Kumejima, Okinawa (1)

Hello my friends!!!

Here I am again…

with another English report of Tamaki Hiorshi’s regular show,

『玉木宏の秘境ふれあい紀行』

and another Journey to one of the beautiful places in Japan!!!

This time, Tamaki san will take us to the most southern part of Japan,

Okinawa prefecture!

Kumejima island.

This place (To be honest, all the islands around this area) is covered with trees and plants!

Beautiful seashore and of course amazing landscapes under the water…

Many different species of animals and bugs…

And traditions and customs…

Now let’s see what Tamaki san is about to find on this beautiful island.

First place he will be heading to,

is a special place on top of a mountain!

He goes up and reaches a long stairway heading to the

“Uegusuku Castle ruins”

He starts climbing the stairs…

And finally… he reaches the top!!

With a beautiful panoramic view of the island under his feet.

Tamaki san stands there and while watching the view,

he says that even though he is in Okinawa,

looking at this view, it doesn’t look like he is in Japan!

Then he says that the many different colors in contrast with each other,

it makes you feel you are in a village in Europe!

But it’s Okinawa… and still in Japan ^^

Tamaki san comes down and goes for a walk around the town…

Then on his way, he finds a shop

“Kamoboko no mise, sukeroku”

selling the island’s traditional food…

(Well their specialty is Kamoboko, according to the name of the shop)

Tamaki san gets inside and greets them…

The young lady standing on the other side of the counter,

greets him back and then another lady (her mother)

comes out and has a cute reaction XD

There are lots of interesting products in their showcase…

Tamaki san looks at them all with interest…

And is surprised to see all the varieties…

since he was expecting to find only kamaboko in the shop XD

Then the young lady (Namie san) prepares some Hirayachi (Okinawan Pancake)

for him to try out…

But somehow the way she keeps the plate with one hand

and picks up one piece with the chopstick…

Tamaki san doesn’t really know if he should take it with

hand or take the chopsticks and eat with them!

Maybe she was planning to put it directly into his mouth XD

Finally he decides to take the chopstick and use them to eat.

mmmm delicious!! XD

Then he points at the showcase with his finger and asks

“Is this Tuna’s tail?”

Yes it is!! The most interesting thing lining there XD

Then the shop lady (Ishuu san, if I’m not making a mistake reading her name)

asks him: “Wanna try?” hehehehehe!

And Tamaki san who was probably waiting for that offer,

says: “Can I?!”

Of course XD And she picks up a tail

and hand it to him XD

Somehow the staff all start laughing!!

Tamaki san keeps the tail in his hand and looks at it…

wondering how he should eat it O__O

Then Ishuu san shows him where to start 😀

Then he goes for a bite >__<

Somehow this wild way of eating fits him perfectly XD

He loves the taste!

Ishuu san explains that this is

Kihada Maguro (Yellowfin tuna)’s tail…

Tamaki san says that this is probably his first time

having Tuna with the skin!!

But Ishuu san says that people in Okinawa

love the skin even more than the meat!!

“…That’s why we look like this!” she says!

hehehehehe XD Tamaki san laughs out loud!

He is still busy eating the tail and he really likes the taste,

he also says that this is the first time he is eating fish like this!!

Namie san laughs and while he is still eating the tail,

she hands him some Kamaboko!

Tamaki san takes it from her and after looking at it,

he asks her what the black things inside the kamaboko are.

Namie san says that they are Fish skin!

Tamaki san is of course surprised…

Then, holding the fish tail with his left hand XD

He starts eating the kamaboko with his right hand!!

BUSY XD

Delicious he says…

Then he adds that even though it is considered to be a snack,

it will be a perfect meal if it’s accompanied by some rice XD

Namie san also says that some people eat it with

Mayonnaise or Karashi Mayonnaise!

Tamaki san likes the idea and says that it

must be delicious!!

It’s time to go…

but Tamaki san will take the left over of

the Tuna tail with him of course XD

☆

The next place Tamaki san is making a visit to,

is a traditional style Okinawan house!

Walking to the gate,

Tamaki san says that just looking at the house makes you

notice the Okinawan style of it. There are unique elements,

and a special atmosphere.

So he gets inside the garden and starts walking to the

main building of the house…

An old man is siting on the porch.

They greet each other and Tamaki san says that he’s

got an awesome house!

 The old man (Hokumura san) says that

he has inherited this house from his parents.

Tamaki san asks him if it was built many years ago,

and Hokumura san tells him that it was built after the war.

Then Tamaki san notices

the one single Shīsā placed on the roof top and when

asks Hokumura san about it, he explains that

it was made by the roof tiling craftsman who made the roof tiles.

Then he invites Tamaki san to get inside and they

both sit on the porch next to each other.

Then Tamaki san notices something else…

The wooden pillar they have used for the building,

is actually placed on a stone!

Hokumura san says that all the pillars are established like that.

They are all standing on a single stone and

they will not fall even with the strongest storms around here.

It’s a mystery… but taking a closer look around the house…

it’s true!! All of them are standing on stones!!

Tamaki san is amazed of course!!

Hokumura san then points to a shell hanging on one of the pillars…

The shape of the shell is similar to the kanji of mizu (水)

which means “water” in Japanese.

That’s why it’s called suijigai (水字貝) and is used

to keep the house safe from fire accidents or talismans ^^

Tamaki san takes a closer look and Hokumura san tells him

about the evil spirits which are known as “majimun” in Okinawa!

People used to think a lot about the possible ways of keeping these

Evil spirits away from the house…

even the huge tree of “hinpun” standing strongly in the center of the garden,

is yet another charm to keep them away.

The design of the building has roots in the Feng shui philosophy

because of the influence of the Ryukyu dynasty in Okinawa back then.

Tamaki san says that the house looks simple in general,

but when you have a closer look and notice the details,

you realize that it was built with a lot of care and thinking!

Then he says that he really hopes that houses like this with

the Japanese and Okinawan atmosphere can be kept as they are…

but looking at Hokumura san, he adds that keeping them as they are

must be hard for people living in them of course!

I also hope it can stay as it is now… for as many years as possible ^^

☆

Tamaki san gets back on the road again…

walking by the seaside,

he notices a man fishing there!!

He says hello and the man looks this way…

surprised of course XD

Then Tamaki san asks him if he was able to catch anything,

and he says not really XD hehehehe!

Tamaki san goes down to where he is…

Seems like he was aiming for Shiro-ika! (White squid)

Then Tamaki san asks him if he lives around here,

He (Miyazato san) says yes and points into the houses in the distance and

let us know that they have a guest house over there and

he was born and raised in that area.

“So you grew up looking at this landscape!”

Tamaki san says.

Then Miyazato san shares some memories of his school days with us!

He says that they had to go all the way to the main island

because that was the only school they could go to…

and back then, there was no bridges around here!!

Amazingly, he says that they used to walk on stilts,

in order to cross the water and go to school everyday!!

Tamaki san is surprised and laughs out loud!

Then says: “What if someone falls off the stilts?”

Scary!! Would be all wet before going to school!! XD

Thank God Tamaki Hiroshi was not going to the same school…

or there would have been at least one person falling everyday…

thanks to his desire to pull pranks on everyone he knows!! XD

Miyazato san says that he can show us some photos of those days…

so Tamaki san and the filming crew follow him home!

As they arrive…

Miyazato san gets in…

and Tamaki san waits for him outside…

He comes back with books in his hand…

It’s true!!

They are really walking on stilts in the water XD

Tamaki san asks if there was any of the kids who could not use the stilts…

But Miyazato san says that they all practiced and learned…

it’s like how you learn to ride a bicycle ^^

As they are looking at the photos,

Miyazato san calls his mother and asks her:
“Do you know this person?”

hehehe… she comes out and Tamaki san says hello.

She becomes excited and says that she knows him

but can’t remember his name XD hihihihihi!!

Then Tamaki san introduces himself and Miyazato san’s

mother asks the other lady standing inside the room to come out…

A friend, perhaps?!

As soon as she comes out,

she looks at him and says:

“You were on TV the other day…, right?”

Then as mother and her friend gets closer,

she reaches for Tamaki san’s hand and asks if it’s OK to shake his hand

… and of course Tamaki san shakes both their hands ^^

Then the other lady says that she watched him on TV lately and

Tamaki san asks her if she means the TV Drama and she says yes…

but seems like she has trouble remembering the title of the drama (^_^;)

Tamaki san helps her and says: “zannen na otto!”

hehehehehe!! Yes that’s it!

She says that she watched it every week and he played

the role of a husband who cannot help with child raising…

That’s right… that’s it ^^

And then she says: “He was a useless husband!” 

ahahahaha!!! and this makes everyone behind the camera

laugh out loud and Tamaki san…

hehehe guess a bitter laughter?! XD

Back to the main topic again…

Tamaki san asks Miyzato san if he still has the stilts…

And Miyzato san says yes!

Tamaki san of course wants to see them,

so he asks Miyzato san if he would show them to him ^^

Miyzato san goes away for a while…

and comes back

with two pairs of stilts in his hands!

Tamaki san is surprised by the size!!!

He says that they are taller than what he has imagined!

Miyzato san takes the challenge and tries getting on them…

And wow… even now he can use them easily!

Tamaki san is amazed…

he looks at Miyzato san with his eyes sparkling!

You can tell what he is thinking about…

As soon as Miyzato san gets off them,

Tamaki san walks toward him and when Miyzato san’s mother asks him

if he can get on them, he says: “Probably!”

hehehe!! It’s been a long time since he last did this!

Miyzato san helps him get on and says:

“If you were about to fall, just try not to fall from back!”

O_O You’re actually doing it?!?!

is all I was thinking about when I watched this for the first time XD

He gets on…

but as soon as Miyzato san tries to move the stilts…

“Wait… wait!!” he says while laughing,

“It doesn’t look like I can go!”

hehehe!!

Mother is worried too… keeps saying it’s dangerous!

But the two men are laughing and Miyzato san is trying to

help him move the stilts!!!

Tamaki san feels dizzy and says it’s too high

while taking his head up!!

>__< Get off them already!! XD

But he won’t get off until he moves…

so he moves forward with the help of his coach XD

But he keeps laughing and says that it’s really scary!!

Everyone laughs out loud XD

☆

OK! After some action and laughter XD

Tamaki san continues his journey in Kumejima!

Then he finds a a strange building…

As he gets closer, he notices that it’s a bridge made of concrete!

Let’s climb up the stairs and see what’s up there…

Actually when the water is low,

you can easily climb up the stairs…

But when the water reaches its highest level…

It will be a floating bridge on the water!!

Tamaki san goes up and looks down…

Says that the water seems to be deep…

He keeps looking and says that this is a place

where you can easily forget about the time…

staring at the landscape and the water all the time…

☆

After that, Tamaki san goes to the beach!!

Looking at the sky and the clouds in the distance,

he says that the weather is not good but the sky is very beautiful.

Then he looks at the other side and yes…

Horses!! ^^

He walks toward the two men with their horses walking this way,

and says hello!!

They are a little bit tiny…

not as tiny as pony and not as big as a normal horse XD

What’s gonna happen next?!?

Is what I will be writing about in the second part of the report ^^

Thank you for reading and see you all very soon!

End of part 1

( ´・ω・｀)ﾉ~ﾊﾞｲﾊﾞｲ