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I
had originally traveled from Atsugi, Japan, to Okinawa in order to purchase
hand-blown glasswares as well as designer jewelry for the NEX. My first
visit was to “Okinawa Glass,” one of the larger glassware
producers on the island at that time.
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As
part of the procurement process, I was given a personal tour of their
factory so that I could see how the glassware was actually produced.
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It
was interesting to watch how these workers—using fairly primitive
tools and equipment by American standards—first heated the glass
in high-temperature ovens....
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...and,
then used LUNG POWER to expand the molten glassware (which, in this
case, is a high-necked vase).
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After
a number of successive oven heatings and blowings to obtain the desired
size and shape, the bottom of the vase is trimmed as part of the finishing
process.
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These
are some of the finished glassware products as they appeared on the
sales floor of the “Okinawa Glass” retail store.
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Since
their glassware was colorful, was available in a wide variety of sizes
and designs, and was very reasonably priced, it appealed to my NEX patrons
in Japan.
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It
was a typical sunny day when I commenced a tour of the island. Both
the water and the sky were dark blue and were very photogenic. This
is a view of the ocean and land area near Naha, Okinawa.
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Okinawa’s
beaches were mostly white sand and were not overcrowded with people
(like many of the beaches in Japan).
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Blue
skies quickly disappeared when a tropical storm began to roll inland.
I visited the site where thousands of Okinawa men, women, and children
committed suicide by jumping off the cliffs during WWII to avoid capture...
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...by
the American forces. These monuments are in memory of those thousands
of people who jumped from this spot to their deaths on the rocks below.
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Once
one ventured outside the main cities on Okinawa, things quickly became
pretty primitive and living standards were well below those in mainland
Japan. This is a typical rural village area with its narrow roads and
surrounding vegetation.
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Old
WWII Japanese gun emplacements and concrete pillboxes that had been
destroyed when the American forces landed were still very much in evidence
around the island when I visited Okinawa in the early 1970’s.
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As
I stood near these gun emplacements located high on the hills over-looking
the beaches below, it was easy to understand how more than 12,000 American
lives had been lost in defeating the Japanese forces defending this
island.
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Of
120,000 Japanese defending the island, more than 100,000 were killed
(less than 10,000 were captured). It’s sad that many younger Americans
today have never even heard of “Okinawa” (let alone appreciate
the sacrifices made by so many of our military personnel.
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In
the early 1970’s, Okinawa was not yet part of Japan and, therefore,
local vendors were not subject to many of the taxes and importation
duties—especially on gold, silver, and precious jewels—which
were collected by other Asian countries (especially Japan).
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Therefore,
prices for custom-made and designer jewelry from these Okinawa jewelry
manufacturers were very attractive compared to the prices which were
being charged by most of the other countries in the Far East. Because
of its quality and reasonable price, it. was...
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...well
received by my NEX patrons at Atsugi. [And, I have an “ex-wife”
running around somewhere who simply LOVED this jewelry and had acquired
a rather extensive collection of rings and necklaces that should be
worth a lot more today than it originally cost!]
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