Do the Right Thing (2)

This is what the Japan Times has to say about a new development in the Agent Orange contamination of the Chatan area of Okinawa:

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011


Agent Orange buried at beach strip?
U.S. veteran fears toxin now beneath popular civilian area


By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
Dozens of barrels of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange were buried in the late 1960s beneath what is now a busy neighborhood in the central Okinawa Island town of Chatan, near Araha Beach, according to a former U.S. soldier who has recently pinpointed the location thanks to a 1970 map of a U.S. base obtained by The Japan Times.

The alleged burial took place in 1969 when the area was part of the U.S. Hamby Air Field, but since its return to civilian use in 1981 the area has been redeveloped into a sightseeing area. Nearby today are restaurants, hotels and apartment buildings on a street running parallel to popular Araha Beach.

Do the Right Thing

What do you do if someone is poisoning you? First you want to protect yourself, and you also want to make them stop it, right? But what if, even though you are dying, they insist it's not poison, and they keep throwing it at you?

This is the situation for US military personnel who were stationed in Okinawa during the Viet Nam War era. Many of them are now mortally ill, and they are not getting the care they need.

It will also be the situation for families living on the land that the US contaminated and then returned to Okinawa--not in the original condition, as promised by treaty, but contaminated with deadly Dioxin from the Viet Nam War-era defoliant Agent Orange.

Is the US big enough to claim their responsibility?

Is Japan big enough to protect their own citizens by insisting that the sites be tested and the chemical agents verified?

1800 degrees C

Ryukyu glass was originally a clever way to recycle discarded soda pop bottles collected from the US military bases all over Okinawa. Now it is its own, unique art form. This craftsman is in the process of turning a blob of molten glass into a classy square container.

Mystery Photo (2)

Did you guess the photo was of an unhappy kitchen disaster, namely rice going moldy? That would be partly correct.

This rice, however, has a jolly fate. After becoming afflicted with black mold, it will be mixed with hot water and allowed to ferment. Foam (awa) will bubble up (mori-agaru). It will become Okinawa's signature alcoholic drink, awamori.

Mystery Photo

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How to Make a Sanshin (2)

Did you plant your tree? These are ebony trees. They will be ready to harvest in another 30 years. If you want that home-grown sanshin within your lifetime, better plant that tree now.

How to Make a Sanshin

Okinawa's signature musical instrument is the three-stringed sanshin. Its musical magic comes--not from the snakeskin covering, as many people believe--but from the wooden neck of the instrument. If the neck has the perfect balance of flexibility and solidity, the music will soar.

The perfect wood is ebony, a hardwood that is getting harder and harder to acquire. If you are thinking of making a sanshin, step # one is to plant a tree.