"Al" <al@privacy.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:1gwjjgx.1fjp83b5rmvamN%al@privacy.ne.jp...
> Ryan Ginstrom <ryan@ginstrom.com> wrote:
> > As you drive around Okinawa, you'll find that the choicest beachfront
> > property is already occupied -- by graves. Dead people have the best
views
> > in Okinawa.
> >
> > But that's more due to a profoundly different attitude toward living by
the
> > sea that Okinawans had (and still have to some extent).
>
> Maybe they knew something that we modern people have "forgotten"?
> (Think Sumatra, Maledives, Sri Lanka, Thailand... and Japan and
> Okinawa...)

That could be, but Okinawans hardly need ancestral memories of tsunami to
convince them that the ocean is both a giver and taker of life. Yearly
typhoons and plentiful poisonous/large and hungry sea critters are
sufficient reminder.

You can see the attitudes today as well. For instance, most Okinawans aren't
keen on having their kids play in the ocean. Also, even if a house has a
great view of the ocean, the windows facing the sea tend to be small, and
the house is oriented on the Okinawan kasou lines rather than facing the
ocean. When you see a house facing the ocean, with huge windows, it is a
safe bet that it is owned by shima-naichaa (yamatunchu).

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
ryang@gol.com