I thought catapillar.
Hey!
Really sticky.
Well don't throw it on me!
Okay, so we have now made it to the Nakijin-jo
heritage site, that also is named Nakijin castle.
So "jo" just means castle in Japanese.
So all throughout Okinawa was a whole bunch of castles,
I don't know the history of them yet,
or when they were actually demolished, but we're going to
be going to a series of old castle ruins, and castle sites, and they are all part
of the UNESCO World Heritage Site system, so they all have some very important and
historical context to them,
that is unique to anywhere in the world.
So I am super excited to see what it is, we are heading there now,
I'm going to check and see how much tickets are, and I want to see if the
tickets are going to be...excuse me, allowing us to carry them through to all
the UNESCO sites, or if it's just each site has its own admission. That I'm not sure of.
Listen to those bugs...or...
I don't know. I've never heard before.
Yeah, it's interesting.
Nakijin castle was most prosperous during the 14th and 15th century.
It was built during the three kingdoms era (Hokuzan, Chuzan and Nanzan).
Eventually the three kingdoms unified to become Ryukyu.
When Akane see's a cat in the distance.
In 1416 the castle was taken by force by the Shuri Royal Government.
Heiro Gate
It was constructed in 1713 but needed repairs in 1962.
This area was used to train war horses.
A secret passage exists (somewhere) to safely leave the castle in secret.
So we're going to take the original way up, which was this tiny path and as...
as I stated, they made this tiny path, hun, so that if an invading army came through,
that they all couldn't like, just come through the front gates and all get up
the hill easily. They would all have to kind of go into this straight line and
come few at a time, because you can see how narrow it is.
Yeah, these bugs are pretty cool to listen to.
They like get all intense before they stop.
The castle walls are built of grey limestone.
Layers of walls work with the slope of the land to create a strong defense system.
Only women were allowed in the most sacred parts of the ca stle.
Utaki are sacred sites where religious ceremonies are held. It is unique to the Ryukyuan beliefs.
It is believed that utaki is where the gods are, or where the gods come.
Ladies of the court offered prayers for prosperity for their children, security for the kingdom and a good harvest for all.
The kitchen was oddly located outside of the castle. The only remains of the kitchen are these burn marks.
We've been very fortunate, so far, on our time here to be able to experience most
of this, without anybody else around. So that's always nice, that's...I don't know
about you guys, but that's usually my favorite way to explore a place like this.
Extreme beauty, and not many people.
I don't like the crowds, and I'm sure you guys feel the same.
But you told me you liked many people in Shinjuku.
Yeah so, when I'm out (especially at night)
I like people around. Like I enjoy the busyness of a city, and I enjoy things
like that, but when it when it's a place like this, that's supposed to be serene
and beautiful, and just like we're supposed to appreciate nature's beauty,
not man-made beauty, I definitely enjoy doing that with
as little people as possible.
Having myself and Akane, I couldn't ask for more.
That's perfect.
So when we came in I noticed a sign that
said the exterior of the castle should take about 15 minutes, and the interior...No 45 minutes.
No, let me finish. And the interior of the castle should be 30 minutes for a total of 45 minutes.
We have been here almost two hours.
So when you come, here make sure you give
yourself lots of time, especially if you enjoy taking pictures or videos or
anything like that, because you're going to take so much longer.
I mean if you guys do this sort of thing, then you know already that it takes like twice as long
as it recommends whenever you're taking videos and stuff like that, but if you
are not, and you just want to do a quick overview, not really take many pictures,
just a few snaps here and there, you might be able to do it in 45 minutes
because there's no real buildings, it's just a wall and some great views,
but there's also a lot of history, and a lot of plaques that you can read,
so if you're interested in history, and learning a little bit about what this site is,
it's going to take you a little while to read through it all, and absorb it,
and see where these places are.
Just be aware of that, if you take the chance to to come here.
So in addition to the physical Historic Site, there is also a museum on site.
So make sure, once again, you give yourself
lots of time to be able to visit that.
So that is where we're going now.
The site does stay open until six o'clock,
and I don't believe I mentioned, but it is 400 Japanese yen a person
which is about $4 Canadian.
Ok, and for the record we see signs right now that say cameras are okay in the museum,
however flash is not so, if you are coming to a museum bring your cameras, don't bring your flash.
So this is Fukushima,
and this is Iwate prefecture,
due to the earthquake, the tsunami pushed the water
and this boat was pushed all the way across Japan.
down to the southern island.
So this boat right here.
Made it all the way here.
Over the course of 7 years? Holy.
The distance was 2000 kilometers.
Haha, holy cow.
It's amazing they were able to track it from that far.
They know who's it is.
They can find the owner.
Oh wow.
The owners probably like "you know what? You just keep it".
So before we call it a day, Akane has granted me permission to drive the rest of the way to the hostel.
So going to be my first time driving on the left side of the road.
So I'm super excited, so I'm going to show you a little bit of my
experience with that. Hopefully I won't make any mistakes, and she'll keep me in line.
But it's going to be fun I'm super excited like...
It's going to be so weird!
I don't know like it's just,
one of those things where, I've been watching people drive on the other side
of the road, so for a little while now, because we've been here for ten days, and
so I'm used to seeing it.
So I think the adjustments going to be quite a bit better
now that I've been watching people.
I mean obviously the concepts are the same,
but even just you know turning - making a right you got to watch for traffic now,
instead of making a left, and it's just those little things that kind of throw
you off when you're just sitting there, watching like "well, why isn't this guy
making us turn"? Well, it's because traffic's coming that way now!
Thank you!
You're welcome.
Here we go, my first drive.
I'm going to be going to the grocery store.
Ok, here we go.
Alright.
Ok, this is strange.
This is weird.
This is so weird!
Holy.
This is going to take some getting used to.
Interesting.
Where am I going here?
Going down. Out, sorry. Up.
Going up?
Alright, my first successful turn!
Keep left, not right!
Hey!
These brakes are touchy.
Yeah.
What? I'm just slowing down for the speed bump.
yeah but you break is like...
Well it's super touchy at the moment.
This is weird.
Alright, now which way?
Left.
Left. Oh! Nope, that's...
That's not what I want.
Not rainy yet Josh!
Nope!
Alright, what's the speed limit through here? 50?
40!
Alright, we can slow er' down. Slow er' down.
you