Brown Sugar Factory In Ryukyu Mura, Okinawa

Ryukyu Mura (mura 村 village) is a theme park presenting the Okinawa of old times. Houses that are even 200 years old were gathered from various areas of the island and brought here. Among various attractions, there is also a brown sugar factory worth visiting. Water buffaloes were used as power source to crush the sugarcane, and you can see them working here. It takes about 1 hour and 10 minute to drive there from central Naha. There is a sugar cane plantation, and explanations of the works that must be done in each month of the year in order to obtain a good crop.

Okinawa is famous for brown sugar 黒砂糖 kurozatou "black sugar." The kanji in the middle means sand. And this place is the best for buying the special sugar. It is a recommended outing from Naha.

Since Okinawa is the place for pineapple, I bought brown sugar with pineapple flavour. Though it comes in various flavours, to cater for all tastes.

En-shin-bun-ri-ki 遠心分離機 written below means centrifugal machine. Bunriki = separator.

Cactus is called saboten サボテン in Japanese. It can be written in kanji as well: 仙人掌, where 掌 tenohira means the palm (of hand). Hira means flat (the flat part of the hand is the palm, logical enough). And 人 hito means person. I am yet to see the relation between a cactus and a human palm. Maybe it is just that the latter should avoid touching any cactus. Kanji world is always fascinating.