and then I'll shut up

I never finished talking about my Okinawa trip and I just want to say a few more things to recommend the place.

I only visited the main island, but even without going all deserted-beach resort (it was too cold for swimming anyway), it is still such an interesting place and quite different from mainland Japan culturally.

There was an old man playing the sanshin on Kokusai street, and there are stray cats all over Naha.

And other wildlife too.

Shuri Castle doesn't let you forget how close Okinawa is to Taiwan, and how this used to be the Ryukyu Kingdom. The culture really is an intersection between Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Austronesian.

It's really pretty, especially the grounds near the Ben-ten.

And we went to Chatan Beach, a bit north of Naha. This is how it felt.