??????????? my main reason for going to okinawa, however, was not the usual tourist sites and beaches: i wanted to see sites related to the battle of okinawa. i was able to find a knowledgeable guide in the person of mr. chris majewski, a former marine who now does tours of the caves and battlefields for the marine corps community services travel agency. since i have no connection to the us military, i could not go on one of their tours, but i was able to engage mr. majewski's services on his days off for a two-day private tour. if you are interested in delving into the military history of okinawa in any depth, a private tour like this is really a necessity anyway, as the ordinary tours by the japanese travel companies seldom visit more than one or two of the wwii-related sites. the sites are also widely dispersed and have to be reached by car. mr. majewski is very knowledgeable about both the events of those fateful months and the sites where they occurred, many of which have now changed almost beyond recognition. fortunately, many of the caves are still more or less as they were during the war. we spent monday and tuesday touring, then i did a little exploring on my own on the wednesday before catching my 8pm flight back to tokyo. our itinerary included kakazu ridge, hacksaw ridge, the battle of okinawa historical society museum and sugar loaf hill on the first day. on the second day we visited the buckner memorial, cape kian, himeyuri, memorial of the souls, the prefectural peace museum and adjoining sights on mabuni hill, the headquarters cave of the 44th independent mixed brigade, and the underground naval headquarters on the oroku peninsula. if you are interested in contacting mr. majewski regarding a tour, please let me know and i will provide his contact information. he can tailor private tours to your particular interests. my instructions to him were just, ?please show me the best stuff to see in two days?, but you could be much more specific.?
