My Island Tour excursion - Yomitan, Okinawa

Henry is at work, Giovanni is at school and I am on a local island tour! Doing some local recon near where we live, you know, to properly assess the area :). Newcomer's Orientation. Oh did I mention it was free?!

On a sweet greyhound style tour bus with a group of strangers also new to the island.  We visited 4 local tourist spots and ate at the farmers market halfway through.

Stop one Zakimi-Jo castle site. 

Beautiful views of nearby Yomitan village. 

Two courts surrounded by stone walls and divided by stone arch gateways. 

Yachiman No Sato - Pottery village

Pottery community of local artisans who create beautiful, hand-made pottery. 

Two large kilns exist in this village (above) to make the pottery. It takes 3 days and 3 nights for the pottery to "cook". 9 doors in the kiln are the different rooms where the pottery is placed (shown). 

Base of the kiln. Heat rises to the top of the kiln and smoke comes out the top. 

Because if it's uniqueness pieces are pricey. Example, one drinking glass is about $15-20, a plate is $30+.

Love the designs. 

Ryuku glass-making

This place is hot (and I do mean literally). Workers melt the molten and then create colorful glass pieces like jewelry, dishes, and even home appliances like bath sinks. 

Observing the artisan create a beautiful vase. It took him about 10 minutes to shape the piece. 

Shaping the glass by letting it swing with gravity. 

Almost...

Done! A beautiful glass vase. Very cool to watch art in the making!

Only about $400 for a mirror(!) 🙀 One in every color please! 

This is the bathroom floor, but my favorite part of the store! Love the bright colors. 

Final stop- Ryuku Mura

Final stop on the tour was the Ryuku Mura - historical Okinawa sightseeing village. 

Observing a musical performance of local Okinawan sounds...It's definitely sit-and-relax type of music; not get-up-dance rhythms. :/

A typical Sheesha dog statue. Two of these stand at the entrance of nearly every home and business to ward off evil spirits and protect the home/business. Me and my two-finger Japanese pose! This pose is a must in Okinawa/Japan. 

All in all it was a good, long excursion day!