| Hit
the "back" button or arrow on your browser to return to
Globe |
Introducing Mystery Class #2 Yomitan,
Japan |
|
Hello, and welcome from our first grade class in Yomitan village, on the island of Okinawa, Japan!
"hajime mashite " Do you know what these Japanese phrases mean? In English, they translate to: "Good Day! Nice to meet you." And we certainly are glad to finally meet you! |
| Our School |
| We are first grade students at the Okinawa Christian School International. Our teacher is Mary, and so you could refer to our class as "Mary san and Grade 1.1". The "san" after Mary's name is an added word to show honor or respect in Japanese. Our school is now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary -- it was founded in 1957! The school is open to students of any religion or race, and provides a comprehensive education for the international community living in Okinawa, Japan. We have students from eleven countries including Brazil, China, England, India, Japan, Korea, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and USA. The school is located in a newly built campus in the village of Yomitan, overlooking the East China Sea. Our school year runs from late August into June.
A
bird's-eye view of the campus of
A
view from the side of one of our school buildings. |
| Our City |
| Our village is Yomitan-san. Yomitan is a village located in Nakagami District in Okinawa, Japan, along the west coast of the central district of Okinawa Island. It is located approximately 28 kilometers north of Naha City (the capital city of Okinawa). The neighboring municipalities are Onna Village to the north, Okinawa City to the east, and Kadena Town to the south.
Our
village of Yomitan has an official population of 38,532 which is
a population density of 1,030 per square kilometer. The total area
is 35.17 square kilometers. Yomitan has enough people to qualify
for a designation of city, but it has chosen to remain a village.The
mayor of Yomitan is Keizo Yasuda.
Compare the shape of the bird's head and beak in the flying phoenix image above to the shape of the peninsula in the photo below.
Do
you see the shape of the bird's head in the Yomitan is mostly forest , but it also has agriculture. The bougainvillea flower grows widely here, and so it is our village flower.
The village flower is the bougainvillea. In our village, some of the people work in farming and fishing, and others work doing food processing and manufacturing, and services and trade. One of the crops we grow and sell here in Yomitan is a flower called the chrysanthemum. We grow this flower here because we can grow it during the winter months with the aid of heat lamps at night, which can't be done on the mainland of Japan. We
also farm sugarcane and pigs here too. Sugarcane is particularly
well-suited to cultivation in Okinawa, because it does not require
significant irrigation, it grows well in Okinawa's soil, and it
can be left unattended for 18 months until harvest.
The Zakimi Castle ruins The Hijagawa River is a famous place in Yomitan, because as you will read below, our island of Okinawa was the location of very heavy fighting during World War II. The Hijagawa River was the site of the initial landing of the Allied Forces during WWII, in the Battle of Okinawa.
|
| Our Country |
| We are located in Japan, even though our island location is several hundred miles off the shore of mainland Japan. We are on the island of Okinawa, which is the southernmost prefecture or state in Japan. As you can see from this map, Okinawa is a long ways away from mainland Japan.
Okinawa
is at the center of this map in red; Japan itself has about 127 Million people, and is slightly smaller in area than the state of California. It remains one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, and one of the stronger economies as well. Like some other nations, Japan's government is called a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. This means we have a monarch, Emperor Akihito , but we also have elected legislators and a Prime Minister too. In contrast to mainland Japan, the size of Okinawa is about 70 mi (112 km) long and 7 mi (11 km) wide, with an area of 463 sq mi (1,199 sq km). In Japan's history, Okinawa is very famous because it was the site of severe fighting between the U.S. and Japan in World War II. More Okinawan civilians lost their lives than Japanese and American soldiers combined. The United States took over jurisdiction of Okinawa at the end of the war. Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972, though the U.S. military bases remain on the island even to this day. Today,
Okinawa is a peaceful destination in Japan. In some locations on
the island, you can watch the sun rise in the east over one sea
in the morning, and then watch it set in the west over a different
sea to at night. |
| Would You Like to Write to Us? |
|
