Pavement Decoration

How Chinese is this? This was a tile in the pavement of the main street in Okinawa.It had  obviously been walked and stepped on a few times given the wear. Just goes to show how much influence the Chinese have  had in Okinawa, even though it is an island owned & ruled by Japan.

Another Roof Line

This was one of the roof lines that we found in the main street of Okinawa. It was certainly interesting, with a Chinese influence. It certainly made for interesting viewing up against the modern buildings in the same street. Lots of patterns once again to use as inspiration for my stitching.

Okinawa Street View

Just part of the view of the main street in Okinawa. We went for a walk up this main street, doing lots of looking and occasional buying. So different from home, but catering very much for the tourist. There were quite possibly streets behind this one that would be meant for the locals, but we really didn't have time to explore. It's the shops for the locals that I find really interesting.

A Roof Line

The one thing that I loved about our trip to Japan was the buildings, and the decorations on them. This is just another example, of one we found in Okinawa. I just love the mix of flowers and leaves with fish. It would all be symbolic in some way.

This one is just a close up of the fish.

Okinawa Glass

Okinawa glass is a recycling tradition. As the story goes, when the locals returned home after the war, the craftsmen found only rubble to work with. The glass makers made use of broken  bottles discarded by American troops, and turned it into beautiful glassware.

Above is just some of the beautiful glassware that we came across. This was found in a small shop in the main shopping street in Okinawa, and was for sale. This type of glassware is unique to Okinawa, born out of a need to rebuild after WW11. It has turned into a thriving industry for the tourist.

Weaving

This one is also for my stitching friends. Taken through glass, I have reflections in my pic, but if we look past the reflections, we can see some wonderful weaving patterns.

At first, I thought this was drawn thread work but a close look showed out the weaving. My passion is drawn work, and these weaving patterns are very similar to the needle weaving patterns used in drawn thread channels throughout Europe a few hundred years back. I wonder who influenced who?

This is a table runner, and was on display in the shrine at the Shurijo Castle on Okinawa, Japan.

Artwork

This artwork was on the wall inside the shrine in the grounds of the Shurijo Castle in Okinawa. Obviously done in inks of some kind, it tells a story. The story would have been written somewhere, but we were on limited time and I have missed it. I am assuming that that is the King being transported by his court members in a procession of some kind.

I would have liked to study this drawing more closely, but it was high on a wall and we were being escorted through this section quite quickly.

A Cover

This one is for all my stitching friends, and anyone else that enjoys the fine arts. 

This is a cover of some kind, though I am not sure of what. It probably was written somewhere, but we were on a limited time frame and I missed the sign.

Check out the beautiful hand stitching that decorates this cover.

Beautiful voided flowers and leaves.

Flowers placed in borders.

Beautiful birds. Check out the voiding on the body of this bird, showcasing the feathers to make them look real.

Yes, these are all stitched by hand. Stunning work showing influences from China.

A Decorated Pole

This decorated pole was found inside the shrine at the Shurijo Castle in Okinawa. Still more dragons decorate this pole, and we can see the influence of China with the voided clouds. Just beautiful.

Another Dragon

The panel above the throne was beautiful and decorated with gold dragons. In this pic we can see two more. The one at the bottom has four claws, while the one at the top has five. The number of claws have meanings, I just forget for the moment what they mean. I know the more claws the dragon has, the better everything is, luck, wealth etc. Whatever they mean, the decorations on the panel above the throne were beautiful