Japanese with anime voice: episode91
Hello, I’m Sachi.
July 8 is Naha Day. This is also a play on words. However, I have always thought that there are all kinds of anniversaries, but I never imagined that there is even an anniversary for Naha. Do you know what Naha is? Well, even Japanese people, when they are suddenly told that today is Naha Day, they wonder what it is, is it Okinawa? Well, it is Okinawa. But if you look at it in writing, you can easily understand it. I sometimes think that it would be nice if a speech balloon would appear when we speaks. A speech balloon is that round, bulging thing in comic books where the characters’ lines are written. With those, we could understand the kanji characters and know immediately what they are talking about. When someone says, “Today is Naha Day,” if the balloon has the kanji for Naha, you know immediately that it is Okinawa, so you can understand that there is an anniversary called Naha Day. The speech balloons are convenient, aren’t they? Subtitles would be fine, too. I wonder if Doraemon has such a tool.
This Naha Day was started by a group of radio listeners. There was a radio program called “I love Naha” on Okinawa radio, and a group of listeners decided to make July 8 a memorial day. And after hearing that, Naha City in Okinawa Prefecture established the day as the city’s anniversary. Today, Naha City is going to hold city cleanups and specific health checkups, and the citizens and the government are going to work together to make the anniversary a great day. In addition, the city will offer free or partially discounted admission to 玉陵 (Tamadoun), 識名園 (Shikinaen) Historical Museum, and other World Heritage and cultural heritage facilities operated by the city. If you are in Naha, Okinawa, you are in luck!
By the way, Tamadoun is a mausoleum of the Ryukyu Kingdom and a mausoleum is a tomb of the royal family. Shikinaen is a Ryukyu garden. Ryukyu is the name for Okinawa in the long ago period. At that time, it was called the Ryukyu Kingdom, and it was one country. In other words, it was a different country from Japan. Nowadays, everyone speaks the same Japanese, but I don’t understand the Okinawan dialect at all. But you know, Okinawan people’s way of speaking and dialect are very comfortable to listen to. If you ever go to Okinawa, please try to communicate with local people.
By the way, Ryukyu gardens are nice. I like Japanese garden. There is a lot of greenery, and just being there is calming. I’m thinking of going there now, but in fact I may have been there in the past. We went on a school excursion to Okinawa when I was in high school. But what I remember now is that we stayed in a beautiful hotel with a private beach, and after that we stayed in a deserted hotel in the city, which I was very dissatisfied with. But, you know, the FNS Music Festival was on at that time, and Hiromi Go’s Goldfinger was popular. I remember singing loudly and jumping up and down on the bed while watching FNS. I barely remember going on a small boat to see tropical fish and visiting Shurijo Castle. I also remember eating Blue Seal ice cream every day. I don’t remember anything else. Oh, we went to Himeyuri Pagoda. I heard stories about the war there, but it was pointless to talk about it to high school girls because they wouldn’t listen to me, but my friends laughed and chatted in vain. But I took it very seriously. I felt like I had to listen to it properly. I don’t remember the content at all, I’m not much different from the other girls.
But still, what do I mean by having no memory of the sights at all? I don’t care if I don’t remember the hotel. Why is it that the memories of the school trip are such trivial memories of the time spent at Goldfinger’s?
I was also very surprised at something else! I went to Hawaii about 10 years after my high school days, and I thought it was the first time I had ever been on a plane. Eight years later, to be exact. No, no, no, you can only go to Okinawa by plane. As you can see, I have no memory of flying to Okinawa and back. I don’t even remember which airport I went to or how I got to the airport. It had been only eight years since I graduated from high school, so it would have been natural for me to remember. We were not a family that traveled with the family, so we never flew, and I don’t think I would normally forget. If it happened when he was 17 or 18 years old, you would have remembered it. I was sleeping during the whole trip, or my local memories are too strong. But I don’t remember much of the trip there, either.
If you go to Okinawa, I hope you will make some great memories of your trip there! I’ll definitely go there again!
