The suburban/urban landscape of Okinawa is completely different than anywhere I've ever traveled. Homes are made of concrete to withstand the typhoons and there's bars on the windows of many properties, but these bars are not for security, they are for debris from the typhoons. I was present for a typhoon back in October, just a month after I was in Florida for Hurricane Irma. Irma was an incredibly strong hurricane, and Typhoon Lan was considered a super typhoon maxing out at the equivalent of a category 2 hurricane, so I am going to presume that the typhoons here are not nearly as strong as hurricanes in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. At least Lan wasn't, and although it came over the top of us, our home never lost power. It seems the people were wise when they built their homes here. Homes like this one on a hill. In the states, particularly California, you see mudslides and homes collapse that are on hills like this. There is so much greenery here, I couldn't imagine landing on this island in 1945 and operating through all this jungle. Probably one of the reasons the Battle of Okinawa is one of the most deadliest battles in American history. Still the beauty here remains and all has been peaceful, except for the ghosts on the island. Homes like this one remind me of a scary story, and there are plenty like it here on the island.
