The Warmth of Okinawa

If it weren’t for Okinawa, my visit to Japan would have been a depressing one. Okinawa, while still a part of East Asia was different in that in general, the people were warm. When they smiled, it seemed genuine. While not everyone was all smiles, the majority of the people I encountered seemed friendly, open, less judgemental and welcoming. It was what I needed and wanted from a trip.

Okinawa was my saving grace from Japan. No joke.

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I have no intention of ever setting foot in Japan again unless I get paid to do so. While I’m a somebody (We all are), I’m not an influencer or public figure, which means, the likelihood of someone paying me to go there for who knows what is slim. With that said, I feel that I’d only consider going to Japan again only to visit Okinawa more thoroughly.

If I could go back in time and redo my trip, I would have gone to Japan soley for Okinawa and perhaps add on a discounted trip to Thailand from Okinawa. I wouldn’t have bothered with mainland Japan. (An international flight from Okinawa to Thailand might have been intolerable via Peach, though.) It is what it is, though.

There’s something different about Okinawa. That’s a given considering that Okinawa wasn’t originally a part of Japan. There’s a different culture, language (Japanese is used now.) and history. Despite being a part of Japan for some time now, mainland and even overseas Japanese still, without fail make the distinction that Okinawans aren’t Japanese. I get it but if they aren’t, then maybe the Okinawan language shouldn’t be classified as a Japanese dialect since it actually isn’t Japanese either, right? 🤔

Talking about languages… To expect people of a non-English speaking country to be able to speak English is ridiculous yet it was in Okinawa that I encountered both a Yui Rail employee and an airport employee that could speak English without any hesitation or accent. I loved that. It was very different than on mainland Japan where people who could speak English wouldn’t bother to and people that might be able to don’t even bother to try.

Don’t get me wrong. I do understand why the people that can and possibly can don’t bother to unless they have to; their society frowns upon them for showing off even when they might not have any intent to show off. That is one messed up component of Japanese society, unfortunately.

Mainland Japanese tend to make excuses that they’re different from the rest since they’re “isolated” (having been closed off from the world, along with their so-called Galapagos syndrome) yet I find the islands of Okinawa more remote (translation: isolated) and harder to reach (translation: more expensive if traveling from outside of mainland Japan). Despite this, I found Okinawans more “together” and in sync with the rest of the world. One must thank their ancestors for not closing themselves off from the rest of the world and for being open to trade, travel (by ship) and cultural exchange. I find that beautiful. I also find it beautiful that despite dark moments in their past (ex. colonization), they are able to continue being open, warm and hospitable, for the most part.

It’s a shame that as time passes on, Okinawans risk becoming less and less Okinawan. I could be wrong but I feel as though a decent amount may have already become more like Japanese mainlanders “thanks” to forced assimilation and whatnot. I honestly don’t want them becoming rigid, cold and stoic like the bulk of mainland Japan.

I will always remember how Okinawan kids looked at me with so much warmth. For lack of a better word, they weren’t “rude” like many of the kids on mainland Japan. On mainland Japan, if a male tween could sense I was from somewhere else, his entitled self would take a photo of me. For what reason, I do not know. On mainland Japan, if a female kid could sense something was “off” about me from her own cultural norms, she would give me a look of disgust and a good amount of once overs. I do not understand how someone still living off of someone else’s finances can feel so entitled to judge others so openly. You are a kid with a decent amount of time on you before you transform into an independent adult. *rolls eyes*

(While I understand that both kids and adults on mainland Japan have limited awareness and exposure to non-obvious looking foreigners, such behavior is inexcusable.)

The warmth I felt from these Okinawan kids served as a reflection of how Okinawans are as a whole: warm. After all, there’s a saying that how a kid behaves has a lot to do with how their parents/grandparents raised them. Sure, there were some people in Okinawa that weren’t so great but that’s to be expected. I’m just glad that overall, I was able to experience something akin to Southeast Asian warmth here in East Asia.