Business cards, flyers, invitations and more! Contact printshop.stripes.com 042-552-2510 (extension77315) 227-7315 VOLUME 14 NO. 31 NOVEMBER 12 − NOVEMBER 25, 2020 SUBMIT STORIES TO: [email protected] STRIPESOKINAWA.COM FACEBOOK.COM/STRIPESPACIFIC FREE INSIDE INFO HAVE YOU EVER… A POEM BY WWII SAILOR PAGE 2 WHAT IS JAPAN’S THANKSGIVING? PAGE 3 Nakagusuku Castle Ruins MOS BURGER GOES VEGGIE PAGE 6 an architectural masterpiece Page 4 DEADLINES FOR SHIPPING HOLIDAY GIFTS NEAR PAGE 8 7-5-3 Day Japanese tradition and rite of passage PAGE 5 Special 8-page pullout inside! File photos 2 STRIPES OKINAWA A STARS AND STRIPES COMMUNITY PUBLICATION 75 YEARS IN THE PACIFIC NOVEMBER 12 − NOVEMBER 25, 2020 HAVE YOU EVER… A poem by a WWII sailor Editor’s Note: Cindy Pearson Gates sent this to Stars and Stripes. Here’s what she had to say: “Hello, my father, now passed, was a Max D. Lederer Jr. Publisher Boatswain’s Mate on an LST in the Battle of Biak. When he was Lt. Col. Richard E. McClintic 19, he wrote a poem after the battle that is poignant and raw and Commander honest. In his honor, I am putting it out there for you, in case you Chris Verigan would be interested in it.” Cindy, we are very interested. Thank Engagement Director you so much for sharing a part of your father with us. Marie Woods Publishing and Media Design Director Chris Carlson BY WILLIAM G. PEARSON Publishing and Media Design Manager Eric Lee Have you ever… Advertising and Circulation Manager Waited three months to catch up with your mail only to find it was Kentaro Shimura Production Manager sent back to your starting place? DUKW unloading at Biak. Photo courtesy of Hyperwar, a database of the US military Rie Miyoshi Drunk brackish water and tried to scrub clothes with salt water? Engagement Manager Lived off of K rations until it all tastes like cardboard? Watched the second leader on your gun have his arm amputated Denisse Rauda Publishing and Media Design Editor Spent three days in modified G.Q rain, shine, snow, or hell? in an emergency operation? Publishing and Media Design Writers Fired a 40 mm until it’s red hot and the paint on the mount curls Had your gun jamb at a very critical moment and cut and burn ChiHon Kim Shoji Kudaka up and burns? your hands trying to clear it? Takahiro Takiguchi Layout Designers Stood watches till your thoughts run in 4 hour cycles? Paid $32 for a pint of whiskey? Mamoru Inoue Been promised a protective umbrella from the army and then Heard the inhumane cries of the wounded shipmate who sleeps Yukiyo Oda Yuko Okazaki learn it was recalled? right under you? Kayoko Shimoda Multimedia Consultants Been blasted so hard by concussion that your head aches for Sorted through piles of flesh, steel and guts looking for a dog tag Max Genao Doug Johnson months and the sound of explosion still rings in your ears? or some means of identification? Brian Jones Jason Lee Hans Simpson Chae Pang Yi Stared into the open bomb bay of a Betty bomber, so close you Been so scared you couldn’t breathe, talk, or move? Gianni Youn Robert Zuckerman Graphic Designers could touch it with your gun barrel? Seen grown men bawling like two-year-old kids? Kenichi Ogasawara Yosuke Tsuji Been promised you could return to the U.S. after 18 months only Buried a man in a bucket? Sales Support Kazumi Hasegawa Hiromi Isa to figure you got out lucky after 24? Seen tracers from shore batteries arch over you like sky rockets? Ichiro Katayanagi Yoko Noro Wondered just why you are fighting and what this war is all Yusuke Sato Saori Tamanaha Had chills and fever with Malaria? Toshie Yoshimizu Un Chong Yu Seen your buddies blasted to pieces and then had to scrape and about? scrub them off the cold steel a few hours later? Drawn Navy pay and then hear of people in the States striking For feedback and inquiries, Piped a man over the side in military burial at sea? for higher wages and better living conditions? contact [email protected] Been the sole target of seven zeroes with nothing more than a fly You haven’t? To place an ad, call DSN 645-7419 swatter for protection? Well, you’re a lucky son of a bitch! stripesokinawa.com/contact NOVEMBER 12 − NOVEMBER 25, 2020 A STARS AND STRIPES COMMUNITY PUBLICATION 75 YEARS IN THE PACIFIC STRIPES OKINAWA 3 WHAT IS JAPAN’S THANKSGIVING? BY HASHI, TOFUGU.COM NATIONAL HOLIDAY In both countries, Thanksgiv- K, obviously Japan ing Day is a national holiday. In doesn’t celebrate the the US, the president “pardons” O same Thanksgiv- a turkey, there’s a huge ing that we do in parade in New York America; America’s TOFUGU.COM City, a lot of business- Thanksgiving is a es are closed, and gov- cornucopia-filled ernment services are holiday with a lot of mostly shut down. traditions unique In Japan, it’s not to the good ol’ US quite as festive, of A. but still very much But even though a national holiday. Most businesses Japan doesn’t have are still open on La- Thanksgiving the bor Thanksgiving Day, same way we under- but government services stand it in the US, Japan File photos are closed down. There are still has a Thanksgiving little celebrations all over holiday right around the same the country, but none with the time. It’s called kinr kanshahi, ō spectacle of the celebrations in or Labor Thanksgiving Day, and the US. it’s a national holiday. It has the same roots as Thanksgiving here in the US – it was once a fall harvest festival, but has since changed in mean- HOW IS JAPANESE ing. Nowadays, Labor Thanks- giving Day is a holiday celebrat- THANKSGIVING ing workers in Japan. DIFFERENT? How can you compare Ameri- can Thanksgiving Day and Jap- anese Labor Thanksgiving Day? What’s the same and what’s dif- ferent? Let’s take a look: NO TURKEY Sorry Japanese people, but you don’t get enormous, heart- attack inducing feasts the way us Americans do. On the plus HOW IS JAPANESE side, turkeys needn’t fear the annual genocide they face here THANKSGIVING in the US. THE SAME? POLITICAL HOLIDAY While you might get into some heated conversations with your BEING THANKFUL relatives during Thanksgiving Both American and Japanese in the US (will somebody tell my Thanksgiving days ob- uncle that the election is over?!), viously, focus on it’s generally a pretty apoliti- giving thanks. cal holiday. It’s pretty hard In America, to politicize big meals it’s more and families getting to- about giv- gether. ing thanks in Now Labor Thanks- an abstract giving Day isn’t an ex- sense – giving plicitly political thanks for the holiday, but it things that have definitely has happened to you, political impli- the people in your life, cations. Labor etc. – but in Japan, it’s a lot organizations more specific. across the In Japan, Labor Thanks- country take Stripes Okinawa is A Stars and Stripes Community Publication. This newspaper is authorized for publication giving Day is about being the opportunity by the Department of Defense for members of the military services overseas. However, the contents thankful for workers who do to have a conver- of Stripes Okinawa are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the their job and do it well. Some- sation about the accom- U.S. government, including the Department of Defense or the U.S. Pacific Command. As a DOD newspaper, times you literally thank those plishments of the labor move- Stripes Okinawa may be distributed through official channels and use appropriated funds for distribution people — school kids sometimes ment, workers’ rights, etc. to remote and isolated locations where overseas DOD personnel are located. The appearance of advertising make thank you cards and gifts So whether you’re celebrating in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement of those products by for municipal workers like po- Thanksgiving Day in the US or the Department of Defense or Stars and Stripes. Products or services advertised in this publication shall be lice, firefighters, and hospital Labor Thanksgiving Day in Ja- made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron. workers. pan, have a good holiday! 4 STRIPES OKINAWA A STARS AND STRIPES COMMUNITY PUBLICATION 75 YEARS IN THE PACIFIC NOVEMBER 12 − NOVEMBER 25, 2020 Nakagusuku Castle Ruins an architectural masterpiece STORY AND PHOTOS BY SHOJI KUDAKA, composed of several flatlands called STRIPES OKINAWA kuruwa. The castle ruins have six: south, west, north, first, second, and akagusuku Castle Ruins will third kuruwa. transport you back in time to The south kuruwa served as a sanc- around 14th or 15th century tuary while west kuruwa was used N to train troops and horses. The first Okinawa while providing amazing views of the main island’s east coast. kuruwa, located at the center of the For many, Shuri Castle might be at castle, is the biggest among the six the top of the Okinawa bucket list, but and is considered a location for the add a stop to explore Nakagusuku, an- main temple. The second kuruwa is other UNESCO World Heritage site. known for its beautiful surrounding This majestic location boasts both stone walls, and it has a place of wor- beauty and history.