#iejima

[maichi-maichi]

2020.3.21　友人

一緒に夕日を見に行ってくれた友人。今回は珍しくコントラストを下げ気味。

[tooruhyung]

Even a workday is a funday!

Note: this is about the 4th time i start to write this because Tumblr kept fucking me over.... so please appreciate my dedication to delivering. So yesterday started off really well, probably because i was very energized after my free day. But by 6.55 we were done with feeding and cleaning the horses so i felt very accomplished. Any day i am already done with stuff by 7 am is a good day! So after breakfast we headed back to the ranch around 9 but popped in the school to hand Asuka her sportswear because she forgot it at home. However it turns out it was open day. So the parents could visit classes. And yes, Makiko-san asked if i can go and see it too. So yeah, I observed Japanese junior high life up close. First there was the first-years (Asuka is in first year too) doing a speech and the second-years and the parents being the audience. They were really good and cute tbh. It was about a mountain and how the god of the mountain made sure it lives well. After the speech the sensei asked Makiko-san’s feedback and she complimented everyone. Then a shocking thing happened. The sensei asked me to introduce myself and give my opinion. In front of about 45 kids, 5 teachers and a few parents. In Japanese. This was the biggest audience i had to do jikoshokai to ever and it made me embarrassed as heck. But I managed and I complimented the kids and they looked very happy cute and pleased. I truly felt like an extraterrestrial specimen in the school tho. Like the kids were VERY interested in the long legged blond new person who was just wandering around their school. Kids were practically hanging out from classrooms to see me and i heard a kid say 'sugee' (basically cool) seeing me. And a random very cute lil boy just came up to me to say hi. It was hella adorable. But it also made me very very self conscious. A very weird but cute experience. I could check out the whole school which was very cool! The science room, library, classrooms and the nursery too. I love how this is something most tourists can't do yet i was able to. Then we went to see Asuka-chan's sports class. It was really fun the kids were enjoying it a lot. And so was I. I mean hearing a 'Hinata ikeeee!!' irl was to live for (all those haikyuu feels, I admit to be a weeb) I totally enjoyed visiting the school, overall it was less organized and strict than what I imagined, but in a good way! I still kind of wish I could be a japanese school girl... Anyways after that we went to tend to the horses and then lunch and at 2 back to the horse park because we were supposed to have 2 experienced customers coming. But they didn't catch the ferry so they canceled but we only learned this when we already put the saddles on the horses and all. Sooo, Makiko-san asked if I wanted to go on a ride instead of the customers! I was so happy! So for about an hour i could ride on Ouji my favorite horse around the camping site and on the beach. It wa really nice, I wasn't even led but I could control Ouji myself and ahhhhhh i loved it so much!!! So so much! Yesterday was very hot, like 41 celsius degrees but luckily we had wind. But in the end I washed the horses to cool them down a bit. Today it's hot again, around 37 celsius and no wind. I will probably suffer a lot hahaha. Also yesterday i lost my bracelet and my earphones. I don't know how I managed all this but yeah. I still have my headphones and I bought super cheap earphones in daiso because the apple earpods were already misbehaving, but it's a pain because I can't use those for skype calls and I can't control the volume either. But oh well. Today I don't know my agenda but I would love to go get some coconut milk with tapioca from the combini. That's my goal for today. Aim big, right?

[jesiluv]

papaya trees on iejima flickr

[tobykendzierski]

🏝 Ie Island #伊江島 #伊江ビーチ #iejima #ieisland (at Iejima) https://www.instagram.com/p/CT6BL88vD_A/?utm_medium=tumblr

[bluehabu]

Santa Maria Wins Big! The “Best Japanese Rum”, according to the 1st Annual Tokyo Wine and Spirits Competition, is none other than Santa Maria Rum from Ie Jima.

[tjaich]

Protest and Peace on Iejima

While in Okinawa with the Okinawa Memory Initiative, I had the opportunity to go with a group of researchers to Iejima (pictured above), an island sitting just off the coast of Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa. This island is of great historical and political significance to Okinawa because it was the birthplace of the peaceful resistance of local Okinawans against the presence and expansion of U.S. military bases in the post-World War Two period.

In the early 1950s, a local Iejima farmer named Ahagon Shoko led other members of the island community in protest against the expansion of American air strips across the island. His movement became highly influential in the land protests which continued across Okinawa, and we got to visit a peace museum on Iejima which memorialized the anti-base struggle he led (pictured above). Ahagon was also a Christian and a woman we interviewed at the museum who knew him personally was able to tell us all about his personal beliefs which he predominantly kept out of his career in the anti-base movement. That being said, Ahagon’s collection of images that he published in his piece The Island Where People Live depict other protesters utilizing biblical, Christian symbols in their demonstrations against the American occupying forces. 

We also got to visit Ahagon’s resting place while we were on Iejima (pictured in both images above, covered with phrases about peace). Ultimately, Ahagon’s movement was quite successful. Unlike many of the large bases in Okinawa, such as Kadena or Futenma, the base at Iejima has been reduced by quite a large portion over the years and one can now go visit an abandoned U.S. military airstrip. 

Iejima is now, as it once was, an island that is mainly agricultural. There was sugarcane all around us when we were there, and the bright blue sea and sky built natural boundaries to the island’s lush green radiance. 

The past protests in Okinawa sprouted out of Iejima, and perhaps it will also be the place from which peace is achieved for the Ryukyus in the future.

[miwa505]

#iejima in the far left. #okinawa #chulaumi (at Minnajima)

[tooruhyung]

Fun things observed during typhoon time

So while i was sitting sideline to a storm of winds of 210 km/h (that's equivalent to a category 4 hurricane btw) i had plenty of time to observe the lesser facts of life here. First of all, my face is very small. Asuka asked me a total of 3 times if all Hungarians have so small faces. Usually before this question she tried to measure my face with her chopsticks from the other end of the table. Considering that in Korea a small face is key element of beauty i took this as a compliment. I like white dragonfruit better than red one. Also pineapples, papayas and mangos all grow around here and they are magnificently delicious. The papya salad Makiko-san prepared, woah kids that was something! Soba-yu is also a great af food although it doesn't sound much like one. It's the water the soba noodles were cooked ed in mixed with the leftover broth. Convenience stores are the cornerstone of the society. Makiko-san told me this story in one of our coffee sessions that once a typhoon directly hit the island Tamotsu-san had to go feed the horses while the eye of the storm was here(so it was calm) after he finished he went to family mart and met THE ENTIRE VILLAGE. at midnight. Uhm I guess thats all for now. I gotta go and occupy my mind with some ridiculously engaging k-drama with some ridiculously handsome korean men as leads. Otherwise I might go crazy just worrying if i will miss my flight or not. Which is fun because i'm plenty sure i go crazy because of the mentioned handsome men as well. Gotta accept my fait i guess!