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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/11, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Modern Conveyances
Taketomi Island, Okinawa, Japan

So, picking up from yesterday where I recapped our spring trip to Ishigaki Island in the far south of Japan, and our side excursion to the culturally unique Taketomi Island....

Taketomi's tourist draw, besides the quaint little town, are tours through it in carts pulled by water buffalo. (Why water buffalo? No idea.) There were maybe a dozen water buffalo we could see, two or three in active service.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
During Our Ride

I don't have many pictures from our ride, but wish I did because our tour guide (and caretaker of our buffalo, whose name he told us but I've now forgotten) was most excellent. He had a wonderful aura of kindness toward the animal and the passengers, was an excellent storyteller, and played a mean shamisen. He seemed to communicate with the buffalo on a plane we weren't part of... he'd be in the middle of telling some story about the history or character of the village, and without breaking gaze or cadence, he took a large bucket from the side of the cart and placed it under the rear end of the buffalo, who then proceeded to fill the bucket. The driver then returned the bucket to its storage spot, and we continued, all the while some story being told.

K001 — ¹/950 sec — map & image data — nearby photos
"Water Buffalo Cart Check-In
Inside
Photo by Anthony Friedl

One of the zany guardian things described yesterday, displaced from its normal spot on the roof.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Touristy Photo Op

We then went for a stroll through the village...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flying George

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/11, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Coral-Lined Lanes
pedestrians, bikes, and watter buffalo

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Modern Urban Blight
bicycle parking

Actually, there was plenty of urban blight any time you looked up...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 26 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Typical Japan

... but they were in the long process of burying all the cables...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Under Construction

They started a similar project near my place four years ago, and have still yet to complete it. They completely redid the road and sidewalks, but left the wires and poles, telling me that the actual removal would follow “in a few years”. Still waiting )-:

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/11, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
High Point on the Island

The island is very flat, so a little outcropping of rock makes for a notable landmark with a view. Add to that a lookout tower kind of thing made a hundred or so years ago before zoning, and you have the highest point on the island whose status is now protected by law.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/11, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lookout

The stairs were the steepest I'd ever taken, somehow feeling even steeper than a vertical ladder. Some people could not navigate them, opting to give up (slowly and carefully) after the first few huge steps.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/11, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Village

D700 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, highly cropped — ¹/200 sec, f/11, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Recent Roof Repair
sort of distorted due to having been cropped from the corner of a 24mm frame

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Leading the Stroll
along the prettiest lane, where we eventually took a family portrait

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/3200 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Okinawan Roof
Incredibly Solid

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Veneer of Modern Traditionalism
local post office

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Testing
anti-gravity parachute parasol

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 42 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/9, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fixer-Upper
comes with its own rusting steam roller

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/9, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
George Flying Again
approaching takeoff speed

We eventually took the 15-minute boat ride back to Ishigaki Island, and stopping by a cafe for a coffee, found to our delight that we could see Taketomi Island off shore, in all its flatness.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/14, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Should Be Called Pancake Island