A Spark of Kindness

Naha at night is magical. Electric lights dance up the hill from Kokusai Dori and twinkle among the stars above Shuri Castle. They sparkle all the way downhill, over the harbor, and mingle with ship lights and airplane lights. Within recent memory, though, the stars had the night sky of Naha all to themselves.

If you grew up with it, you take electricity for granted. It's as common and as expected as running water from the tap. But if you never had it, and then one day you do, you remember that day forever.

In an encounter with an old friend from my US high school days, I learned that his tour of duty in Okinawa in the late 60s and early 70s included responsibility for delivering electricity generated from barges anchored off Naha. On a recent trip to Naha, I mentioned the barge generators to an Okinawan friend.

His eyes lit up. "I remember them well! The barges were anchored off the Oroku district. It was during the occupation, and that's when my high school first got electricity."

"You know what else?" he added, with even more sparkle. "They made a baseball diamond for us, too."

Electricity and baseball, too!