The Southern West Islands of Japan, Ryukyu
Friday, April 18, 2008
Known as the South-West islands, the Ryukyu Islands are located in the south-west of the archipelago. The Ryukyus were nominally independent until 1879, when they were made an administrative unit of the Japanese government. Despite becoming a prefecture, Okinawa did not become part of the Japanese political mainstream until after the United States returned it Japan in 1972.
The islands retain the strong sense its regional identity: they were independent for a long time, given short shrift by the national government, burdened by heavy taxes, suffered terribly during the war, and were occupied the longest by the United States.
Among the Islands, Okinawa is the largest and most famous. It is a well known popular destination for the domestic visitors who live on mainland Japan.
In Okinawa, resort hotels can be easily found in the northern half of the island. Okinawa is also known as the home of U.S. military bases. Naha city is located in the southern end of the island where you can find the monorail, airport, and the other city life.
The next island, Miyako, is much smaller than the previous. The good thing is Miyako has beaches with some good diving. Among the culture issue, it preserved some remnants from the native Ryukyu culture.
Another place which are great for diving found on further south: the Yaeyama islands, Ishigaki and Iriomote; both great places for diving.
Some opinions said that the Yaeyamas are the one place in Japan where you feel least like you are in Japan. The perception of otherness is certainly felt by the Taketomi islanders themselves: On the huge map in the visitor center “Japan” is written over distant Honshu in the same script and style as “China” is inscribed below Beijing, as though signifying some foreign land.
Labels: japan
posted by Daniy @ 6:42 PM,
1 Comments:
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At Sunday, January 13, 2008 12:26:00 PM,
Daniy said...
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Thanks for putting your comments. I've visited crescenet, but unfortunately i'm not a spanish-speaking [or portuguese] person, thus I couldn't enjoy what I saw there. But the layout is cool, nice, and clean. Keep it done!
