Okinawa
Traditions for a Dojo New Year
The New Year in Japan is a time of renewal and celebration, just like in other countries. At our dojo, we enjoy special traditions for entering a dojo new year together. Our traditions come from Japanese culture and martial arts. LAST CLASS BEFORE A DOJO NEW YEAR One way that we celebrate a dojo new…
Read MoreThe Okinawan Sweet Potato
The Okinawan sweet potato was one of the few things that I missed out on when we visited Okinawa. There, purple sweet potatoes are a part of the culture in the cooler months of autumn and winter. Small trucks with ovens on the back go around selling fresh roasted sweet potatoes. I hear they are…
Read MoreVeggies Please! How to Increase Vegetables
Okinawan elders live longer, more physically active lives well into old age. And later they spend less years in nursing homes at the end of life. One of the things that helps them keep robust physical health is their diet. And the most obvious difference in nutrition? Okinawans traditionally eat a lot more veggies than…
Read MoreVegetables of Okinawa: Top 10
The traditional Okinawan diet had over seven times more vegetables than the modern American diet. Why does this matter? Many tout the diet of elders in Okinawa as one of the main reasons they live active, healthy lives to over 100 years old. The biggest difference in nutrition? Okinawans traditionally fill up on vegetables (instead…
Read MoreOKINAWA TRIP 21: GRAND FINALE
By Jenifer Tull-Gauger On the first leg of our Okinawa trip, we stopped overnight in Hawaii, and got to witness a beautiful sunset along with a rainbow. That night inspired this haiku: Waikiki sunset! tourists clamor in the street soba in bellies Here are two highlights of our trip on video, as promised. These kata…
Read MoreOKINAWA TRIP 18: ON THE ROAD FROM NAHA
By Jenifer Tull-Gauger I enjoyed comparing and contrasting the everyday things like road workers and signs. Naha: the city’s road sites adjacent to Shuri Castle: I found this interesting: the center high-rise is completely covered in tarps as they do construction on it: This elf sign adorned several locations that we saw on the road. …
Read MoreOKINAWA TRIP 17: SHURI CASTLE
By Jenifer Tull-Gauger On Saturday, July 4th, we went to Shuri Castle, in the capitol city of Naha. There were a lot of (mostly) Asian tourists there, and it was fairly crowded. Our hosts worked their magic with the attendants in the full parking garage and finagled enough parking for our whole group. Shuri Castle…
Read MoreOKINAWA TRIP 16: SHOPPING, RELAXING & PR
By Jenifer Tull-Gauger The huge sign, above, bordered a large, open park. We stopped at a large grocery store so we could go shopping for food to grill at the Wray’s. Amy had told us about such fruit pictured below. Now we finally got to see it with our own eyes. They sell premium fruit…
Read MoreOKINAWA TRIP 15: NAKIJIN CASTLE
By Jenifer Tull-Gauger Nakijin Castle was to be our northernmost Okinawa destination. As we got close, we stopped in a convenience store to buy our lunch. Once again, as in several other stores, the bento box-type perishable foods were displayed at room temperature. This included all types of meat, pasta salad, rice, goya chample, eggs,…
Read MoreOKINAWA TRIP 14: OCEAN EXPO PARK
By Jenifer Tull-Gauger Thursday morning, we drove north to Ocean Expo Park located on the Motobu Peninsula. The highway was fairly scenic, but the overcast weather and early hour kept lulling me to sleep on the ride. Then, as we neared the park, the road went up the coastline. I tried to psyche myself up…
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