America-Town

When I was in Okinawa last year, I spent an evening walking around ‘American Village’ after doing a little shooting at nearby Araha Beach.  I always got a kick out of how spot on The Simpson’s episode about Japan is.  In the episode, Homer comes out of the bathroom and Marge asks what they are going to do while in Japan.  He tells the family “the toilet recommended a place called ‘America-Town.’  When I arrived in Okinawa (where the local time is… tomorrow), the cab driver drove passed this ‘American Village’ place and I chuckled to my jet-lagged self thinking back to that episode.

The most prominent feature of this area is the big ferris wheel.  It wasn’t running that evening (I was hoping for some cool motion blur shots) but it still provided a nice subject and backdrop.

If you haven’t seen that aforementioned episode, I would highly recommend it and if you are ever inclined to visit Japan (Okinawa specifically), we go every few years and it would be a blast having someone to shoot with!!!

 

This is what happens when you accidentally press your shutter release when picking up your gear...

This gal was posing for a photo-op and her boyfriend/husband was fiddling with his camera - I snuck up and took 1 quick shot and even got a smile

 

A street vendor drumming up business (probably for a karaoke bar...)

The Shisa is a cross between a dog and a lion and is meant to protect from evil spirits. They are usually positioned at the front door of your house (yes, we have them in our house). They are seen EVERYWHERE in Okinawa!