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HAISAI, HOWDY, & KONNICHIWA !.

 

Although OKINAWA is in the name of this photostream, just over half of the images here are related to OKINAWA. The rest are mostly oldie-but-goodie photos of places around Japan and Asia, including quite a bit of old 3-D (stereoview) images.

 

Feel free to pick your albums, and scroll through to your heart's content.

 

Cheers !

  

♦ WHO AM I ? :

 

 

My real name is Rob, originally from Pennsylvania, USA. I like Italian Hoagies, street-vendor Soft Pretzels, and Philly Cheese Steaks... in that order.

 

Having first arrived on Okinawa in 1973 (at age 20, and in the U.S. Army), I'm now a white-haired geezer in his 60s who decided to remain here, and have been hanging around the island chain for most of the past 45 years.

 

I have several American acquaintances on Okinawa who have been here way longer than I have, and am jealous of every one of them for having experienced a world I will never know --- pre-1972 life in Okinawa under USCAR : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Civil_Administration_...

 

My wife of 38 years is OKINAWAN. We have three daughters, now adults, who were born and raised in Okinawa.

 

Family pics are relatively rare on this photostream, but they can be found. I do have a Flickr Set dedicated to "MY DAUGHTERS". : ♥ www.flickr.com/photos/okinawa-soba/albums/72157604139993734

 

The real me is HERE : www.flickr.com/photos/okinawa-soba/sets/72157653710334074

  

THE PICS

 

As an old darkroom photographer, I am inescapably tied to the notion that photography is a "hands on" process, and am not one for letting a computer chip inside a digital camera make all of my decisions for me. To me, the image laid down on my SD Card is simply the "negative" from which to work while making the "print" for Flickr. That means I digitally "dodge", "Burn", "Crop", "Mask", chose my contrasts, and make other minor adjustments to the image until I'm satisfied it has the look and impression of the original scene.

 

On the other hand, I don't use "Photoshop", avoid obvious HDR effects (though I happen to like it when others do it), and attempt to capture all elements of my images via optical means.

 

Since most of my pictures are intended to inform newcomers to Okinawa about the endless possibilities for exploring, sightseeing, and picture-taking, my images lean more toward the straight-forward "snapshot" variety than they do the "arty" variety.

 

In most cases, rather than keeping locations secret, I tend to name exact locations, and (sometimes) even post coordinates. If I have missed giving a location, and you want to know where I took the photo, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT, or DROP ME A FLICKr MAIL.

 

Yes, I know that some photographer-explorers on Okinawa have their secrets, and that's OK. I do too. However, if I decide to publicly share a photo of a spot I like, at that point, I also dispense with this nonsense : "....Hey everybody, look at this nice view I'm posting of a really great spot --- but I'm not telling you where it is, because it's my secret....".

 

If I don't want to share a "secret", I also won't tease you with un-described images.

 

I do have a lot of cool photos of things I'd like to share but will not, as either the land-owner or government has asked me not to. Most of these things have to do with certain strategic, island infrastructure that some --- since 9/11 --- fear will be a target of "Muslim Terrorists" and "North Korean Missiles".

  

THE CAPTIONS

 

Welcome to the world of pleonastic pleonasms.

 

The photos here (both old and new) are as much about the captions as they are about the image. Half are serious, describe the content, and might even be semi-scholarly. The other half are generally tongue-in-cheek, with the photos providing an excuse for me to write something wacky, ridiculous, sententious, and/or completely off the wall.

 

They will range from inadequately short, to criminally long and verbose. All manner of English expression and devices are used --- straight prose, sarcasm, spoof, parody, allegory, and etc. If you are an English-as-a-Second-Language student, may God help you.

 

As for complaints, do I care ? The long answer is... NO.

 

Might some of my expressed opinions be offensive to some ? Sure.

 

But, I subscribe to the highly civilized notion that, while I also may be offended, disgusted, and heartily disagree with opinions you might hold, I am also bound and determined to defend to the death your right to express those opinions.

 

However, the moment that your opinions are translated into destructive actions or violent retributions against those with whom you disagree, at that point your have lost any respect or moral support from me.

 

Further, I do NOT subscribe to any notions of "Cultural Relativity", "Cultural Context" or "Moral Equivalence" that serve to excuse "Time-Place Group-Think", "Mob Psychology", "Religious Mania", and "Patriarchal Misogyny" in the more backward countries of the world that maim, torture, disfigure, traffic, suppress, abuse, and otherwise treat women and girls as 2nd-class citizens and chattel.

 

MY FLICKr ICON

 

My Flickr "Buddy Icon" (avatar) is not me. It's a head crop of my favorite old Japanese photographer T. ENAMI, photographed over 110 years ago in his Yokohama studio. Here's the full 3-D image : www.flickr.com/photos/okinawa-soba/2822252615/

  

MY FLICKr HANDLE

 

OKINAWA SOBA ???

 

 

I chose this as my Flickr handle simply because I have noodles for brains. www.google.com/search?q=okinawa+soba&biw=1354&bih...

  

♥ IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR PHOTOS OF OKINAWA, PLEASE LOOK AT THE PHOTOSTREAMS OF OTHER OKINAWA PHOTOGRAPHERS, AS WELL !!!

 

 

My photostream is one of many OKINAWA PHOTO streams found on Flickr. There is so much here to see and do here, that it is impossible for just one person with a camera to capture it all. If you like any of my photos or stories about this place, then you will probably LOVE those posted by others, as well. Our offerings are all very different, with little overlap. To get a broad feel of the island, take time to search "OKINAWA", and scroll through the photos taken by the numerous photographers who call this island their home.

  

OLD PHOTOS + NEW PHOTOS

 

For the most part, my own photostream consists of an alternating mix of (1) MODERN-DAY OKINAWA (photos by me), and (2) ANTIQUE PHOTOS of JAPAN AND ASIA. The latter are largely cropped from / based on scans I've made from "public domain" originals in my own possession. That is, I own the out-of-copyright, physical prints and slides that I post. They are real photos in real boxes sitting around my house.

 

All of my own recent OKINAWA and USA TRAVEL stuff is general, run-of-the-mill, straight-forward, SNAP SHOTS taken with point-and-shoot DIGITAL POCKET CAMERAS set to the most basic of automatic functions. There are no DSLR pics, and no beautiful wonders of PhotoShop creativity. Everything is just a record of things I've seen and liked

 

Basically, any OKINAWA location images you see here (and some taken during my travels) have probably been photographed with much more skill and beauty by others.

  

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

 

There is far more to Okinawa than just a few pretty pictures of the beaches, mountains, waterfalls, and jungles --- and the flora and founa that's everywhere.

 

There's also lots of concrete, sprawling cities, endless shopping malls, and over a million people crammed into this small space --- resulting in what the Japanese government declares to be the worst traffic jams in the entire nation.

 

If you can take all of that in stride while exploring the back streets, bazaars, and visually exotic distractions all around you, you will do fine everywhere on the Island(s) of Okinawa --- from the cities to the jungles --- and have those memories for your entire life.

  

!!! WARNING !!!

 

One of my daughters said to me, "....DADDY, YOUR PICTURES OF OKINAWA MAKE IT LOOK BETTER THAN IT REALLY IS....

 

Therefore, I add this....

 

DISCLAIMER : If anyone is inspired by my Okinawa photos (and / or nice photos of Okinawa taken by others), and based on that, decide to come here for (let's say) a two week vacation, and you wind up getting two weeks of dark, rainy weather, or being locked down in your Hotel during a super typhoon, please do not be upset with those of us posting our photos, or even worse, think that Okinawa is a total bust.

 

We also live thorough all of that, and feel terribly sorry for all tourists who come here and wind up with the short end of the stick. All I can think to say is, if you ever make it to Okinawa, I wish you GOOD LUCK and FUN, INTERESTING, EYE-OPENING EXPERIENCES during your entire stay !

  

SOURCES OF THE OLD PHOTOS POSTED BY OKINAWA SOBA

 

 

THERE ARE NO ILLICIT COPIES HERE. THERE ARE NO RIP-OFFS TAKEN FROM OTHER ON-LINE SITES OR POSTINGS. NOTHING IS "PIRATED" FROM OTHER COLLECTORS.

 

95% of the OLD PHOTOS you see posted here on this photostream were acquired by me directly from photography dealers and collectors in over 30 countries during the 1970s through the 1990s.

 

The other 5% were fought down to the wire on eBay.

 

I REPEAT !!! --- ALL OF THE PHOTOS POSTED ARE ORIGINAL TO THIS PHOTOSTREAM --- NONE OF THE IMAGES ARE RIPPED, GRABBED, STOLEN, OR UNETHICALLY APPROPRIATED FROM ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE INTERNET.

 

MOST OF THE OLD MEIJI AND TAISHO-ERA IMAGES WERE SCANNED BY MY OWN HANDS, FROM ORIGINALS IN MY OWN POSSESSION. THE ORIGINALS ARE OUT-OF-COPYRIGHT, PUBLIC-DOMAIN, NO-KNOWN-RESTRICTION IMAGES. SINCE THEN, A FEW HAVE TRADED HANDS WITH OTHER COLLECTORS.

 

ALSO, IN ORDER TO BETTER "EXPLAIN" MY OWN PHOTOS, A VERY FEW IMAGES NOT IN MY POSSESSION HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR CONTEXT AND COMPARISON PURPOSES, ALL WITH THE KIND PERMISSION OF THE CREDITED COLLECTOR.

 

MANY / MOST OF THE OKINAWA PHOTOS I'VE TAKEN AND POSTED ARE ALSO CC LICENSED FOR USE ON YOUR WEBSITES OR BLOG. SOME IMAGES SHOWING FAMILY OR FRIENDS MAINTAIN COPYRIGHT.

  

♦ ON THE USE OF THESE PHOTOS + KNOW YOUR LIMITS !!!

 

With just a few exceptions, almost EVERY OLD PHOTO you see on this photostream is completely free to use for your Blogging, Website, and other ARTSY, CRAFTY, FOLKSY Creative Uses ! YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION -- NO NEED TO ASK !

 

HOWEVER, while the PHOTOS ARE FREE TO USE --- Note that Flickr (not me) requires a link back to the Flickr page as a means of giving PROPER CREDIT and SOURCE INFORMATION.

 

OTHERWISE......

 

♥ YOU ARE GIVEN CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE TO DOWNLOAD, USE, POST, FLIP, FLOP, CROP, CHOP TO PIECES, EXTRACT PORTIONS OF, INVERT, RE-COLOR, COMBINE, STRETCH, TWIST, ANIMATE, AND MANIPULATE AS NEEDED FOR YOUR CREATIVE WORK.

 

♥ IF YOU ARE A BLOGGER or WEBMASTER. YOU MAY USE THESE IMAGES ON YOUR COMMERCIAL OR NON-PROFIT BLOGS AND WEBSITES FOR EITHER PERSONAL, SERIOUS, STUDIOUS, FRIVOLOUS, OR DECORATIVE USE.

 

♥ THE PHOTOS MAY BE RE-CAPTIONED, RE-DESCRIBED, AND FREELY COMMENTED ON --- OR BE USED IN WAYS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR TEXT OR COMMENTARY.

 

♥ OTHER FAIR USE APPLICATIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CURRENT COPYRIGHT LAW ARE ALSO PERMITTED --- THERE IS NO NEED TO CONTACT ME TO ASK PERMISSION. PERMISSION IS ALREADY GRANTED !!!

 

♥ HOWEVER, when re-posting these images straight to blog and website pages, please make them linkable back to the Flickr page where you found them as per flickr's community guidelines, rules, and terms of service. Thank you kindly in advance for proper source credit.

 

♥ Please don't pull a juvenile "BOB DYLAN" stunt by copying or re-painting the images, while telling everyone that these are a "visual record" of your own personal travels and face time you've had with people during your treks around the world.

 

♥ Please don't be an eBay Jerk by copying, watermarking, and selling all or part of my posted photo collection, while falsely passing everything off as your own.

 

♥ Basically....... USE 'EM and HAVE FUN!!

  

  

♦ BASIC PHOTOSTREAM STATS.....

 

 

► STARTED POSTING THIS CC FLICKr ARCHIVE FOR PUBLIC USE on 4 March 2008 --- over 10 years ago.

 

► THE ABOVE "VISITOR COUNTER" (TO THIS PROFILE PAGE, NOT THE PHOTOSTREAM) was activated on 2 Aug 2009 (18 months after joining flickr).

 

► ALMOST 10,000 PHOTOS --- HALF OF THEM 100 YEARS OLD AND OLDER --- ARE ARRANGED FOR YOU IN VARIOUS SETS AND COLLECTIONS.

 

Modern photos of OKINAWA taken by me amount to almost 5,000 images and videos.

 

The last time I checked.......

 

► OVER 700 PHOTOS APPEAR IN OVER 500 FLICKr GALLERIES. [Currently NIPSA'd]

 

► WEIRD FLICKr ALGORITHMS HAVE PLACED 52 IMAGES IN EXPLORE --- 14 CURRENTLY. (The most to be displayed in EXPLORE at any one time = 14) [Currently NIPSA'd]

 

► AS OF MARCH, 2016 --- Closing in on 42,000,000 hits on the Photostream, Sets, and Collections.

 

PRIOR TO MAY 2013, this photostream received 20 Million views over 5 years, or, about 4 Million hits a year. AFTER MAY 2013, Flickr changed how stats are compiled, and the rate is now closer to 5 million views a year. If nothing had changed, my stats would read about 28 million hits. I do not really understand how they do the counting, and take it all with a grain of salt.

 

► ALMOST 3 MILLION VISITS to the SETS & COLLECTIONS.

 

► VISITORS HAVE COME FROM 134 COUNTRIES.

  

 

♦ TAKING FLICKr AT THEIR WORD (Needs Clarification from Flickr)

 

4 May 2011 --- This Account was NIPSA'd (public search restrictions imposed) by someone on Flickr Staff --- the reason given was that a half of my photostream contains personally-owned, original, out of copyright, public domain photographs. Although the images in question were formerly part of a curated archive of antique images open to the public, and posted here for educational reasons relating to photographic history, (and not copied or stolen from the Web) , Flickr has informed me that, since I did not take them, they have set my photostream to NOT BE accessible via PUBLIC SEARCHES.

 

Since I thought these posts were a positive contribution to the spirit of Flickr's "Commons" (archival photos posted to Flickr from many old collections such as my own), I really don't understand the NIPSA punishment, but have accepted it in lieu of no further explanation from the Staff.

  

♦ MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JAPAN

 

Due to having lived most of my life in Japan's southern frontier prefecture of Okinawa --- working with, being exasperated with, cooperating with, and both loving and butting heads with Okinawans and Japanese from ALL walks of life --- I have formed my own opinions about Japan and the Japanese. Some of these opinions (filtered through my own personality) show up in various sentimental ways in the captions of the images I post.

 

With a few shining exceptions, I have not had many positive experiences while dealing with the mainland Japanese who live and work in Okinawa in business and Government capacities. This, along with a thorough knowledge of Japan's centuries-long interference in Okinawan affairs, has tainted my view of Japan (as a national entity, and "body politic") in the way that some Native Americans, Hawaiians, Eskimos, and others have had their view of the "White Man" similarly tainted.

 

During my occasional travels to the mainland, I have experienced the full range of human emotions in my interactions there, and well understand both the positive and negative aspects of life in Japan for natives and foreigners alike.

 

I recognize that others have had different experiences than me while in Japan, and might disagree with some things I have to say. No problem. Please post your own photos and experiences, and I will applaud you for it.

 

As already implied, I make no apologies for any MOCKING SPOOF of anything the Japanese might throw at me. There is nothing and no one in Japan that is sacred or immune to comment --- including any Emperors that have ascended to the throne.

 

For better (and for worse) the Japanese in general (and the Okinawans in specific) are my maddening in-laws, and also my best friends. They are the ones I have loved the deepest, and also the ones I have wanted to strangle the most !

 

Within Japan, and definitely in a historical and cultural class of their own, the people of Okinawa have been an especially humbling source of great inspiration.

  

♦ MORE PERSONAL STUFF....

 

 

I am an American citizen, 63 years old, who, until recently, worked as a professional photographer in Okinawa, Japan. In fact, I've been an avid amateur photographer for almost 50 years, with about 15 of those years doing it professionally in Japan

 

I have lived and worked here in one capacity or another for most of the past 43 years, and remain a permanent resident of Japan. I am now engaged in other pursuits, but continue to enjoy photography as a hobby.

 

I have been asked more than once by Japanese Immigration officials if I would be interested in having Japanese citizenship. After politely declining, I stated publicly in a newspaper article that I have no interest in "becoming Japanese", (although the Mainland is a very nice place to visit) but would readily accept OKINAWAN CITIZENSHIP if there was such a thing --- which unfortunately, there is not. (Some more personal notes are found farther below)

 

*

 

[My daughter, fully armed]

  

♦ STATIONED ON OKINAWA During the VIETNAM WAR

 

In 1972-73, I spent a couple of months being trained by the United States Government in the art and science of killing as many Southeast Asians as possible, including placement of "roadside bombs" (In my case, it was not "improvised explosive device" IEDs of Middle Eastern fame, but rather, the art of placing well-concealed Claymore Mines along the roadsides, each one of the devices being able to pulverize upwards of 40 human beings at a time).

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Claymore_anti-personnel_mine

 

My Government instructors openly called the hard-working people of those distant lands "gooks".

 

However, in spite of twice receiving orders to Vietnam, and being prepared to ship out from Okinawa each time, these orders were rescinded at the last moment, and I wound up working my full tour of duty in the US Army Hospital in Okinawa.

 

Here, the results of war were daily brought to us, and we helped nurse back to health those soldiers and marines who were waylaid by sickness or injury.

  

♦ I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

 

The Government's sole purpose for me (and others in the Hospital) was to get these injured guys patched up and returned to the field of battle, where they could continue killing as many "gooks" as our bombs and ammunition would allow --- and, in the end, hopefully win the war.

 

So, in this capacity, while (1) getting paid well by the US Government for my services, and (2) while religious Americans spouted off, and opined about the evils of abortion, I (3) directly aided an abetted the killing of what is now estimated to be 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 Southeast Asians, including women, children, and the elderly --- all of whom never posed an ounce of threat to the United States of America.

 

And, as usual, it was the "Pro-Life, Religious Right" that were the main, flag-waving supporters of my participation in America's wholesale slaughter of humanity in that region of the world.

 

We called it "THE VIETNAM WAR".

 

Nowadays, when I see the sad sight of my fellow Americans getting blown up by roadside bombs in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, It brings back memories of when the United States Government trained me to do the EXACT SAME THING to others in a country we had no business being in.

 

What goes around, comes around.

 

JUST ANOTHER DAY : www.liveleak.com/view?i=74a_1267057061

 

EXPORTING DEMOCRACY : www.liveleak.com/view?i=6b0_1235627650

 

HEAVY METAL RAIN : www.liveleak.com/view?i=0cf_1192458857

 

While working at the Hospital in Okinawa (eventually as E-5 Army Sergeant Oechsle, NCO in charge of the Pharmacy), I also took pictures, and privately taught basic photography and darkroom work. n.

 

I only wish I had taken more pictures back then.

  

♦ THE AFTER EFFECTS of WAR

 

I'm sure that my Military Hospital experience during the Vietnam war has had a lasting effect on my psyche and personality, though I'm not really sure what it is.

 

I did "wax religious" for many years after the war, but found that the world of "religion" can be just as destructive to humanity as bombs and bullets.

 

However, to this day, I remain an un-apologetic "Cultural Imperialist" who has absolutely no tolerance for the adolescence ideas of "Cultural Relativity" and "Moral Equivalency", or any other lame excuses of the "Time / Place" variety that lets the world sit by while women and children get run over and trampled by the lame-brained misogynists who continue to run half of the patriarchal, stone-aged countries of the world.

 

You will probably pick up on that in a few of my captions.

 

Otherwise, enjoy the photos, and feel free to re-blog any CC-rated images that might help out your own Web-pages.

 

Cheers !

 

  

Profile revised 7 March 2018.