Okinawa

Sometimes, these Then and Now series photos just sneak up on you. This shrine photo was taken last Friday in Itoman Okinawa, Japan. It was just one of those days, I was riding around with the MAP IT OKINAWA DUDE and shooting pictures of whatever happened to be in front of my lens. Here I was sitting in my office during beer drinking hours when an email came in, sounding all excited about something. It said, "Guess What ?!!!!!!!!!!" "YOU WERE HERE TODAY !!!!!" Attached to the email were these...Read Full Story

The Ryukyu Green Pigeon (Treron permagnus) is sometimes called the Whistling Green Pigeon.  This one was found in northern Okinawa today. There is one other pigeon with green colors on it that used to inhabit the Ryukyu Islands called the Ryukyu Wood Pigeon (Columba jouyi) which was last recorded on Okinawa in 1904. If I run across any, I'll take a photo of them, too. You got any green pigeons in your neck of the woods ? PHOTO OF THE DAY:  IRIS FLOWER AND BUD Read Full Story

Here is a photo taken from an area known as Suicide Cliff to most Americans. It was taken sometime between 1963 and 1967 from Peace Memorial Park on a hill in Mabuni Itoman Okinawa, Japan. This photo was taken in March of 2010 from a slightly different viewpoint. Then and Now photos show that the key terrain features on the island of Okinawa haven't changed all that much over the past 45 years. As we continue with this series, getting into some areas around villages, cities and places where...Read Full Story

Today's report on the Cherry Blossom (桜) situation up in the northern mountains is a little brighter.  Looking at Mt. Yadake crews could be seen setting up the festival tents for the Sakura Matsuri ( Festival ) and that's a good sign the place will get busy this weekend. This photo with just a few Sakura (桜) blossoms on it was taken in Nago, before even heading up to Mt. Yadake.  So, I expect to see lots of Cherry Blossoms on Mt. Nago by the end of the month. The reason I went north today...Read Full Story

This Mangrove Flower (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza) photo was taken along the banks of the Okukubi River in Kin Cho Kin Okinawa, Japan during the month of October. Birds help pollinate plants to start the seed growing process. Inside the flower are what you could call little zipper bags of pollen. When birds go poking around in the flowers, the zipper bags open and give the bird's head a good dusting.  The birds go from flower to flower pollinating without even knowing it. The results of all this...Read Full Story