6. Islands: Okinawa & Taiwan

Sat, Oct 11, 2008 Okinawa, Japan

The paperwork to enter some of these countries on this trip is unbelievable. China and Japan have had MAJOR bureaucratic requirements to get into their countries. China has already been documented above. Japan’s Immigration officials have required all passengers to be fingerprinted and photographed each time we have come to a Japanese port. Okinawa was our third. In this age of high tech, you would think electronically transmitting records would be customary, but the Japanese insisted we all line up for hours and be re-documented. What a waste of Princess’ staff time, too. An added twist in Okinawa was that before getting off the ship, every passenger also had to be thermally scanned to ensure no fevers or infections with heat sensing guns aimed at us! We spent longer preparing for the Okinawa stop than being there.

Okinawa is a 60 mile long island located 340 miles south of the southern most main island of Japan, and it had a pivotal role in WW2. As the Allied forces cleared the Pacific and began to close in on Japan, they needed a secure major island from which to launch their assault on Japan’s main cities. It turned out to be the bloodiest battle of the war, and there were more casualties in the 86 day Battle of Okinawa than at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. In all, 125,000 combatants and 100,000 Okinawan civilians died. Japan’s army suffered nearly 90,000 deaths – including many to suicide – while the US hemorrhaged some 28,000 soldiers, sailors and Marines in the 86 days – that is an average of 325 dead per day – a staggering total. Many, many more were wounded including a record 35,000 lost to psychiatric combat stress disorders. The materiel losses, too, were massive: more than 750 airplanes were destroyed – a huge amount – and dozens of ships were sunk by kamikaze pilots. The losses were so great, coming as it did on the heels of the death toll at Iwo Jima, that a Congressional investigation examined the Pacific military leaders’ conduct. The losses also were instrumental in the decision by Harry Truman to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki just 6 weeks later.

The US Air Force still maintains a base and 25,000 personnel on the island, and so it has become Americanized far more than Japan proper, yet very few citizens speak English. There are naturally some monuments to Peace and some relics of the Japanese Naval HQ, but the focus of tourism now is the old Japanese Ryukyu heritage, embodied in the . Shurijo Castle – yet another UNESCO World Heritage site, and a restored site of kings from 1429 to 1879. In fact, in a recent resurgence of significance, the 2000 G7 conference was held at the castle. With Steph/Peter, and Sharon/Hugo, we picked up a taxi at the pier for 2700 yen ($27.00) and rode a comfortable taxi up one of the many mountains to it. The site was interesting but hardly regal compared to European standards. Lots of Japanese school groups in uniform, and seniors there on day trips.

Later, we dropped in to a small grocery store and found an unusual array of goods, only a few of which we could decipher! After we bought wine which we carried in a see through bag, we were approached by a local official that it was against the law to have liquor or wine visible as you walked through the streets. (So we removed our clothes to conceal the wine, and proceeded on naked through the streets.)

Naha City is the main city on the island, and for the return from the castle to downtown, we boarded the smooth and efficient monorail line.

That was good; the downtown wasn’t. It was essentially a single main drag that was crass, touristic and disappointing. One positive though is that the Japanese are really into keeping a clean environment. Recycling bins were frequent and visible. All in all, however, this was a 6 hour port stop that was not worth the paperwork!

Sun, Oct 12, 2008 Taipei, Taiwan

Today we entered one of the regions of greatest manufacturing wealth in the world. The island of Taiwan, we were told, is one of the largest creditor economies in the world. Taiwan enjoys a foreign exchange trade surplus of $500 billion. And the city of Taipei, which is the center of it all, looks prosperous. Taipei and suburbs have a population of 6.7 million, and a high density (some 10,000 people per square mile), but there are lots of parks, memorials, and colour. It is hot here, since it is just a few miles north of the Tropic of Cancer, and on the same latitude as Cuba.

Taiwan is the last remaining territory of the formerly huge Republic of China – as opposed to the People’s Republic of China, which is mainland China. Dr. Sun Yet Sen, in 1911, led an uprising in China that toppled the last Emperor - and ended the long history of dynasties which had ruthlessly ruled China since 200 BC - and ushered the Chinese into an era of tentative democracy. His successor in 1925 as leader of the Kuomintang party, Chiang Kai-shek, tried to suppress developing Communist party cells but in the ensuing Chinese Civil War (1927-1949), he was forced to retreat to Taiwan, as the Communist Party under military and political leader Mao Zedong took over mainland China, renaming it the People’s Republic of China. The PRC insists Taiwan is part of the PRC, but the UN still recognizes Taiwan as the Republic of China.

Two of our dining tablemates, Carol & David, from south of San Francisco, organized a tour in Taipei, coordinated by a former colleague of David’s, May Lin, who was visiting her parents here. And what a terrific day it was! So, while a hundred buses lined up on the dock to take the Princess-organized tours in groups of 45 out on their day at $100+ per person, we hopped into a luxurious mini-coach for 10 with a guide personally chosen by May’s family, and were off. Among the highlights in this impressive city:

National Palace Museum – A truly magnificently displayed collection of national treasures showing the development of Chinese calligraphy, silk making, pottery and other arts, with a special emphasis on the Ming Dynasty (1500s) pieces

Martyrs’ Shrine – Several acres of buildings and monuments dedicated to Sun Yet Sen, and the others who sacrificed for the termination of China’s dynastic rulers; we also witnessed the very formal changing of the guard ceremony.

Grand Hotel – One of the top 5 hotels in the world, a few years ago, according to our guide. It still had splendor, from what we could see (although a Superior room was only $250US), and we had a lovely traditional Chinese luncheon courtesy of May’s mother, who was accompanying the tour.

Pao-An Temple – A very colourful downtown Daoist temple. Plenty of incense. After praying for some specific need, the penitents drop on the floor two pieces of wood shaped like large apple slices with red paint on one side. If two red sides come up, the prayer is going to be answered. If not, uh-oh…

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial – Very large plaza and dramatic monument to Taiwan’s most famous leader

and finally…

Taipei 101 – The tallest building in the world at just over ½ km high, with the fastest elevator in the world. It took us a mere 39 seconds to rise to the amazing observation deck on floor 88 (the luckiest Chinese number is 8; the unluckiest is 4, so there are no floors numbered 14,24,34,44, etc). This building is so tall that there is a 660 ton ball on the 89th floor that is hydraulically controlled to counterbalance the wind that would otherwise make it sway.

Mon, Oct 13, 2008 At sea
By crossing the Tropic of Cancer today - which lies at 23° north of the Equator – we officially entered the tropics. Sea conditions remain calm. We have had amazing weather on this entire trip. After passing through the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China, we continued on the East China Sea.