A few minutes ago Guardian photographer David Levene sent me this link. Just made my day! I will blog more later about the use of audio recorders and taking shots for slideshows, but for now I think I’ll just chill out and smile.
Once you have chosen the car you need to do some paperwork… First the car dealership takes a photocopy of your Japanese driver’s license and, in my case, my gaikokujin toroku shomeisho (certificate of alien registration – a.k.a gaijin card). You then need to get an inkan (personal seal) made, register it at the city office, then bring the inkan and the inkan toroku shomeisho (certificate of name stamp registration) to the car dealership. Also bring your gaikokujin toroku genpyo kisai jiko shomeisho (certified copy of registration) which shows your official address. Fill out the parking application paper, drawing a diagram of your local streets and the exact dimensions of the parking area at your house or apartment. If you are not the owner of the house you must also produce a piece of paper from the housing office with their official stamp to show you have parking permission. Parking applications must be taken to the local police station for processing although your car dealer may do this for you. This is all done to get a shako shoumei …
In 2000, Sefa Utaki, along with Shuri Castle and several castle ruins from the Kingdom of the Ryukyus, was listed as UNESCO world heritage site. Sefa Utaki is the holiest place in Okinawa where the kikeo kimi high priestesses would perform rituals. There are several places of worship hidden among the trees, but the most famous is at the triangle shaped opening. Water that dripped from stalactites hanging from the rock faces was thought to be sacred. Pots were positioned on the ground, and remain today catching the slow drip drip drip of holy water. Tourists rather than priestesses are the main visitors to Sefa Utaki now. I had to wait a while before I could get a tourist free wide angle shot.
First some background… Although I learned to drive when I was 17, I didn’t have my own car. I would pootle around in my mother’s Rover Metro. It got my climbing buddies, Stewart and Jack, and me out to places like Stanage Edge and the Lake District on weekends. It did exactly what my dad said a car should do – get you from A to B. At university and for several years after I never owned a car. It wasn’t until 2001, a couple of years after moving to Japan I got my very first vehicle. For 70,000 yen (US$ 700) I got my very own monster truck. The Toyota Hilux Surf as demonstrated on Top Gear is usually one of the toughest vehicles on the road. My aging Surf, however, was on its last legs, the old turbo diesel engine would whine as it slowly built up momentum to it’s top speed of 80 kilometers an hour. The limited speed was however a bonus as the worn breaks, knobbly tyres and spongy suspension …
A couple of years ago I met David Levene a photographer for The Guardian. It was 5 in the morning and we were both waiting to get in our respective hot air balloons while photographing the Bristol Balloon Festival. We had a good chat for an hour, and I said it would be great to meet again if he ever made if to Japan. I then got in my wicker basket and had my first (and only) balloon ride. It was a great experience and I got a few good photos. A couple of months ago I got an email from David saying he was coming to Japan to get shots for the newspaper, particularly the two page center spreads, which are an amazing showcase for a photographer. Check out this short video to see the kind of work David does. (Then come right back!) David is in Japan for two weeks and came down to Okinawa for 24 hours to get some images of Churaumi Aquarium I talked about in a previous post which …
The Okinawan American Animal Rescue Society OAARS is a fantastic program whose main goal is to find homes for stray and unwanted animals on Okinawa which would otherwise be euthanized ( a polite way of saying killed). I am writing about them here (in a blog that is meant to be predominantly about photography in Japan) because my friends Theresa and Michael saw that there were some labs that needed homes and hoped I’d be interested. As much as I would love another lab, or two or three, Pudding and Bear are quite enough right now. Hopefully, however, there is a reader out there who would love one of these beautiful creatures, and make the dogs, the people at OAARS, Theresa, Michael and myself extremely happy. As an added bonus adopt one of these dogs and you can then come and hang out with Pudding and Bear at the beach! Labrador retrievers are quite possibly the best dogs in the world. They are loving, smart, sensitive, beautiful, playful and have great temperaments (although Bear has some issues). But….. …
Nakamura House is a traditional Okinawan house that dates back to the 15th Century. Its roof is covered with red clay tiles while the walls are made up of sliding wooden panels. The moveable walls can be opened to allow cooling breezes in the summer heat or closed and braced against wind and rain during typhoons. A shisa – lion dog – talisman sits on the roof protecting residents from evil spirits. The house has eight rooms, many with the tatami flooring – the rectangular mats made of woven straw. Some rooms contain artifacts including traditional bingata kimono. The house is located in the northern part of Naha City on the main island of Okinawa. Nakamura House is open everyday from 9.00 to 17.30
I do some freelance work for Okinawa Living magazine, a publication produced by M.C.C.S. which introduces Okinawan and Japanese culture to American military members and their families. I have a base pass so that I can drop off my work and meet with the editors, but it also allows me to use the fast food restaurants while I am on the base. This is not insignificant because it means I can get veggie burgers from Burger King. The only other fast food chain that does a veggie burger in Japan is the Hard Rock Cafe, but the closest one is in Fukuoka a thousand or so miles away. I usually order the medium meal opting not to go large or king size. However on my last visit something interesting happened due to some clever/devious decision making on the part of Burger King. Burger King have decided to rename their sizes. King is now large. Large is now medium. Medium is now small. The portions however have not changed. When I ordered my medium meal, I …
Kluso is playing tonight at Cotonoha Artspace & Cafe in Uehara, Okinawa. I’ve intended to go to one of his concerts several times but something has always come up at that last moment. Tonight however, I will head down south and have a listen. Kluso plays acoustic guitar and his style is a blend of Americana combining folk, country and pop-rock. I will know more after the concert. Admission is 2000 yen and this not only covers the concert but hors d’oeuvres and 1 drink is included. Cotonoha is a new gallery cafe run by an American guy Mitch who has done a fantastic job of creating a great new venue for art, music and dining.
From the 1st to the 3rd of January you can see the Shuri Castle New Year Festival in Naha, Okinawa. Shuri Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an interesting place to visit on a normal day, but it is spectacular with hundreds of people dressed in traditional costumes. Here are some photographs from previous years. The second photograph of the Ryukyu Queen was taken backstage when I was one of the events official photographers.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 