“Okinawa is nothing like the Japan I know” | Full Episode | S06 E03 |Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

“Okinawa is nothing like the Japan I know” | Full Episode | S06 E03 |Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

what does it mean to be strong it implies hardness and flexibility okanawa is a place with a fighting tradition a history of ferocious resistance but it’s nothing like what you might think not at all I took a walk through this beautiful world felt the Rain on My [Applause] Shoulder found something good in this beautiful world I felt the rain getting colder [Applause] [Music] this is okanawa just south of Mainland Japan for all the relative rigidity of the Mainland okanawa answers in its own unique way don’t eat the same thing each day that’s Bor there’s even an okan term for it champuru something mixed bits borrowed from all over served up for anyone to eat but maybe you’re more familiar with the name okanawa from this has the setting for some of the most horrifyingly bloody battles of the second world war how [Music] horrifying for the Allies there were more than 50,000 casualties with around 12,000 killed or missing in action over nearly 3 months of fighting more than a 100,000 Japanese soldiers and okan conscripts were killed defending the island civilians were stuck in the middle of the two armies and got crushed no one will know for sure but historians estimate 150,000 men women and children lost their lives during the battle what most don’t know is that okanawa had only become Japan fairly recently that to a great extent Okana aans didn’t even consider themselves really Japanese or vice versa the owans and Japanese considered themselves to be different ethnicities spoke two different languages and culturally culinarily and in many other ways looked in different directions yet okan aans were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice and they did that’s not just ancient history it informs the present still okanawa is the largest of over 100 Islands making up the ryuku island chain it’s just over 300 mil from the mainland but world’s aart okanawa is different it’s tropical Clear Water some of the best beaches in Asia to the decidedly more laid-back less frenetic self-serious attitude than the mainland you can feel it you can see it it’s just different here 2,000 lbs of heavily muscled beef enters the arena you could feel the ground shake under its heavy Hooves his opponent awaits Togo also known as USI Zumo Sumo yes but bu sumo these are professionals and like Jake lamada and Chuck webner before them they shall live to fight or do other stuff another day having shed decidedly less blood than either of those two [Applause] gentlemen two animals two handlers and they do like the Burgess Meredith job in rocking and like Fighters or Sumo the Bulls are ranked by their ability their record in the ring the highest being Yokozuna this is Kenny Aon he lives up the road is there a time limit or they just go till somebody gives up I think they pretty much go until somebody gets gives up but when it gets around point system no no there’s no point system basically when the other one turns around and runs away as the winner a few times one bull will actually get around to the side and actually be able to flip the bull over winner and loser survive both once in a while you’ll have uh injuries but most most of the time the Bulls go home and they go home to be happy nobody’s turned into steak or CET togu started as early as the 17th century with Farmers pitting Bull against bull they love it in agricultural communities like this so much so that it was briefly banned in some places because farmers were spending too much time at the fights and not enough time growing sugar cane like custado and the young Tyson their handlers rais these beasts from calves caring for them on one hand and training them conditioning them to be monsters in the ring on the [Applause] other does one wager on this I guess the uh the official IAL answer would be that gambling’s illegal in Japan but intermission time for a corn dog some funnel cake curly fries no better much better yakatori yes they have that but when in okanawa do as the okan aans do yakisoba start with pork belly as one always should some hacked up sausage cabbage carrots fry that stuff up on The Griddle add some chaman noodles and sauce soy mirin Brown sugar vinegar and a bit of socket top with seawe powder some Pickled ginger garnish and eat now oh he looks impressive oh yeah oh he’s he’s ready to go this guy I think is going to win this one well we haven’t seen his opponent oh yeah my money’s on him agess [Music] [Applause] [Music] pretty decisive winner [Applause] there I’m not accusing anybody of Gam but I see some money Changing Hands he can do it I can do it godamn it if you’re looking for sushi or kasaki or Ramen you will of course find them in okanawa but what you need to know what you must know is that in okanawa pork is King okay they got tofu too here at urun they do specifically okan food the ok now in way hi this is the Toyo which you see a little at a time is that that strong it is a little strong yeah it has like a a cheese type of texture that’s good not bad right it like blue cheese ah pork FY yes ok ens love pork every partk of the Magical Animal the pig at orun the pork belly is slowly cooked in stock heavily infused with Bonito Flakes and aamori the ears are simmered until tender thinly sliced and dressed in rice wine vinegret and the ribs after brining and sake and seasonings are slowly roasted [Music] so you grew up in New Jersey um how did you find your way to okanawa well my mom my mom was from here my dad was in the Navy mhm he was stationed here met my mom and wound up back in New Jersey cuz that’s when my dad was from Patterson and I I was born and raised there uh the school I went to was predominantly Caucasian kids MH uh there wasn’t many asian-americans at all right and I always had this kind of like identity complex there would be like times where people would come to the house they’d say oh where’s your mom from is she from China oh God yeah right yeah open the refrigerator and there’d be some weird food you know hey what’s that what are you and every time I heard that I was like Wow am I like am I different I all sudden one day my mom says we’re going back to OKO on a family trip I was 17 years old you never been up to that point no but when I got off the plane I don’t know what it was it was like I’m here this is my home being able to connect my Heritage I felt something I was like wow I belong here how about the food what was in that refrigerator because I know a lot of kids who grew up with that same sort of uh uncertainty when they brought their friends home from school to their house and open the refrigerator uh you know kimchi or cabbage or fish sauce they were aware of it when they visited their friends and they were acutely uncomfortable with it when their friends came over man have things changed as far as attitudes um pretty much the engine of the new American Cuisine our kids with childhoods like yours and and I don’t mean just what’s hit what’s the next big thing I mean literally redefining what is what is American Cuisine this way the central irony of this story is that you know your mom would have been hipster hero of New Jersey [Laughter] [Music] now still another American invasion in the Pacific the objective is Okinawa one of the Ring of Island fortresses protecting Japan 300 M away on April 1st 1945 a US invasion Fleet of nearly 1,500 ships a land force of 182,000 people that’s 75,000 more than Normandy approached okanawa what came next was what okan aans called the typhoon of Steel having Island hopped across the Pacific Allied Forces saw okanawa as a key base for Fleet Anchorage troop staging and air operations for the final push into the Japanese Mainland and victory the fighting was brutal for both sides the cost in lives and resources for the Allied Forces was tremendous and when it was over military planners looked at the mainland looked at what okanawa had cost them and projected even more appalling losses what came next we all know what is not widely known is that more people died during the battle of Okinawa than all those killed during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the very beginning main the Japanese defense preparation was only 60% when US military done their own okina right so that they had to keep the US military forces as long as possible in Okinawa so that they could prepare defense to protect Main and Japan you know so ever since that Battle of okina ok people say we were sort of what do you call it sacrifice yes mhm masah OT is a former governor of okanawa in 1945 he was a young conscript in the Japanese Imperial Army he fought hard and bravely against the Allies until he saw Japanese soldiers murdering okan aans for food and water and his faith melted away Gan is a private home turned restaurant serving very traditional okan dishes in honor of their outspoken former Governor the restaurant has prepared a dish typically served to Royals and VIPs in what was once the ryuku kingdom it’s called tundun after the lacquered dish the multi- bite-sized portions are presented in that’s see [Music] it o for this some squid swordfish wrapped in seaweed and simmered in stock and fermented sake dried sea snake wrapped in combo and slow [Music] simmered burdock root wrapped in porkloin and slow cooked in katsuo stock Oka and Taro flash fried then dressed with sugar and soy and pork shoulder dredged in black sesame then steamed uh you have described uh that uh you were shocked and surprised to see the uh the Japanese soldiers the Tre their treatment of Oak Allens was not good during the uh the battle after the United States for landed Okinawa General headquarters of the okina Defense Forces issued the order regardless military people or the civilians M you cannot use other than standard language and if you use the OK language you will be killed as a spy you know right but OK people could not understand standard language you so when Japanese killed lots of local people you know particularly given uh the experience of the war how how Japanese do do you think most people feel here there’s a fundamental difference between Japanese culture and okan culture Japanese culture is Warrior culture but okan culture is absence of militarism people happyy people do you think that easygoing um that reputation that tradition of of uh being happy gol lucky do you think that this has led to okan being taken advantage of I mean for instance uh the US military basis okwa it’s 1% of the land mass of Japan and yet what percentage of the military bases are here on on okanawa almost all of them okwa seems to be asked to make a lot of sacrifices uh for the mainland will will that ever stop you you are talking about in N not in my backyard yes yes [Music] for a place with as bloody a history okanawa is today noticeably more laidback than the mainland but that does not mean everybody’s forgotten their Warrior Traditions when the fudal Satsuma Empire from the mainland invaded okanawa in 16009 they banned the carrying manufacturer or use of weapons of any kind the ban was later reinforced in 1879 when Japan formally annexed the island It is believed that these prohibitions led directly to the development of a new style of martial art indisputably born in okanawa karate or empty hands [Music] technique and it’s even more vicious cousin Kabuto a form that uses farm and fishing tools to lethal effect hard and soft balanced for everything soft there must be something hard goju Rio is one of the main traditional styles of karate featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques Gul means hard linear attacks closed hand strikes and kicks juk means soft open hand circular blocking sweeping and takeown [Music] movements Sensei tetsuhiro hokama is a legendary master of goju Ryu people come from all over the world to study it is dojo and the training they get is hardcore [Music] I’m invited to watch hokama sensei’s students warm up let me repeat this is only the warmup that does not look like the exercises are designed to repeatedly punish your hands and feet building up stronger larger more protective deposits around the bones basically weaponizing even your weakest and smallest EXP remedies and it hurts even to watch this it’s bad it’s bad James pankovich Brit and black belt in Shan Ryu karate moved to okanawa in 2009 to study budo or the way of martial arts he acts as translator for most of the karate Sensei on the island earlier I met James and hokama Sensei at aishi Public Market in okawa’s largest city naha that’s the tasty one right we’ll take that one what are these so these are puffer fish so we got some they’re going to do some deep fried fish for us gurun the unofficial National fish of okanawa and porcupine fish both battered and deep fried they’re going to do Sashimi okan aans eat just about any kind of fish Sashimi style for us Snapper and parrot fish and lobster because one must sered draw and still twitching in the Shell we’re going to get some sea grapes as well oh good good that’s uh super traditional sea grapes the classic Regional side dish dressed in rice vinegar what you buy downstairs from vendors for a small fee restaurants will cook it for you [Music] upstairs wow oh my God happy wow away so okawa’s most famous export perhaps is karate uhhuh when most of us think of karate we think of striking exclusively is is that an accurate representation of what you’re doing from the basis of ok and kti is that it was used primarily as a as defensive art um in other words being able to you know control and subdue the opponent usually if you could in a in a humane way but then if you had to finish them then then you have the ability to finish them the Striking is important but a lot of the technique is not about striking it’s about submission techniques some of that is to do with um C so attacking Nerf points and hokam sensei in particular is extremely skilled at um dealing with uh you know bigger stronger opponents human engineering very important point point point point point point point point point then this point attack the fingers no no KN open the demonstration of hokama sensei’s open hand cuu technique becomes a little too real for my taste awful human engineering with a terrifying logic when attacks the weak point all I know how to do in this situation by the way is pull guard and look for something to choke or lock nope apparently they don’t know what tapping out means here because I was tapping like Western goddamn Union I thought he was going to push that 71-year-old finger right into my brain pan there was a saying in the old days that if there was a fight happening somewhere in town people would would go and have a look and they’d say are they fighting with fists or or open hands and if they were fighting with fists they say oh don’t bother it’s an amateur fight if they were fighting with Open Hands then they knew they were [Music] Masters on the eastern coast of okanawa Yanks enter the village of kin the US military came ashore in 19 1945 and to owans it must seem like they never left today there are roughly 30,000 troops stationed on the island put that many Americans in a place especially young mostly male Americans many of them homesick and it tends to change the [Music] environment kin town just outside of naha right by Camp Hansen one of the larger bases the Yanks have inch by inch to conquer this island kin is a small slice of Americana both the mainstream America and its dark underbelly the okan aans have made the kind of adjustments that people do when saddled with neighbors like thousands of Marines and sometime in the 80s adjusted food as we knew it to this a mutant classic taco rice taco and rice that’s TCO rice wow wow it’s big is this chili sauce or was a ketchup it’s like Original Taco oh it’s taco sauce taco rice sauce but it’s um a bit spicy oh good but not not super spicy Vivien takushi has lived in both the US and Okawa and her aunt Sumo an Entertainer who began singing in American bases after the war wow that’s good there are dueling claims as to how taco rice might have morphed into existence but sauri Shima bakuro is certain in the 1980s American servicemen introduced the standard Taco to owans and her grandfather matsugo gibo decided to tweak them dumping the fillings straight onto rice for the late night crowd of marines coming back from the bars this Unholy greasy starchy probably really unhealthy Delight a Booz mop turned classic caught on big time for both Americans missing home and locals so I I I consider myself a pretty pro-military guy but why are the Marines here like I like Marines but you know I’m not Robert mamara but it seems to me if you go to war with China sending in the Marines is probably not what you’re going to be doing people of your generation what do you think the attitude is towards the military bases um as long as we’re not living near the base right it doesn’t affect us that much near the base near the base it makes a difference right live near you know right away I mean it’s tattoo parlors strip clubs vape shops I mean you know and also it’s very loud um that’s a big issue tourism is probably the future of Okinawa yes I mean beautiful weather reaches uh if the bases leave it’s going to be big hotels and resorts and golf courses which is worse Chinese tourists or American Marines I’ll stick with the Marines cery not everybody here agrees with viven by a long shot okan aans may be easygoing and laidback but the island is also a relative hot bed of political activism largely inspired or provoked by what okinawans see as high-handed treatment from a central government with different cultural and historical Traditions who don’t consider their needs or priorities and their hugely disproportionate shouldering of the US military presence for the entire country currently there are close to 30 military installations on okanawa and even though it’s one of the smallest Japanese prefectures in terms of livable area they accommodate more than half of the foreign military presence even more problematic much of okawa’s arable land suitable for farming on an island whose whole traditional identity was built around farming is eaten up by military [Music] bases the military base issue is this more important for older people or younger people well it’s it’s for the older people it’s for the older people yes so when you actually go to a place where they have a like a protest going on I would say over 80% of the people are uh all retired person what do you think that is um this is only my opinion but uh Japanese uh Imperial Army uh did a lot of brutal stuff on this island and war never ended for some people and the feelings that they got suppressed all of a sudden after they retired they kind of burst and they want to kind of act out act out this is K Yoda he’s an okan farmer and this is nishimachi a small noodle shop that bears only the owner’s name and serves only okan style soba pork Bell or ribs as the meat the broth a mix of fish chicken pork and vegetable stocks Okana and soba differs greatly from what we know from the mainland they use wheat noodles instead of Buckwheat a nod perhaps to the Spaghetti eating Marines they lived with all these years years garnishes are spring onion fish cake and slices of omelette add your pickle Ginger and togarashi hot sauce and hurah it seems the anti-base sentiment also coincide with an anti- central government sediment you do bear a hugely disproportionate burden of bases isn’t some activism called for here I think the Young Generation should decide what to do for our future instead of the old people just fighting for their beliefs to me I really feel a strong need to uh forgive mhm and then forget and then move [Music] on long before the war the Americans arrived long before the Satsuma invaded from the mainland Okinawa was a kingdom the ryuku kingdom a prosperous and peaceful island chain with no standing army they were farmers Traders and necessarily diplomats whose eyes more often than not looked West to China rather than to the more isolated Mainland while Japan as it existed then was isolationist racially and ethnically culturally and in every other way the ryuku kingdom was not they were more open more Multicultural more used to and predisposed to dealing with the outside world and its influences today just a short ferry ride from the main island a sense a feeling of that long gone Empire remains KU Jima is a small island that has been largely Untouched by the changes in the world people farm and fish as they always did the war never came here this is bushiro nagame and yina Tomo kajima residents and Friends of James no they didn’t they suffered very little damage in the war and uh no military bases no American pres well up until 72 there was an American base there was but then in 72 on the on the reversion the base was taken away no nothing the Japanese self-defense forces now what do people do here agriculture growing sugar cane I saw tourism tourism fishing fishing have there been attempts to develop here and uh have the locals been able to resist that impulse she’s saying Kima they have Rich lives they have everything they need theyve produced from the land from the sea they don’t need much [Music] else I’ve been invited to a beach barbecue kajima style go big or go home to eat some fresh cot tuna that comes straight from the market to be butchered into [Music] Sashimi also caught this morning some sea snails for the grill and mazuku seaweed which can be cooked but today is enjoyed raw and local prawns eaten either raw or grilled or both that looks awesome off of the head there’s more local beef grilled and then tossed with moyashi seasoned bean sprouts we will need our energy it [Music] appears Tumi is as old school a martial art as it gets no ring no octagon the rules are simple known as Oka and Sumo who it looks easy it’s not your hands are wrapped in your opponent’s belt object is to get him onto his back both shoulders before he does it to you nice you land on your back for even a second you lose there you got him yeah would you like to try try yeah [Music] sure go [Music] yes in the end it’s a less than smoothly executed Judo move kosoto gake I believe that brings my opponent to the ground thank you for going easy on me [Music] awesome so I’ve given up many vices in my life many shameful filthy guilty pleasures that I used to like that I will that I just don’t do anymore uh cocaine heroin prostitutes uh the musical stylings of Steven Tyler uh I put aside these childish things as it were uh in favor of uh a newer more mature me but there is one shameful secret one thing I just can’t give up one thing I keep coming back to every time I come back to Japan one thing that still has Unholy grip on me for no reason that I can gather it’s the convenience store formerly of near akan Ohio that mutated into a massive Japanese chain behold the wonder that is lawon what is it exactly about this place that’s got its tentacles so deep into my heart and my soul [Music] you are where are you I know you’re around here [Music] somewhere pillows of Love egg salad from Lawson need a beverage hero [Music] of in naha you would be advised to avoid International Avenue unless you’re homesick for fellow Americans head down the side streets shuttered storefronts give way to packed zakas a few beers and somebody breaks out a shamisen and the good times begin [Applause] people go out here and after pounding your fists and feet into hardened meat Hooks and out bone chips you could drop by Dojo bar james’ Refuge where some of the Island’s most esteemed Masters and their students come for what is recognized internationally has the cure for all martial arts related ailments alcohol we drink I think I would like a beer and maybe a shot of something well I do have a little shot of something it’s a big snake the habushu Sak is like the spirit of okan is this sake or whiskey this is sake this is okan sake got aori so like Mainland Japanese sake but then they distill it like whiskey so it become stronger um but also now it’ll age um and it’s been in here with the snake maybe like 3 years CU all all of the essence of the snake has gone out into the AL [Music] goodby there seems to be a conflict of interest here you train uh karate very seriously yeah um I mean should you people be drinking this is what I’m asking where is the point of diminishing returns there aren’t many teachers who don’t drink the aori is intrinsic to the now in culture right um most enjoy aori as part of their lifestyle in the same way the karate is part of their lifestyle they’re saying please eat let’s talk you more eating Sashimi well let’s just say it’s an animal you like this is horse me horse and [Applause] this go that’s good pure protein for people who need it and pork belly some pickled pigs ears and baked yam I watch a lot of uh mixed martial arts I watch a lot of Jiu-Jitsu my daughter trains mostly Jiu-Jitsu but but some stand up some of the most exciting Fighters that I’ve seen lately who really show the most heart uh are women uh is there a is there a future for women in K she has a female student here tonight this is Tony is asking what’s the future for um women in traditional karate when I first started karate I didn’t know this world and now I’m learning Kate as the the performance and also the [Music] live everything is all about love and karate is showing you if you have this kind of power and the ability to protect yourself your family uh you can be really kind that’s about people I think always have this love to everybody [Music] [Music]

Tony explores the mystifying island of Okinawa, tries the blended flavours of the local cuisine, and drinks snake-infused liquor with some karate masters.

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