Travelog post for: Etwas

Dear mommy,
Today something dreadful happened, the sun actually came out for about an hour! But Jayme said because this happened we could go out for a walk. Hmm. I wonder why we can't walk in the rain? Maybe its hard to balance the umbrella, us toys, and the camera... Anyway we went to a place where Jayme said its very likely we could see a ghost.  You see many, many people died here during World War II as as well as in diving or snorkeling accidents and its supposed to be very haunted! It is called Camp Zanpa. Here is one of the many memorials here.

During World War II many men, women and children were forced to jump off these cliffs by Japanese soldiers who told them if they didn't they would be captured and tortured and raped by the Americans. It was very sad. Over 100,000 Okinawans died during the battle of Okinawa. That is one of the reasons this place is supposed to be so very haunted. Its hard to believe this with the beauty it exhibits today.

Much of Okinawa is made up of volcanic rock like this. Its also what the cliff walls are made of.

When we were done with our walk and on the way back to the car we came across a strang thing. Jayme says this is the largest shisa on island, but what is a shisa? Shisa are dog/lions who guard against spirits. They're always found in pairs. A shisa with its mouth open like this one is female and it lets the good spirits in. A shisa with its mouth closed captures the bad spirits. Can you see how tiny we are at the base of this shisa?

Here's a close up of me and the shisa.

Jayme says she hopes the sun comes out so we can go do more soon. Hm. I wonder what I'm supposed to hope for? Rainy weather just seems so much better for ghosts, but alas no ghosts yet.
Etwas