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Introducing
Mystery Class #2
Yomitan,
Japan
(Island of Okinawa)
26.400 N, 127.750 E
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Hello,
and welcome from our first grade class in Yomitan village, on
the island of Okinawa, Japan!
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/mclass/07_02k.jpg)
"konnichiwa!"
"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!
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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.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/mclass/07_02d.jpg)
A
bird's-eye view of the campus of
Okinawa Christian School International
Our
class is a first grade classroom with 19 students. Only 3 students
speak English in their home on a regular basis. Some students were
born here in Okinawa, some in mainland Japan, and some in the United
States. Some of our parents work for the military or on military
bases. Some of our parents are pastors or missionaries. Some of
our parents are doctors, teachers, professors, airline attendants,
real estate agents, and travel agents.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/mclass/07_02c.jpg)
A
view from the side of one of our school buildings.
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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.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/tnail/mclass/07_02i.jpg)
click to enlarge
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.
The village has adopted as its symbol the flying phoenix, playing
on the fact that the shape of the village resembles a bird in flight.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/mclass/07_02e.jpg)
Flying
phoenix
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
green land of the peninsula?
Yomitan
is mostly forest , but it also has agriculture. The bougainvillea
flower grows widely here, and so it is our village flower.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/mclass/07_02f.jpg)
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.
Another important crop in Yomitan is the beni imo, or purple sweet
potato. The town promotes itself as the "beni imo hometown",
and holds a "beni imo musume" (Miss Beni Imo) contest
each year.
We attract a lot of tourists here in Yomitan because of our beautiful
and largely unspoiled beaches. But we also attract tourists for
our folk crafts, including pottery, glassblowing, sugar making,
and salt making. There are several facilities where tourists can
try their hand at these crafts, and take their handiwork home as
souvenirs. Tourists also love to see the Zakimi castle ruins.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/mclass/07_02b.jpg)
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.
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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.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/mclass/07_02j.gif)
Okinawa
is at the center of this map in red;
mainland Japan is to the north, in green.
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.
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Would
You Like to Write to Us? |
If you would like to write us send your note to Mary
san's e-mail here at school, which is: maryd@ocsi.org
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