18th MUNS shares local culture in sacred site tour

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Malia Jenkins
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  The 18th Munitions Squadron gave a sacred site tour to approximately 79 local Japanese members, including the Kadena Town deputy mayor Yoshiaki Kamiyama, June 22.

"The purpose of the tour was for members of the Kadena Town Kudoku Home Providence Society to visit their previous land and share their culture and heritage (with) their family," said Floyd Higa, 18th MUNS Japanese supervision chief master labor contract.

The tour also gave service members the opportunity to learn about Okinawan heritage, culture, religion and offered them the opportunity to interact with the local community, who shared stories about the monuments with the service members as they toured the different areas within the site.

Higa said the Kadena Town office has a map of which families used to live in the Kudoku area prior to World War II and are able to register for the tour, which is given every two to five years or when a request comes in.

The previous owners of the land visited four locations during the tour; a prayer monument, cave, the sacred Kuduko site and the boundary line of Kadena Town, Okinawa City and Uruma City.

The monuments were erected as a place of worship by villagers who settled there in 1902 or to commemorate the planting of camphor trees to conserve water after a great drought in 1904.

"It's good for (our) troops to experience the Okinawan culture," Higa said. "They won't get the opportunity to experience this anywhere else."

"This (is) a great opportunity for cultural exchange and the ability for 18th MUNS, on behalf of the 18th Wing, to ensure that (the tour) goes off smoothly inside a controlled area; it's a great benefit," added Maj. Glen Titus, 18th MUNS commander. "It allows everybody to be a little more culturally sensitive and respectful to (our) host nation."

Higa said he thinks they had a successful event and as other members who used to live in that area get the opportunity to visit their home, the number of people in attendance will grow each time.