Here We Go Again - More to Sea

  February 28 th  and 29th – “So Rucky in Tokyo”  Some observations from our two days here ... THE PEOPLE:  37.4 million people all dressed in black.  Young and old alike going to work, play, or school all seem to have one color in their closet.  They don’t call it a uniform but almost everyone, male or female, seems to think it is the power presentation of the day, though not nearly as colorful as their anime culture!  Yes, we visited   Akihabara, the unofficial anime center in Tokyo.  Needless to say, we were the oldest ones there! Of all the people in Tokyo, one man stood out to us above all others.   He was our guide on the second day of our Tokyo visit, and he is called Kenji-san, the epitome of Japanese culture to us.   This 80-year-old man took us to the most interesting places, and showed us Japan through his eyes.  Gardens, Old Tokyo, Fish Market, Shopping Markets.  He gives tours once or twice week...

February 24 th & 25 th – Naha, Okinawa "The Hawaii of Japan" Obviously when you are here and talking about Japan, WWII has to enter into the conversation.  It cannot be avoided.  I don’t want to delve into it too much here, but it is also something that the Japanese are aware of too.  A little history. The battle for the island, which is the 5 th largest island of Japan, took place between April 1 until June 21, 1945.  More than 60,000 army and marine soldiers stormed ashore in the initial battle to take the island.   By the time the island was in the hands of the allies there were 545,000 U.S. troops involved backed by 12,000 aircraft and 1,600 ships.  This was much larger than even the D-Day invasion and would be one of the last major battles of the war. The unfortunate civilian population suffered more casualties than either side of the armies did.  Somewhere between 100,000 to 150,000 men women and children perished in the terribl...