The big news in Japan this year has been the number and severity of typhoons that have hit the island nation. As a result of the Super El Nino, the Pacific Ocean is far warmer than usual which has created the ideal conditions for these storms. Typhoons are functionally the same as hurricanes, the only difference is where the storm originates (Northwest Pacific vs. the Atlantic or Northeast Pacific). The same is true for cyclones which originate in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean.

During our trip we have been keeping a close eye on Typhoon Champi which formed ten days ago near Micronesia and has slowly moved west and gained strength. A few days ago it became the strongest named storm of the year. For awhile it looked like Okinawa may be right in the path of the storm but over time the trajectory moved south towards Taiwan. This gave us confidence to keep our existing plans in place instead of cancelling the Okinawa portion of our trip and going through the time and effort to modify our itinerary on the fly.

This morning we said good by to Hiroshima and the Japanese mainland as we made our way to the airport. Our airline sent us an email the day before that they are continuing to monitor the weather around Okinawa as our flight may need to be delayed or cancelled. About an hour before our flight we got the conditional approval to fly but we were informed that the plane may need to head back to Hiroshima if the conditions worsen.

The flight was mostly uneventful until we began our final descent. The winds picked up and the plane rocked from side to side as the pilot attempted to keep the aircraft level. Following a few white knuckle moments and a hard landing we were safely on the ground. Even though the eye of the Typhoon is far south-west of us the storm is impacting Okinawa with high winds; even on the ground we could feel the wind pushing the plane.

After a quick bus ride into the city from the airport we had about an hour before check in so we set off to explore a couple of sites nearby such as Fukushūen Garden and Naminoue Beach. Fukushūen Garden is a traditional Chinese garden which was built in 1992 to honor the sister city relationship with Fuzhou, China. The garden has numerous ponds filled with hungry carp, and gardens with plants both local to Okinawa and native to China. The garden offered a very peaceful experience within the heart of a major metropolitan city.

Okinawa does not have a shortage of beaches and we saw our first today in Naminoue Beach. Naminoue may not have the typical characteristics of a remote island beach (crashing waves, beautiful views, etc.) but it has very soft sand and an accessible way for local residents to unwind. We look forward to seeing and experiencing many more beaches on this trip. On our way back to the hotel we stopped by a local grocery store to stock up on drinks and snacks. We really enjoy shopping at local grocery stores when we travel as it offers another lens into the lives of the people who live there.

Our evening began with dinner at a local place featuring Okinawan delicacies. Thankfully we have been in the country for awhile so we are more practiced in our rudimentary Japanese as the owners spoke very little English and only maintain hand written menus in Japanese. We ended up with a medley of seafood dishes, including sushi, sashimi and grilled fish. The highlight of the evening was the owner encouraging (perhaps playfully forcing us) to eat the cheeks and eyes off the fish heads in one of our bowls. She would not leave our table until everything was eaten and that is how Jay got to try his first fish eyeball!

On our walk back we passed through Matsuyama Park to see the monuments dedicated to some of the founders of Karate (the modern day version of the martial art began here in Okinawa). We very much enjoyed this simplicity and accessibility of these moments.

Tomorrow we will continue to explore Naha (capital of Okinawa) as we look to avoid the rain and wind. After that we will head north in our rental car for our beach escape!