Cultural Differences

We went to Katsuen Castle Remains in Uruma City. Katsuren is a World Heritage designated by the U.N. and it's a beautiful place. The castle was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and was the home to the great Amawari... you gotta go there, it's free and you can get brochures in English if you so desire.

Here's a picture as we begin the ascent:

It's pretty steep walking up there and as you can see from above, it's a flat drop on the side.

When I got up there I was really struck by two things:
1) Okinawa's gorgeous!
2) there's nothing keeping me from being blown off this castle!

Here's what I mean:

This is the Castle Wall, it's at me knees, and from this picture it's hard to tell, but there's a straight drop just three feet in front of me (refer to the first picture in this series).

Maybe this will clarify what I mean:

The kid is standing at the edge of the Castle Wall and just a foot away from his feet is a significant drop.

In the U.S. this would never happen. I guess we're simply too stupid as a people to know better...I'm not really sure why American society is such a litigious one. Maybe it's the lack of Nationalized/Socialized Healthcare, I dunno. But I do know that this also wouldn't happen in the U.S. because we're so eager to enter lawsuits:

This is a chainsaw plant, I took this photo at the Southeast Botanical Gardens. It's just laying there, waiting for you.

Of course, I am not saying that things should be different here in Japan. I am saying that it's interesting how our two societies are able to function so differently. I'm glad to know it's possible.