We spent the last night at "Okinawa Kariyushi Beach Resort" in Onnason Village.
We have no sightseeing schedule on the 5th day, November 23, the last travel day. We parted from Ms. Nakama, the guide, last night.

Left the hotel at 10:00 a.m. so as to be ready for JAL 910 of Japan Airlines at 12:45 from Naha Airport.
Our bus ran about 65 km south under the blue sky, while we listened to the talk of the traveled outline by Ms. Fukuzato, the attendant, in the view of the multi-colored brightening sea.

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The flight back was also comfortable.
The airport bus took us from Haneda to Urayasu.
Shopping something for dinner at ATRE in Shin-Urayasu Station, then got back home at 5:00 p.m.
It was cold here.

This chapter is for what I took notes of on the way and what Ms. Nakama, the guide, talked about in the bus there.

During the 3-day sightseeing practically, we made a round trip through Okinawa Main Island in the large bus from Cape Hedo, the northernmost, to Peace Memorial Park on Mabuni Hill of the southern tip.
We enjoyed the warm climate like in Hawaii and also wonderful views, as well as historical monuments like Shuri Castle and two other castle remains. Ryukyu folk dance "Eisa" impressed us very much at a couple of places.

I accept it is too simplistic and careless to express my impression in a word, but I thought strongly that Okinawa had been a different country isolated from Japan before the Meiji Restration in people, history, climate and culture, much more under the influence of China with close relationship.
The Okinawans have been a member of Japan and have not made any serious conflicts since Meiji period, somewhat helped by their mild personality. However, the Pacific War broken out in 1941 gave an outrageous scar to Okinawa and the Okinawans.

The tragedy and cruelty they suffered at the end of the war will never be separated from the hearts of the barely survived people and their descendants. The discrepancy between their hearts and ours with no such misfortune will surely be immense. We have to try to continue making it up but I also recognize it is not easy at all.
I am thinking of the gap between the scene and our real feelings about another big issue since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Atomic Power Plant Accident 3 years ago, not ended now. It is not something unrelated to us, like the issue of Okinawa which was firstly attacked by the United States and became a brutal battlefield.
I may be running away covering up what smells bad.
The following are from the memo during the trip.

Ryukyu, Okinawa

I noticed here and there various remaining traces of Ryukyu Kingdom period
It was clear that the kingdom had more contract with China than the then Japan (Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi and the War States period). Therefore the culture and lifestyles of Ryukyu and Okinawa handed down now seemed peculiar. I seriously thought it was a rare tradition, climate and culture in the world, not only in Japan.
Eisa, Ryukyu folk dance, Shuri Castle, Katsuren Castle Remains, Nakijin Castle Remains, local food, smile, the sea, islands, cliffs, flowers, trees, birds, .......

Well, Ryukyu and Okinawa. I have not known the origin of both names.
Concerning Ryukyu, its name first appeared as "Ryukyu Country" (流求國) in the book Zuisho in the year 607 when China was in Zui period (581-618).
The kanji letter (流求國) seems to have been changed to the present name (琉球) in or after Min period in China (1368-1644). But Wikipedia says, "It is not quite sure if the area was around the present Okinawa Pref. There are also such theories as it referred to Taiwan or the islands east of Chinese Continent not belonging to Japan."

Meanwhile, Okinawa is said to have appeared as a name of "Ajinaha" (阿児奈波) in the biography (779) of Ganjin, a famous priest sailed from China to Japan in Tou period (618-907) of China.
The kanji letter Okinawa (沖縄) was firstly used by Arai Hakuseki, a famous scholar in Edo period, in the book "Nantoushi" (南島誌, 1719).

In Edo period the area was invaded by Satsuma domain of Japan. Since then it belonged to Japan as Ryukyu domain. It became Okinawa Pref. in 1879 (Meiji 12) in the result of the abolition of feudal domains and establishment of prefectures.

Pease allow me to skip its situation after the Pacific War.

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Forgetful!

The castle comparable to Shuri Castle, the center of Ryukyu Kingdom, will be Edo Castle of Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan, while Ryukyu Kingdom was reigning in Okinawa during 15-19 centuries and Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan during 17-19 centuries.
Shuri Castle had several gates other than Shurei-mon Gate, the main entrance.
What about Edo Castle? Ohte-mon, Sakurada-mon, Hanzo-mon, Sakashita-mon, Inui-mon, Hirakawa-mon, ....., those are what come out to my mind. However, I was surprised, looking up on the internet. Numerous.

Not to change the subject, our couple took a 2-day trip to Nikko 2 weeks after this trip.
As a matter of fact, we visited Toshogu, the main shrine of Tokugawa Shogunate. How many times had we been there?
Yomei-mon, the main entrance, was regretfully under construction this time, covered by a huge tent.
I just remembered Shurei-mon of Shuri Castle still live in my heart, passing through it.
Shurei-mon is a castle gate, while Yomei-mon is a shrine gate. They have nothing to compare each other, but I decided to show the 2 gates below. Yomei-mon is what we visited 5 years ago.

Shureimon Gate （November, 2014）

Yomeimon Gate （December, 2009）