The attentiveness to nature and maintaining its pristine natural state was not evident in Okinawa, where I was told some people found it too expensive or onerous to pay to have trash collected, so bags of garbage were left on less populated roads sides and beaches. The US Navy and CB (SeaBees) would once a year spend a weekend or two pulling cars out of ravines in the Northern and Central training area environs that had been ditched there rather than pay to have them recycled - the Stars and Lies reported they'd pull up over 200 cars over a weekend or two.

The parks were amazing, long concrete slides and raised suspended rope bridges/obstacle courses that were quite involved and vast in play area.

It was a great experience, but different enough from mainland Japan to be noted.