kimura of Ryukyus University in Okinawa
has studied the Yonaguni Monument extensively and believes that it was made by
humans. I have posted an image of the three-dimensional
model of the Yonaguni Monument Professor Kimura constructed as well as one of
the pictures he has taken. He
believes that such a structure is far too irregular to occur naturally. Alternatively, Dr Robert Schoch, a geologist
at Boston University, believes the Yonaguni Monument is probably the natural
result of erosion upon a particular form of rock strata. However, Dr Schoch still thinks it is
possible that this natural structure was embellished and modified by ancient
people. In short,
opinion is divided and no-one knows for certain. Based on the images of the Yonaguni Monument
I have posted, what do you think?
A photo of the Yonaguni Monument taken by Professor Kimura.
The model of the Yonaguni Monument constructed by Professor Kimura.
If the Yonaguni Monument was built by humans, it raises some
interesting issues. First and foremost,
if it was built by humans, it must have been built when it was above
sea-level. This would have been at least
10,000 years ago (i.e. 8,000 BC), which was the time the last glacial age ended. This is very old indeed. In fact, it is during the Stone Age. According to current historical theories about
the evolution of humans, no group of humans was sufficiently advanced at that
time to build something such as the Yonaguni Monument. By comparison, the Pyramids at Giza were built
around 2500 BC and Stone Henge is believed to have been built somewhere between
3000 BC and 2000 BC. The Yonaguni
Monument is far older than these structures as well as other famous ruins, such
as Machu Pichu which was built in the 15th century and the Easter Island Monuments (the
Moai) which were built sometime between 1250 AD and 1500 AD. If the Yonaguni Monument was made by humans,
we may have to revise our views about the capabilities of ancient humans.
Secondly, if the Yonaguni Monument was built by people, who
were they and why did they build it?
Some have said that the Yonaguni Monument may have been built as a place
for carrying out religious rituals related to the movements of the stars. In support of this view, some believe that thousands
of years ago the Tropic of Cancer was slightly further north than it currently
is and may have been directly over the Yonaguni Monument.
What do I think are the origins of the Yonaguni Monument? After diving on it, I am still
undecided. Unfortunately, due to the low
visibility which often exists during diving, I could not see the Yonaguni
Monument from afar and hence could not observe its overall shape. I was only able to view individual parts of
the monument, one at a time, from up close.
To me, certain parts looked like natural rock formations while other parts
looked like the product of human intervention.
My reaction was that this was a naturally occurring rock formation
(albeit a strange one) which has been modified by humans.
If you would like to
learn more about the Yonaguni Monument, you should watch this documentary. It’s
called “Japan’s Mysterious Pyramids” and was made by the History Channel. In my opinion, it is a little over-dramatized
and its suggestion that the Yonaguni Monument may be the remains of Atlantis is
a stretch. Still, it is quite
informative.
In closing, I am not sure if I would recommend travelling
all the way to Yonaguni simply to dive upon the Yonaguni Monument. Although travelling to Yonaguni was quite a
unique experience, diving upon the monument has not given me any further
insight into its origins. For now, the
mystery of the Yonaguni Monument remains precisely that, a mystery.
Tokyo is famous around the world for being busy. Guide books are quick to point to Shibuya
Crossing as (apparently) the busiest crossing
on Earth; Shinjuku station as (apparently) the busiest station on Earth; Tsukiji fish market as (apparently) the busiest fish market on Earth; and depending on
what criteria you use, Tokyo may be the largest city on Earth.1,2
Before I visited Tokyo for the first time in 2009, this array of trite
facts had convinced me that I would be stepping into a world of unceasing
chaos—something like Hong Kong but much worse!
Well, I was mistaken.
In my opinion, Tokyo is a remarkably peaceful city. In fact, I find it more peaceful than my
hometown of Melbourne. I don’t deny that
Shibuya Crossing will be busy on a Saturday afternoon and that rush hour trains
are packed, but that is only one facet of Tokyo, and a facet that every guide
book encourages tourists to witness to maintain the myth that Tokyo is a swarming
bee hive of salary men and OLs!3
I think there are several reasons why Tokyo is so
peaceful. First, I think Japanese people
are very discrete and courteous.
Secondly, many people don’t own cars, which is in stark contrast to
Australia where every household owns multiple cars. However, I think the main reason is the
abundance of parks and “green spaces” throughout Tokyo.
Koishikawa Korakuen in Summer.
Apparently there are over 6,000 parks and
gardens in Tokyo covering over 1,000 hectares.4 I haven’t counted, but I can vouch that there
are many! The Tokyo Metropolitan Park
Association lists around 80 parks on its website but this doesn’t include the countless
small shrines and green spaces.5 I wouldn’t be surprised if the
total number ran into the thousands. No matter where I am in Tokyo, I am only a
few subway stops (or may be only a few hundred metres walk) from a garden, shrine,
park or some other urban oasis. Further, these green spaces aren't bland patches of grass but thoughtfully created refuges that are designed to invoke a sense of peace.
So, if you are planning a trip to Tokyo, please take time
to visit some of the famous parks and gardens.
In my opinion, they’re more characteristic of Tokyo than dodging junior
high school students on Shibuya Crossing!
1. I read
these claims a lot. I don’t know if
they’re really true, but it’s certainly possible.
2. Please note
that the fact that my blog uses footnotes does not mean it has intellectual
pretensions! They’re just so convenient.
3. OL is short for “office lady,” which is like a female
equivalent of a salary man. I think
they’re both rather unflattering terms that understate the value of the work done by many employees. Still, people seem to embrace them almost
with pride.
