桜の男の子 (Cherry Blossom Boy)
The northern part of Okinawa has been a mystery to me...until now. Yesterday MaryAnn, Jamie, Jacque (pronounced Jackie...yeah, confused the hell out of me too) and I went up to Nago for the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival). The northern part of Okinawa is so different from the south, at least from what I saw. While down south there are tons of sugar cane fields, palm trees, and semi decent beaches, the north seems a lot hillier, has a bunch of non-palm tree greenery, and much beautifuler beaches. I read it is a big tourist destination for people in other parts of the island and I can totally see why.
Just like every festival I've been to in Japan, there were people at stalls selling food (yakisoba, french fries, ice cream, karaage), random gifts (toy sub-machine guns...because they go hand in hand with cherry blossoms), and a big giant bear shaped moon bounce. It's safe to say that festivals are to Okinawa what county fairs are to the US (without the rides that make you puke and question your sanity). The main attraction at this festival, though, was an insanely long staircase winding through the cherry blossoms and leading up to a shrine where you got to drop in money and pray for something. It felt a lot like the scene in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls where he has to climb all those steps to reach the Buddhist temple or something. My legs felt like jello by the time we actually made it to the top. I'm sure all the Okinawans there had no problems because they all seem to run marathons every month somewhere (no bullshit). It was worth it though. The cherry blossoms were beautiful and from the top I could see out over Nago.
