[captioning by Robin Morgan]
In looking through my photo archives, I spotted one that sort of matched (in my head) with something I read about the history of Okinawa on ClickOkinawa.com. The part about the Kingdom of Ryukyu having been in a prosperous time and well protected from the warring factions by China. The article attributed the good fortune to the practice by the leaders of Kingdom of Ryukyu of making an annual tribute to someone in China consisting of a large shipment of sulphur. With that element being an important ingredient in the manufacture of gun powder, the Chinese must have put the word out that the ships and land of the Kingdom of Ryukyu were to be left alone. The Chinese wisely reciprocated by gifting and new ship to the Kingdom of Ryukyu each year, probably larger each time so more sulphur could be returned.
Now, for my photo connection: On one of my island hiking photo tours, I came across an open pit mining site. There was no sign, that I could decipher, to explain what material was being mined, but in my impressionable mushy gray area, I seem to have a faint recall of a strong smell similar to rotten eggs when I view this photo. It would be a real miracle if indeed there was any of the yellow element left after the many years of extraction for the annual tribute run to China.
ClickOkinawa.com 1996-2010
S.A. Mick McClary - Kichigai-no Design
P.O. Box 6245, Great Falls, MT 59406