Where It Ends and Where It Began

We had already been to many sites near the southern tip of Okinawa, so we wanted to make sure we made our way to the northern tip of the island as well. So on this beautiful clear day, we headed to Cape Hedo, the northernmost point in Okinawa. The drive was about an hour and a half, mostly along the western coast.

The monument above commemorates the end of the U.S. occupation of Okinawa, and the return of Okinawa to Japan in 1972. I am not sure why this monument was placed here, although perhaps because it is just 14 miles south of the island that marks the next prefecture in Japan.

Cape Hedo also marks the place where the Pacific Ocean (to the East) and the East China Sea (to the West) meet.

The cliffs are about 230 feet high...

...which of course seemed like a perfect reason to go exploring on them.

We walked down a path the girls discovered near the cliffs and came upon this small altar where they left a couple of coins. I do love that there are so many nooks and crannies in Okinawa. It is almost always worth it to go off the beaten path.

This monument was given as a symbol of friendship to Kunigami Village (where Cape Hedo is located) by Yoron Island which is the next island in the Japanese chain. According to one website, this is a statue of a Kariyushi which is a legendary bird-fish creature, but I couldn't find corrobration of this fact, or why it would symbolize friendship. Whatever it is, it was worth a photo!

Maddox at Cape Hedo (Hedo-misaki)

Panoramic looking east towards Pacific Ocean from Cape Hedo

Peace is part of the ethos of Okinawa.

Before leaving the end of the island, we needed a quick lunch. It took us some time to decide between the Octopus Balls and the American Dog.

After lunch we headed just a few minutes down the road to Dai Sekirinzan, which is thought to be the geologic birthplace of Okinawa. These were the first rocks to emerge from the ocean to create the island. The limestone here is over 200 million years old, and the soluble limestone has been eroded over the ages to create some really cool formations.

After taking a shuttle bus from the base of the park along some roads that were "less traveled", we arrived at the visitor's center. From there we chose to start our exploring with the "Strange and Big Rocks" path.

There were many signs, all in Japanese, that showed how some of these formation were supposed to look like other things: dinosaurs, faces, birds. It took a lot of squinting, and seemed a lot like finding shapes in the clouds, but the formations were really cool regardless!

There were also sites that have sacred meaning and which have been places for worship throughout the centuries. On our way along one trail, we came upon a group of worshippers as this is still considered a location of significance and power.

At the top of the hike (thank goodness there were lots of stairs to facilitate the "hike"), we got a wondeful view of Cape Hedo. This was almost more beautiful than being at Cape Hedo. It's cool to see the tip of the island from this vantage point.

After some refreshments, we walked back down to the base through an equally interesting forested path. Not great lighting in the photo below, but this banyan tree was one of many that were along our hike.

Dai Sekirinsan ranked as one of the top three places we visited on the island. Admittedly, my rankings are related to the happiness of my kids at said places, but this was one of our favorite days. I am so glad we kept making the effort to explore, even as our time on Okianwa was nearing an end.