FIVE STEPS

STEP 1

(Step 1)

When the plane from Tokyo landed at Naha airport on Okinawa Island, the terminal bustled with people. In the crowd on this day, a tall fit young man with a backpack jostled toward the automatic glass door. Within minutes, John was in the taxi line, and his turn came earlier than expected.

In about fifteen minutes, the taxi was traveling the road near the seashore, leaving behind the busy traffic of the city center. The weather was mild under a clear blue sky; a warm wind from the sea was blowing gently. John enjoyed looking out the windows at the greenery on both sides of the road and the sea beyond; it was peaceful, comforting for the eyes and soothing for the mind and soul.

The taxi soon stopped in front of a medium size country house near the beach. The front part of the house was a convenience store cum kiosk for beachgoers, and a small eatery with a few plastic tables and chairs. The small, flat-roofed main house, made of concrete, was behind the store along with and a garage used as a warehouse. Surrounding the house was a plot of cultivated land where domestic fruits and vegetables were grown in abundance. A group of chickens, black and white dappled pigs, and a few cats and some dogs roamed happily around the backyard.

When John got out of the taxi, he walked straight to the main door, rang the bell and waited. A man in his late forties with a crew-cut and a short mustache opened the door; he was wearing a loose Hawaiian-style shirt and sandals. With a broad smile, he looked at John for a while as he noted that his handsome guest was dressed very informally, quite appropriate for this area. "John-san! Welcome! Come in, please!" he said enthusiastically. The two men both hugged like old friends meeting after a very long time.

"Hirokazu-san! Nice to meet you! Thank you!" John replied warmly as they walked inside the house of Hirokazu Okinawa, the sole owner of the house and business. Hirokazu was the only person John knew in all of Japan and he was pleased at his host's friendly, sincere manner since the two men were seeing each other for the first time. This Japanese man was the only reason John came to Okinawa.

Hirokazu-san walked John to the room where he would be staying for his time in Japan and left him alone to rest and arrange his belongings for his long stay. During dinner, they were cordial but did not talk much. After the dinner they settled in the living room with a large antique-looking pot of Awamori, a famous distilled spirit/wine of the Okinawan people, made mainly from imported Thai rice. They talked until midnight like lost friends meeting after a very long time.

The next morning by 8 a.m., the two were already on the road in Hirokazu's old Suzuki sedan to see all of the island of Okinawa. The beaches on the perimeter of the islands were beautiful. They stopped to visit the coral rock caves, which the Japanese used for their defense during the battle of Okinawa. They also visited the Gusuku ruins and Shuri castle in Naha, originally built in the 14th century from wood and stone, and used as the palace of the Ryukyuan Kingdom. Nearly completely destroyed during the battle of Okinawa in 1945, they had been rebuilt and restored almost to the original condition through photographs, historical records and memories. In this area traditional pottery, textiles, roofs, and glass were still made.

John saw that tropical fruits, sugar cane, pineapple, and papaya fields were almost everywhere. Most of the houses on Okinawa were made of wood, but there were also many typical modern houses made of concrete. Almost all of the houses had an image of a lion head or dragon on the roof. "These figures are called Shisa, and they will protect the house from any kind of danger or evil spirits. It is the tradition and belief here." Hirokazu explained to John.

When John asked about all the karate school signs, Hirokazu replied proudly, "Karate is the most famous export from Okinawa to the world. It is the birthplace of Karate, so having a lot of schools here is no surprise at all."