A Healing Place－Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan

A Healing place－Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan Miyako Island is the best place to spend a vacation for three reasons. Before starting my recommendation, how much do you know about the island? It is located in the Pacific Ocean and about 300 km southwest from Okinawa Main Island. The land is flat, shaped just like a right-angled triangle and much of the arable land is used as sugarcane fields. And also, the island is a very popular vacation place among Japanese people because of its mild climate all year round with the average temperature of approximately 22℃, its unique culture and beautiful nature. The first reason why I recommend Miyako Island is that it’s an amazing place for its unique culture. For example, dialects are one of that. Each village in the island has their own dialects that are really different from Japanese. Did you know the name of the island, “Miyako” is also one of their dialects? It means “a place for people to live”. And also, Miyako islanders have a wonderful spirit called in their dialects “Ichabari-cho-de” that means “once we meet, we’ll be brothers”. People in that island are very warmhearted, so your contact with the local people will make your vacation more joyful and memorable. As another example, there is an interesting traditional event called “Pantuu”. In October, selected three young men disguise themselves in monsters called Pantuu, covered with mud and leaves, wearing scary masks and holding canes. They are said to take away evil spirits and bring in good fortune to the villages by putting mud on people, houses and whatever. Even tourists may be chased after by the monsters, so you must be careful!! The second reason is that Okinawa has many delicious and unique food such as goyas and sugarcanes. In Miyako Island, sugarcanes are grown mainly. Black sugar is made from them and children eat it as snacks. If you want to, you can get experience of harvesting sugarcanes. And also, as an unique