Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Himeyuri War Memorial.
Caverns in Technicolor at Gyokusendo Cave.
4
CULTURE KINGDOM GYOKUSENDO
文化王 国玉泉洞
Around 3 miles (5 kilometers) northeast of Himeyuri or 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) northeast
of the Peace Park is Okinawa World, also known as the Culture Kingdom Gyokusendo (
文
化王国玉泉洞
; Bunka ōkoku gyokusendō). It's a tourist theme park about Okinawan culture.
The park's main attractions are Gyokusendo Cave, a crafts village, and a
habu
snake exhib-
it. The Gyokusendo Cave (
玉泉洞
; Gyokunsen-do) is the longest of many caves in southern
Okinawa and Japan's second longest cave. Its total length is approximately 3 miles (5 kilomet-
ers). Although only a little less than a mile (1 kilometer) of the cave is open to the public, that
section features some quite spectacular stalactites and stalagmites, all lit up in Technicolor.
The cave was discovered in 1967 and used as one of the locations for the 1974 monster movie,
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
(
ゴジラ対メカゴジラ
; Gojira Tai Mekagojira), which played in the
US as
Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster
or
Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster
.
The Okinawa World crafts village is a replica of an olden-time Ryukyu village with work-
shops displaying various traditional Okinawan crafts, such as weaving, dyeing, paper mak-
ing, pottery, musical instrument making and glass blowing as well as sugar-cane processing
and brewing. Visitors can see how these crafts were practiced. There's a thrice daily Eisa, the
Okinawan drumbeat dance. There's also a large gift shop where typical items can be pur-
chased, and a restaurant which specializes in Okinawan cuisine. The Habu Park area consists
