Okinawa book introduction

The three years I spent in Okinawa, Japan, as a youngster straight out of high school became so important to me that I call them my formative years. During that period, I studied Cultural Anthropology of East Asia with a specialization in Japanese Studies. My studies, after returning to the United States, never ended, and over the last 30 years, I have come to understand many concepts I did not grasp in Okinawa. I have read countless books and written many blog posts on the subject. I strongly feel the spirit of the place and a deep longing for its people, even if today no one around me understands what I mean.

I wrote this book for myself to remember, and for my daughters, if in the future they care to understand me.

Most of all, I write to the place itself. The place is not an abstract idea or just a name. Every coral reef, every mountain, and every waterfall holds a sacred spirit called kami, which I want to respect and celebrate in this book.

Thank you to the people I knew back then. You were the kindest people I have met in my whole life. To the people I did not know, thank you for putting up with us foreigners, and sorry for any trouble we caused.

I want to thank my teacher, Dr. Turner-Sacher, who steered me onto the path of anthropology. You changed my life for the better.

My interest is in native cultural anthropology. I will not write about wars or the terrible Battle of Okinawa, nor about American influence on Japanese culture during the post-war occupation.

I want to capture the delicate nuance and warmth that I feel when I think of the culture of those islands.