5 November 2018
Night of the many cats
The many cats and markets of Naha
Tonight I saw a lot of cats. Japan is full of cats. If you are a cat you should probably move to Japan.
Actually I saw lots of cats on the mountain earlier today as well, every now and then one would come out of the woods and follow me for a while, but I never got a clear photo.
This evening I also explored some of the shopping streets and discovered they are a labyrinthine rabbit warren of shops, markets, boutiques and cafes. Probably the most interesting shopping area I ever saw in Japan. I dont really understand now how it went for so far and off in so many directions without crossing a road. I studied the map at a few points and found I was facing in the opposite direction to that which I expected.
At one point I came out for air and to get a bearing and found there was a bit of a park on a hill, so up the stairs I went. You can see the view below, but what you cant see is the guy who was up there on his own (before I arrived) who was attempting to balance a ping pong ball on his nose while filming himself. Perhaps he was training to be a seal at the circus.
First I headed off into a side street, not a great photo but there were hundreds of little restaurants, often with people sitting on coke crates outside. This reminded me a lot of Taiwan.
Ivory is still available for purchase in Japan. The great Japanese elephant has been extinct for centuries.
Here we have a shop cat. His focus never shifts from the horizon. He's seen things......
I couldnt work out if this guy was selling stuff, or just proudly displaying his collection of empty bottles.
Strangely, much of the actual market stays open until 9pm, including fish and meat areas. I am used to these shutting early. Some stalls are shut but at least 50% are open.
I think I found the end of the market. There was every kind of street covering, bright and new down to dull and old as depicted here.
These are not fishing supplies, apparently its a store dedicated to trinkets to hang off jewelery. Weird.
Heres the photo I took in the park where the guy was making a movie about balancing a ping pong ball on his nose.
Park cat. He was also quite happy to pose for me, even the orange pre focus light thing didnt bother him.
Some of the shops are nicer than the usual tourist fare. None of them have a NO PHOTO attitude that I picked up on.
Here is another shop dedicated to jewelry, exclusively silver jewelry, which requires a Porsche.
An underground zoo. They have the usual things like owls and hedgehogs for you to torture, but they also claim to have an otter? Otters have terrifying sharp teeth!
My dinner tonight was delicious. It is wholemeal soba, advertised as 'brown soba with germ', lots of vegetables and allegedly, some local Okinawa pork. It was the best noodles I have had on this trip so far and very cheap.