Rice Cake

When I was a high school student, I went to Okinawa on my school trip in winter. At first, we thought why we should visit Okinawa not in summer but in winter. But we realized that this choice was better than to go there in summer later.

We went to there by plane. When we arrived at Naha airport, I felt Okinawa was very hot just like summer. First, we went to “Ryukyu-Mura”, a kind of historical and ethnical theme park. Unfortunately it was cloudy sky, but we enjoyed different cultures, and drank coconut milk. At that night, I got feverish. It might be caused by the change of temperature.

The next day, we went to “Tyura-Umi aquarium” by taxi. It was far from Naha, so we spent a lot of time on transfer. The aquarium had the largest aquarium in orient, and we were overwhelmed by the size of aquarium and the beauty of fishes. After, we went to the ruins of Nakijin castle. There were some tiny shrines, and believers of the shrine prayed deeply. They were so religious. The view from the top of the ruins was very beautiful, so we reveled in the scenery.

The third day, we visited some natural bomb shelters called “Gama”. The inside of Gama was very dark, and a river flowed. We learned that many people hid and died in the Gama, and I was very surprised. After, we visited Okinawa peace memorial park and the monument of Himeyuri. In that day we thought the past miserable history deeply and realized the importance of peace.

The last day, we went to Syuri Castle. The castle is registered as a world heritage, and “Syurei no Mon” is adopted as the design of 2000yen bill. The decoration of the dragon was given everywhere, and the castle was luxurious and splendid. And my eyes hurt because of the deep red of the wall. After, we went to Naha airport, and went back to Tochigi.

When I went back to Tochigi, I felt that Tochigi was cool, but I also thought it was just winter.

I remember it was a precious time, and I hope to travel with my family again.