Standing in entrance of Shureimon, a Chinese language-style picket gate guarding the doorway to the 600-year-old Shurijo Citadel in Okinawa, our information Ai Munakata spoke in regards to the mindset that has helped Okinawans by tough durations up to now. Yuimaru, Munakata defined, is the spirit of cooperating with others on this resource-strapped tropical island, connecting with not solely folks, but in addition the ocean, the forest, and the ancestors.
Shurijo Citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage Website, is certainly one of Okinawa’s most iconic cultural monuments. The advanced with quite a few buildings for presidency capabilities and royal household quarters was on the coronary heart of the Ryukyu Dynasty, the Fifteenth-century impartial maritime kingdom that flourished on Okinawa and the encircling islands for 450 years. In trendy occasions, the citadel went by devastating occasions: first, a near-total destruction through the Battle of Okinawa in World Warfare II, then, a 2019 hearth that razed it to the bottom simply months after the citadel was lastly reopened. A reconstruction effort is underway as soon as extra.
Tales of overcoming tragedy and hardship abound on the island. Positioned nearer to China than to mainland Japan, Okinawa developed a definite “islander” tradition that, to this present day, differs from different Japanese areas. Expert seafarers and merchants, Ryukyu sailors traveled so far as Indonesia and Malaysia, buying and selling Chinese language silk and ceramics for ivory and dyes. The dominion was at peace with its neighbors, training expansive beliefs that honored the ocean and considered Ryukyu as a bridge between nations.
In 1879, Ryukyu Kingdom was annexed, changing into a prefecture of Japan. Six a long time later, it endured one of the brutal occasions in its historical past: the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. The World Warfare II confrontation between the US navy and the Japanese Military lasted for 89 days and resulted in over 200,000 lifeless, greater than half of which have been Okinawan civilians.
This historical past and the resiliency of the native communities will not be prime of thoughts after we hear about Okinawa right now. However on the current AdventureWeek Okinawa journey, the spirit of yuimaru – which underpins the island’s cultural id – shone by time and again.
“Yuimaru is the explanation we have been capable of transfer on from the tragedy of the Battle of Okinawa,” Munakata instructed me. She based Okinawa-based tour operator, Tour Designers, with a mission to revitalize native communities by tourism-based initiatives. As we speak, her firm presents methods to interact with the Okinawan residents by experiences like this postwar reconstruction strolling tour or this e-bike tour by sugar cane fields, a standard crop of the island.
Maybe what little is showcased about Okinawa in widespread tradition comes from the 2023 Netflix present, Reside to 100: Secrets and techniques of the Blue Zones. Certainly, Okinawa joins 4 different areas worldwide – Icaria in Greece, Sardinia in Italy, Nicoya in Costa Rica, and Loma Linda in California – as one of many official Blue Zones the place folks are inclined to stay the longest.
The Blue Zones mission identifies 9 key rules to residing a protracted and wholesome life. It contains “the same old suspects” we’ve come to affiliate with health-oriented outcomes: a plant-based weight-reduction plan, bodily motion all through the day, and practices to assist handle stress. In Okinawa, there may be one other component: a robust sense of neighborhood, maintained by rules just like the yuimaru and traditions just like the moai, a daily neighborhood gathering to share food and drinks and verify in on one another.
The yuimaru spirit was evident within the mission of Kanucha Bay, a resort that serves because the gateway to exploring Yambaru Nationwide Park, a UNESCO Pure World Heritage Website on Okinawa’s northern finish. The subtropical forests of Yambaru are residence to many uncommon endemic species just like the Okinawan rail, an elusive flightless hen that was solely found to science within the Nineteen Eighties. The 640-acre resort rents land from the area people and runs actions within the surrounding villages, together with farming with the only keeper of Indigenous plant varieties or enjoying gateball, a croquet-like sport widespread within the area. “It’s crucial for us to offer earnings for the area people,” mentioned Akihiro Shiraishi, the third-generation proprietor of Kanucha Bay, “whereas sharing its treasures with our friends.”
Being in neighborhood with folks just isn’t the one option to follow yuimaru. Whereas on a village tour within the Yambaru area, our information Takahiro Oshiro from the community-based operator Endemic Backyard defined that Okinawans worship two issues: nature and ancestors. “We stay in nature. We’re right here due to it,” he talked about. For Oshiro and Itsumi Nakamoto, Endemic Backyard’s founder, this implies coexisting with nature in small mountainside villages, the place Endemic Backyard runs experiences aimed toward getting in contact with the pure world and the area people.
This concentrate on native communities was notably interesting to Laura Ericson, founding father of Laura Ericson Group Journeys, a US boutique journey firm that gives affect adventures across the globe. She instructed me that Okinawa resonated deeply together with her clientele’s need for real cultural immersion. “There’s a rising market of considerate vacationers looking for locations that supply extra than simply vacationer sights,” mentioned Ericson. “Okinawa offered an intimate glimpse into a life-style that prioritizes well being, neighborhood, and religious well-being,” she added.
Michelle Cheah from the UK-based KE Journey Journey echoed that sentiment. “An itinerary in Okinawa would entice somebody on the lookout for a extra off-the-beaten-track journey,” she provided, mentioning that it was a privilege for her to realize perception into the robust sense of id of the Okinawan folks.
“I imagine that household bonding is one thing that mainland Japan, in addition to folks residing in massive cities world wide, are missing nowadays,” noticed Ryoko Taniguchi, a Japan Nationwide Vacationer Group consultant who joined us in Okinawa. “Okinawans remind us of the significance of household, ancestor worship, and spirituality,” she added.
On the final day on the island, we attended a cooking workshop by Yukie Miyaguni, a Ryukyu delicacies teacher who participated within the Netflix documentary and contributed recipes for the Blue Zones Kitchen cookbook. Miyaguni showcased a number of key substances that kind the inspiration of the Ryukyu delicacies. One after the other, we ready umibudo seaweed, a sea grape species filled with minerals and nutritional vitamins, agency island tofu often known as Shima-dōfu, which has extra proteins and wholesome fat than different tofu sorts, blood-sugar-lowering goya bitter melon, and beni imo, the native purple candy potato that carries extra antioxidants than blueberries.
As we huddled collectively to rearrange the colourful pink and black lacquered plates of our freshly cooked Ryukyu Kingdom lunch, passing small bites of black kelp stir-fry, ujira tofu balls, and mozuku seaweed to one another, the spirit of yuimaru appeared as soon as once more. “There isn’t any one ingredient that’s greatest,” Miyaguni instructed us. In Okinawa, constructing robust bonds appears to be the actual secret.