Traveling Okinawa with a broken heart

This week on Deep Dive we get contributing author and photographer Lance Henderstein to learn us his article on touring Okinawa through the wet season.

Hosted by Shaun McKenna and produced by Dave Cortez.

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Shaun McKenna 0:09

Welcome to Deep Dive from The Japan Occasions, I’m Shaun McKenna. We’re doing one thing a bit of completely different this week. Earlier this summer time, one among our contributing writers and photographers, Lance Henderstein, went all the way down to Okinawa on task. He needed to journey the prefecture’s southernmost islands by ferry, nevertheless it was at a time when the area was being hit with tons of rain. One of many results of local weather change one which has hit Japan actually laborious has been heavier downpours attributable to rising temperatures. We have been sort of considering, what if we do journey tales that simply take as a right that there is going to be a whole lot of rain at your vacation spot. Nonetheless, Lance has his personal distinctive historical past with Okinawa and the story ended up taking a extra introspective flip as he dealt together with his current visits there. The prefecture itself has its personal distinctive historical past, with the Ryukyuan tradition thriving independently from the Japanese mainland. It is a completely different vibe down there, so we took the peace in one other path. Let’s describe among the outer islands as being “a sanctuary for castaways and eccentrics inhabiting the middling in between of self imposed exile, the place anybody who visits greater than as soon as is taken into account to be auditioning.” There’s a whole lot of poetic prospers like that and the way in which he describes the islands and life there. And for this week’s episode, we determined to let Lance inform his personal story. So with out additional ado, this is Lance’s piece as advised by him, “My annual pilgrimage to Okinawa.”

Lance Henderstein 01:45

My legs have been burning. The ferry was clipping at excessive pace towards the island of Iriomote and the warmth of the engine was turning the steel bench I used to be sitting on right into a grill. Fumes have been being whisked out of the open home windows by sheer velocity, however lingered lengthy sufficient to make my throat itch and eyes water. A younger couple sitting a row over watched their screens unbothered, oblivious as we skimmed alongside the ocean floor.

Boarding the ferry at Ishigaki terminal that morning, I had a selection: sit above deck on benches close to the baggage, or head down into the plush, air-conditioned hull. Most passengers selected the latter and have been now comfortably sealed beneath — their heads two rows of silhouettes — I used to be seated above in a tin shack strapped to the highest of a diesel engine.

Consolation wasn’t a precedence. I’d come to Okinawa to journey by ferry through the peak of wet season. We’re taught to despise the rain after we journey. To see it as a destructive. Rain, it’s mentioned, ruins a day, a visit, a marriage, a season. But when we journey to make reminiscences — indelible reminiscences in no matter type they arrive — rain can improve a journey with temper and character.

The smaller, sooner ferries that run between the Yaeyama islands aren’t pleasure boats. Greater than something, they supply the residents of Okinawa Prefecture’s outlying islands, and vacationers like myself, with a fast and dependable transportation to-and-from the primary hub of Ishigaki and locations past.

There are bigger, extra spectacular ships that carry vehicles and cargo together with their passengers. On my final go to, I took a type of grand vessels from Tomari Port in Naha to Kume Island. It was a spit-shined behemoth with non-public tatami rooms the place households splay out and sleep on the ground to forestall seasickness.

I come again to Okinawa every year, touring by ferry between the islands. Not for the explanations most come — the emerald seas and subtropical seashores. For me, it’s a pilgrimage.

In 2019, I used to be in Naha to have fun my birthday with associates. At dinner, I collapsed from an aortic dissection. Because of my associates’ fast considering and a talented staff of surgeons, I survived my first brush with dying.

The restoration at Nanbu Tokushukai Hospital was an extended one. Convalesced, I returned the subsequent yr. And the subsequent. Partly to honor the individuals and place that saved my life, and partly simply because I can. It’s a blessing to have the ability to return to Okinawa, regardless of the climate or mode of transport.

About midway to Iriomote the warmth and fumes of the ferry engine turned an excessive amount of. I stood and teetered to the rear of the vessel. Within the open air the ocean mist swirled, coating every little thing with brine. I took unusable images of the passing surroundings: blurred grey horizons damaged by black, unnamed islands. Then, some passing ships, stacks of cement tetrapods, and the ferry arrived.

I’d been right here as soon as earlier than. My good friend, Aoi Suzuki, and her household run Takemori Inn, one of many few motels right here. This time I used to be staying in a more recent annex, Shinminka Villa, which Aoi and her husband, Ikkei, handle. It’s gained a couple of structure awards for its fashionable tackle conventional Okinawan design. The scale and facilities are meant for {couples} or small households, however choices are restricted on Iriomote and I used to be eager to offer Aoi’s household some low-season enterprise.

The ferry arrived at Taketomi port properly earlier than the three p.m. self check-in. I made a decision to stroll from the terminal to a close-by cafe referred to as Kocha no Mise Hanazumi. The skies have been darkening and drizzling rain, however I figured I may get there earlier than it actually got here down.

Like a whole lot of rural companies, the cafe is run out of the house owners’ dwelling. She gave the impression to be in her late 50s or early 60s, however in Okinawa it’s laborious to gauge. The lengthy lifespans right here on the whole warp the which means of youth. When a century of life isn’t out of the query, your 20s appear such a small fraction it’s laborious to say who counts as “younger.”

After a fast lunch, I checked myself in and rested a bit earlier than heading to the Suzukis. Once I arrived, the scent of barbecued meat and smoke have been already within the air. I noticed a half dozen individuals there to greet me.

We ate collectively, grabbing items of grilled meat with chopsticks as they cooked. The neighbors advised me about making their lives in such a distant place. Many of the males had come to affix the households of their Iriomote-born wives. Almost everybody had side-hustles to complement their incomes. The daughter of 1 couple was in her final yr of junior excessive and felt anxious to depart the small island for highschool within the coming yr.

As we talked, the sundown intensified, blanketing every little thing in an orange and violet glow. Aoi urged we go as much as the roof of the constructing subsequent door to get a greater view. Her two sons, 8 and 4 years previous, led the way in which, bounding up the staircase.

From the rooftop the ocean was seen to the northeast. The social gathering carried on beneath us like a diorama, backlit by the ember glow of the setting solar. The boys performed with a small duplicate of a basketball, like a miniature solar of their palms, and the youngest tried to tug himself as much as get a view over the weathered partitions.

Sunsets are forgettable. Sunsets with individuals who welcome you in as one among their very own, in a spot removed from every little thing, illuminate the valleys of your thoughts.

The following morning, the rain returned. A typhonic rain that fell like heavy blows upon tiny Iriomote. The heavens would pause to catch their breath solely to spill over as soon as once more — every spherical heavier than the final. I stood searching by slatted blinds on the battered palm bushes. A field turtle trundled throughout the inexperienced expanse of the garden.

Held captive by the weather, I used to be reminded of a Ray Bradbury story through which humanity has colonized a wet, fictional Venus. As soon as each few years the continual rain on Venus stops and the solar briefly emerges like a celestial oasis. On that treasured day, a younger woman’s classmates resolve to lock her in a closet as a prank and she or he misses her likelihood to see the solar.

I think about we’ll all really feel the same sense of loss sometime. Already we’ve begun to talk of “regular” seasons of the previous as if they’re myths. “The summers used to start out in June,” we are saying. “I don’t bear in mind a Might this scorching, ever,” we muse to at least one one other over coffees flown in from Ethiopia.

Aoi texted to supply me a experience to the bus cease. When she arrived, we sat for a bit and in contrast midlife notes. She needed to journey, however was now a mom of two with familial obligations. It’s a standard lament. Those that are settled lengthy to flee. Those that are rootless think about the counterlife we’d have had, moored to hometowns, to lifelong associates, to households and youngsters we don’t have. In actuality, most of us would by no means commerce our present lives for our fantasies if given the possibility — counterfactuals are the fodder of discontent.

I boarded the bus and headed north to Uehara to remain at Guesthouse nesou, which opened final yr. It was newer and extra fashionable than I anticipated. The couple working it, Raita and Aya Tsuchihashi, are transplants to Iriomote and self-proclaimed “Japanese hippies.”

I dropped my baggage and Raita led me down a forest path that opened as much as the secluded Nakano Seaside. From the shore he identified Hatoma Island throughout the ocean, seen by the afternoon haze that had adopted the morning storm.

His face was beaming, nonetheless enamored with the situation of their new dwelling and enterprise. In that second, seeing how proud and hopeful he was, I deeply needed him to succeed. For the couple’s guesthouse desires to proceed lengthy into the longer term.

Tourism is a tough business. As so many came upon through the pandemic, success isn’t at all times decided by an excellent location or enterprise acumen. The Tsuchihashis have an excellent location going for them.

Within the late afternoon there was a break within the rain. I made a decision to stroll towards Unarizaki Park and Hoshizuna Seaside and take images alongside the way in which. I handed undulating pineapple fields, the black mesh nets made them appear like lava flows heading out towards the ocean within the distance.

After an extended stroll within the warmth I wanted to seek out dinner. There isn’t a lot in the way in which of fantastic eating in Uehara and any listed working instances are to not be trusted, particularly in off-season.

I discovered a small izakaya referred to as Hoshizunatei close to a campground above Hoshizuna Seaside. It was darkish inside and I wasn’t even positive it was open till I noticed the aged couple who ran it sitting collectively. The previous man hopped to his toes once I entered, turning on the TV and the fluorescent lights. He took my order after which headed again to the kitchen to prepare dinner together with his spouse.

The small restaurant had an elevated tatami eating room lined with massive home windows dealing with the ocean, however the jungle had taken over fully, blocking the view of Hoshizuna Seaside beneath.

The previous man introduced me my appetizer and we made dialog concerning the restaurant.

“Prospects used to like watching the sundown close to the home windows as they ate,” he mentioned. “However I simply received too previous to maintain trimming these bushes again. Lastly simply mentioned ‘sufficient!’ and let all of it develop in.”

Whereas he was talking I observed a deep purple mild shining by the thicket behind him.

“Is that the solar?!” I requested. I hadn’t anticipated any visibility with all of the haze.

“Yep! And as we speak ought to be a stupendous one after the storm.” He seemed outdoors. “When you run you may catch it! Depart your issues! You higher hurry! Run!”

I grabbed my digicam and bolted from the restaurant, working towards the seashore down the overgrown pathway. Close to the underside an amber-red mild stuffed the sky, adopted by a fast dimming and I knew earlier than I had arrived that I had missed it.

On the seashore I caught my breath and imagined the crimson solar, now fully submerged behind the horizon. I took a second to take a look at the rock formations jutting from the ocean earlier than heading again to the restaurant.

Strolling again to the visitor home it was darkish. An inky, rural darkness you overlook about residing in city areas. I used my cellphone to mild the way in which and felt citified, jumpy concerning the teeming wildlife flying and scurrying by the beam of sunshine. Salamanders have been scaffolding the illuminated face of a flickering merchandising machine as I walked by.

An excellent rule of thumb at evening on Iriomote is: When you suppose you see one thing, it’s most likely one thing, and when you really feel one thing, it’s positively one thing.

The island is about 90% mangrove forest with simply over 2,000 residents residing alongside the coast. It’s not laborious to think about the place reverting fully to nature with out them. Because it stands, it’s a stalemate. And the residents of Iriomote appear content material with their brokered peace, residing alongside the margins of the wilder inside sanctum.

Once I returned to the visitor home, Raita and Aya had been joined by some friends, a younger Japanese couple staying on the guesthouse, and an older native couple with a child. All have been, for lack of a greater phrase, hippies. I joined them sitting across the half-eaten pizza on the ground of the frequent space.

Earlier than lengthy Aya had introduced out her assortment of crystal prayer bowls, working a mallet across the edges to create tones in diverse keys. To not be outdone, Raita went to get a didgeridoo.

Iriomote is a sanctuary for castaways and eccentrics. Aside from the toddling child, nobody within the room was born on the island. Anybody who comes greater than as soon as is taken into account auditioning. Even the outsiders who transfer listed here are regarded as non permanent till confirmed in any other case — emigres inhabiting the middling in-between of self-imposed exile.

Raita completed enjoying. After the vibration light out, one among two ladies from Nagano broke the silence by asking me why I had come to Iriomote once more.

“Actually, I don’t know,” I answered, not eager to spoil the temper with my story of a damaged coronary heart.

The daddy of the kid spoke with out wanting up, as if sharing some irrefutable reality: “You have been fated to return right here, can’t struggle it.”

That evening I used to be awoken at round 3 a.m. by a symphony of frogs. I went to the window and opened it to get a greater hear and determined to file it. A refrain of 1000’s of frogs oscillated in my ears, mirroring the drone of the devices earlier. I imagined Raita as an amphibious didgeridoo conductor in the midst of a frog orchestra within the jungle — it was late.

The following morning I missed the bus. I used to be meant to journey to Taketomi Island to interview photographer Akiko Mizuno, who has been residing on the island for 20 years. I had already rescheduled as soon as as a consequence of a personal ceremony there. Each inn on Taketomi Island had mentioned the identical factor once I referred to as: “We’re closed for the matsuri.” Even Akiko wasn’t conscious there was a personal pageant just for these born on the island.

I must return to Ishigaki for the evening and go to Taketomi Island the subsequent day. Aya gave me a experience to the port in Uehara.

That night in Ishigaki, with no plan and dodging intermittent sunshowers, I made a decision to have dinner at a conventional izakaya referred to as Paikaji. I took a seat on the counter and ordered an assortment of Okinawan requirements: deep-fried gurukun (banana fish), shima-dōfu (Okinawan-style tofu), umibudō (sea grapes) and an Orion beer. An older man sitting two seats down received my consideration and complimented my digicam. Older guys are usually into the gear, however he simply needed an in to speak.

Realizing I may converse Japanese, he moved a chair nearer and started exhibiting me footage of his sojourns all over the world. Deep sea fishing in Ishigaki. Searching deer and bear in Hokkaido. Visiting a gun vary with an American good friend in New York — be it cameras or weapons, the man positive favored to shoot issues.

His face wore the palsied indicators of a stroke, accentuated by the truth that he was now very drunk. Mid-conversation he abruptly stopped and proclaimed that he would “quickly go to heaven.”

I mentioned, “Me too.”

Possibly he thought I used to be joking or simply clumsily dodging an uncomfortable subject. I feel he anticipated me to ask him why. I kept away from exhibiting him the scars on my chest to clarify. A lull fell over our dialog. Our wry smiles appeared to verify we shared one thing unstated — a liminal proximity to dying and to dwelling.

We shared one other bottle of beer. After some back-and-forth he excused himself, paid his invoice and left. Virtually instantly the workers started to apologize for him. He’s a daily buyer, they defined. He eats right here each time he comes again to Ishigaki, which is usually. The pinnacle waiter smiled and requested if the person had advised me his identify.

I spotted we hadn’t correctly launched one another.

“His identify is Terafuku. Uncommon identify. Know what it means?”

I did. “Temple blessing.”

I smiled on the poetry of it.

On the ferry to Taketomi Island the subsequent morning, I selected to sit down within the plush, air-conditioned room with the opposite passengers. The captain introduced the journey time and vacation spot and I felt fortunate to be headed to a brand new location to fulfill new individuals.

I’m most likely happiest when setting off on a journey. By no means too desperate to arrive. I’ve, with out actually planning to, organized my life round such moments. No matter comes after the departure is incidental to the journey itself.

We are saying vacationers select experiences over possessions, however for the really nomadic — those that’ve deserted the very idea of dwelling — experiences are possessions, tangible issues as actual as any merchandise packed right into a bag.

For the dedicated traveler, life selections are an act of curation, a group of scenes to relive sometime because it all winds down. The small print blur and fade, however inevitably, the tales we bear in mind will emerge as the one true belongings we ever actually had.

Shaun McKenna 19:19

Thanks, Lance Henderstein for sharing his story with us on Deep Dive. If you wish to try the images he took for the piece, then please head to japantimes.co.jp. I will go away a hyperlink to the story within the present notes. Additionally tell us what you considered this format, or any of our episodes for that matter. We received a whole lot of suggestions from final week’s episode about hashish in Japan. Lots of people made fairly passionate arguments in favor of legalization. You may get in contact with us at podcast@japantimes.co.jp or message us on X, previously Twitter, at @Japan Deep Dive. And when you like what you are listening to, then we would find it irresistible when you may take the time to offer us a score on the podcasting platform of your selection. Anyway as we wrap up summer time and head into autumn, Deep Dive goes to take a break subsequent week however we might be again mid-October with new episodes. The present is produced by Dave Cortez. Our outgoing observe is by Oscar Boyd and our theme music is by Japanese musician LLLL. I am Shaun McKenna, podtsukaresama.