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Travel Tips

Where:
Okinawa is located south of mainland Japan in the East China Sea. The capital city, Naha, is within a two hour flight to Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Manila

Where To Stay:
Okinawa Fuji Hotel
Okinawa Miyako Hotel
Naha Tokyu Hotel
Naha Grand Hotel
Okinawa Renaissance Resort
Okinawa Sheraton Hotel
Yugaf in Okinawa
Laguna, Manza Beach, Okinawa Harborview, and Palace on the Hill Hotels
Pacific Hotel Okinawa
Okinawa Oceanview Hotel

Activities:
In okinawa there are so many traditional festivals including the Cherry Blossom Festival, Muchi, the Sixteen day festival, and Harii to name but a few. During the scorching heat of the summer months it is a kaleidoscope of brilliant flowers, dazzling white beaches and stunning coral which makie the islands perfect for diving, water-skiing, sailing and every other form of ocean recreation. Okinawa also has a proud artistic and musical tradition, and is home to many unusual and beautiful species of flora and fauna.

Climate:
A sub-tropical climate keeps Okinawa pleasantly warm even when the rest of Japan is shivering but summers tend to be very hot and humid.

About The Author

Most U.S. Marines are sent off to Okinawa for a year of overseas duty. The island is only 60 miles long and a few miles wide at its narrowest point. Some look at this year as a jail sentence and count down the days until returning home to the U.S. Others see it as an adventure full of ancient wonders and mysterious cultural differences. Being in the latter category, a few friends and I explored the tiny island on our limited free time.

One of our first stops was Nakagusuku Castle, which dates back to 1454. Now only remains, the castle still endures as one of the most beautiful sites of the island. The Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea are both visible as it is one of the highest points of the island. At the southern end of the island, not far from the capital city Naha, is the Okinawa Peace Park, Museum and Memorial Temple. There are over 30 monuments representing peace and atop Mobuni Hill where you can see the tragic "Suicide Cliffs," a monument is dedicated to two generals who committed ritual suicide (seppaku) rather than surrender to the U.S. troops. An underground cave also lies at the bottom of the cliffs where the Japanese headquarters were hidden during WWII. 4,000 Japanese officers and soldiers committed suicide and it took the American troops three weeks to locate the headquarters as it was so well hidden. Thousands of other Okinawans also jumped from these cliffs to avoid the "barbaric Americans" whom they were told would rape and torture them. The cliffs are so strikingly beautiful that it is hard to believe all the tragedy that occured there.

I went with Sgt. Trapp and PFC Darden to explore these cliffs one weekend. There we were surprised with an unbelievable discovery. We crept up to the edge and looked over. The cliffs looked breathtaking with the water crashing over the rocks. It was difficult to imagine the horrible violence that occurred here. We were silent for a few minutes. Then we decided to move on and explore the rest of the area.

"Let's go down to the bottom," Sgt. Trapp said.

We both agreed and then saw the route - several hundreds of stairs winding around the rocks. It would take at least 15 minutes to get down them, but we started along. I thought of the horrible trek back up the stairs, but didn't dare say it. After all, I was a Marine, I should love this stuff.

At the bottom of the cliffs, we climbed over some rocks and walked over the sand. Suddenly, Darden ran ahead.

"You guys, come here," he yelled.

We saw Darden climbing into a hole in the rocks at ground level.

"Gimme the flashlight, Minassian."

I handed over the flashlight and waited.

After a few minutes he shouted, "come in."

I looked at Sgt. Trapp and we both shrugged. He climbed in first. It was more of a "slide in" since the hole was barely a foot high.

I slid on my back through this hole, thinking there was probably nothing in there, but dirt and wondering why we were wasting our time crawling into a hole.

"Hurry up, I found something," Darden said. He handed the flashlight to Sgt. Trapp, who then handed it to me. I paused for a moment and used the light to see what we had crawled into. It was a narrow passage that cut through the stone. I shone the light above me. There was a huge black spider the size of my hand clinging to the wall above my face. I gasped and then swallowed. I pointed the light ahead.

"What's wrong, Minassian?"

"Nothing. I'm coming."

I slid over to Trapp and Darden and was able to stand. I looked at what we had climbed into. The opening was barely large enough for us and Darden and Sgt. Trapp had to duck. There was another wall ahead of us, with a narrow rectangular hole at our waists. It was large enough to climb through and Darden volunteered once again.

"What's inside? What's in there?" we both asked Darden, now curious about our surroundings.

"Hold on a minute," he answered. Then said, "Here" as he stuck something through the hole. I grabbed it and used the flashlight to see what it was. It was a bone. It looked like a human bone, possibly from an arm or a leg. I didn't know what to think so we followed Darden through the hole. It was a round cave barely large enough for us to crouch in. Hundreds of similar bones were piled up against one wall., all looking similar to the one I was still holding, all appearing to be an arm or leg bone.

None of us could speak as our minds raced with what we saw. What was this place? Why were there bones here? Where were the other bones? Why would there be only certain types of bones here? Where were the skulls? Were these the bones of the Okinawans who committed suicide? Were these the bones of their enemies? Were these recent or have they been here for hundreds of years? And mostly, why were they here?

Finally, I spoke, "What is this some kind of weird ritual?"

Sgt. Trapp said, "I don't know."

Darden laughed nervously, "This is really weird."

"What should we do?"

Darden said, "Maybe we should take some of them with us to show somebody."

Sgt. Trapp said, "I'm not taking anything."

"Me neither. It seems sacrilegious or something."

Darden said, "Fine. Let's get out of here."

I placed the bone back down that I forgot I was holding and hoped I didn't disturb some sacred ground and was cursed for life. I wasn't usually superstitious, but I'd never wandered into a strange cave full of strange bones before, either.

We climbed out of the cave and slid out of the passage. We didn't speak of the what we saw, too shocked by it still.

Sgt. Trapp said, "Let's see if there's any other caves." So we wandered through the area looking for another passage. We never found anything and walked back to the stairs - the dozens and dozens of stairs that crept upwards.

When we went back to the base, we tried to tell our story, not sure if we believed our tale ourselves. Of course nobody believed us, or they shuffled it off with a, "So what."

We never went back to those cliffs and never answered any of our questions. I hadn't thought about this discovery for a few years until I heard something about hidden caves that triggered my memory. The day at the cliffs came back to me in clear detail. I remembered the spider, the bone Darden handed me and the mysterious set up of the bones. Then I had to find out what that was all about. So I began researching the history of WWII on Okinawa and why this area was dubbed the "suicide cliffs."

For several hundreds of years Okinawa was an independent kingdom in the Ryuku Islands. They were influenced by both China and Japan, and were claimed by both countries during various parts of Okinawan history. China controlled Okinawa in the 14th century until Japan claimed it in the 17th century. In 1879, Okinawa was formally controlled under Japanese Meiji rule.

This proved disastrous to Okinawa in World War II when it became a key conflict zone between the Allies and Japan. On April 1, 1945, US troops landed on the island and after 82 days of fighting between the Japanese and U.S. forces, the island was captured by the U.S. The Okinawans suffered the greatest loss of life, particularly the civilians. Over 250,000 people died; 13,000 were U.S casualties, and over one-half were Okinawan civilians (1/8 of the total population).

The capital city of Naha on the southeast end of the island was completely destroyed by bombing in October of 1944, six months before U.S. forces landed on the island. During the fighting, Japanese forces were dislodged out of Shuri Castle, an ancient area long inhabited by Okinawan rulers throughout history. The castle was destroyed (today a replica stands there) and the soldiers were forced to the southern cliffs where most jumped to their deaths rather than surrender.

Upon hearing that American "demons" would torture and kill their prisoners, many Okinawans committed suicide to face their death honorably rather than suffer at the hands of the enemy. Mothers jumped holding their children to save them both from severe cruelty.

There is a story of a schoolteacher who took her class out to the cliffs on June 19, 1945. They were dressed in uniform and sang their anthem before jumping off the cliffs. A monument is now dedicated to them at this site at Humeyuri-no-to.

The Americans were not the sole cause of death among the Okinawans. Some Japanese soldiers murdered Okinawan civilians for food and shelter. Overall, Okinawa was in a vulnerable position and became a pawn in World War II, suffering innumerable losses.

Looking back to that day at the cliffs, I can only speculate. The arrangement of particular bones was so peculiar that I can only think it was ritualistic. But who these people were and why they were here I will never know. I wonder if anyone else ever stumbled upon it. I wonder what would happen if we had told our officers, and not just the sergeants, about this. Would it be investigated or covered up? Did they already know about it? What if this had nothing to do with WWII? Anything was possible. I've never been able to find an explanation for our discovery and am sure I will spend the rest of my life wondering about the mystery of that secluded cave.