vivian: taco rice sauce, but it s, um, a bit spicy but not, not super spicy. anthony: oh good. vivian ttakushi has lived in both the u.s. and okinawa. and her aunt sumiko, an entertainer who began singing in american bases after the war. wow, that s good. there are dueling claims as to how taco rice might have morphed into existence. but sayuri shimabukuro is certain. in the 1980 s, american servicemen introduced the standard taco to okinawans. and her grandfather matsuzio gibo decided to tweak them. dumping the fillings straight on to rice for the late night crowd of marines coming back from the bars. this unholy, greasy, starchy, probably really unhealthy delight. a booze mop turned classic, caught on big time for both americans missing home and locals. so i consider myself a pretty pro-military guy. but why are the marines here? like, i like marines but, you know, i m not robert mcnamara. but it seems to be if you go to war with china, sending in the marines is probably not what
james: we re gonna do sashimi. anthony: okinawans eat just about any kind of fish sashimi style. for us, snapper and parrotfish. james: and lobster. anthony: because one must. served raw and still twitching in the shell. james: and we re gonna get some sea grapes as well. anthony: oh good, good, that s, uh, super traditional. sea grapes, the classic regional side dish dressed in rice vinegar. what you buy downstairs from vendors. for a small fee, restaurants will cook it for you upstairs. james: wow. group: oh my god. happy? anthony: wow. so, okinawa s most famous export, perhaps, is karate. hokama: uh-huh. anthony: when most of us think of karate we think of striking exclusively. is that an accurate representation of what you re doing? james: the basis of okinawan karate is that it was used primarily as a defensive art. um, in other words, being able to, you know, control and subdue the opponent. usually, if you could, in a
in the japanese imperial army. he fought hard and bravely against the allies until he saw japanese soldiers murdering okinawans for food and water. and his faith melted away. gettouan is a private home turned restaurant. serving very traditional okinawan dishes. in honor of their outspoken former governor the restaurant has prepared a dish typically served to royals and v.i.ps in what was once the ryukyu kingdom. it s called tundabun, after the lacquered dish the multi bite-sized portions are presented in. masahide: let s eat. anthony: that s very good. there s some squid. swordfish wrapped in seaweed and simmered in stock in fermented sake.
happy-go-lucky people. anthony: do you think that easy going, um, that reputation, that tradition of, uh, being happy-go-lucky. do you think that this has led to okinawans being taken advantage of? i mean, for instance, uh, the u.s. military bases. okinawa is 1% of the landmass of japan, and yet what percentage of the military bases are here on okinawa? almost all of them. okinawa seems to be asked to make a lot of sacrifices, uh, for the mainland. will that ever stop? masahide: you are talking about nimby. anthony: not in my backyard? masahide: yes, yes. when you re particular,
dried sea snake wrapped in kombu and slow simmered. burdock root wrapped in pork loin and slow cooked in katsuo stock. okinawan taro flash fried then dressed with sugar and soy. and pork shoulder, dredged in black sesame, then steamed. you have described, uh, that, uh, you were shocked and surprised to see the the japanese soldiers, their treatment of okinawans was not good during the, uh, the battle. masahide: and, if you use the okinawan language, you will be killed as a spy, you know? anthony: right. masahide: but the okinawan people could not understand standard language, you know? so, the japanese forces killed