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AUGUST, 2014: TINIAN WITH JULIE AND CHUCK

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The site of a Japanese settlement prior to U.S. invasion. Then it was made into an internment camp.
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The site of a Japanese settlement prior to U.S. invasion. Then it was made into an internment camp.

acdjulieandchuckjapanesevillage

  • I couldn't resist doing this one in black and white. This was the fuel storage depot for the Japanese. It caught on fire (I assume that the Japanese lit it to prevent the fuel from becoming available to the Americans) and burned hot enough to soften the concrete and expose the rebar.
  • Natural light shot of the inside of the fuel depot.
  • Looking out at the pathway to the depot.
  • This depot was carved out of the limestone hill. The approach to it is an earthen ramp, created by digging down through the limestone. This also created facing walls, which have accumulated an impressive array of roots.
  • Just a hundred yards or so through the forest from the fuel storage facility is the location of the Japanese artillery depot. The artillery exploded (again, I assume from the Japanese setting it off), which blasted huge chunks of concrete several yards from where the original building stood.
  • Twisted rebar from the blast.
  • You can see what is left of the intact walls behind Julie.
  • More roots.
  • Not quite as showy as the commercial variety, but our very own poinsettias are quite beautiful in their own right.
  • Unai Dankulo
  • Unai Dankulo
  • Untitled photo
  • The site of a Japanese settlement prior to U.S. invasion. Then it was made into an internment camp.
  • Shinagawa is a city inside Tokyo. I guess that the bricks for this Japanese settlement must have been shipped in from there.
  • Untitled photo
  • Amphibious landing craft used to deliver U.S. soldiers for the invasion.
  • To your right, you see an erect, elongated pillar called a hagili. Atop the hagili is a large stone (which used to be bowl-shaped) called a tasa. Together the hagili and tasa are referred to as latte (believe it or not, pronounced just like the coffee drink). If you were to travel back in time about 900 years, you would see the lattes now scattered on the ground all erect and forming 2 rows of 4 latte each. On top of them would be a building.<br /> <br /> Mysteriously, this unique form of construction (not found anyplace except in Guam and the Marianas) came into vogue in about 900 AD. Equally mysteriously, the technique was totally abandoned by 1700 AD.<br /> <br /> While there are many other sites with latte in the CNMI, these at Taga House are the largest.
  • For more about Taga House and latte stones, look at the following pages:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.guampedia.com/taga/">http://www.guampedia.com/taga/</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Taga">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Taga</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte_stone">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte_stone</a>
  • According to Chamorro myth, the spirit of the daughter of a great Chamorro chief still dwells within the last standing Taga latte, imprisoned there until the toppling of the stone will set her free.
  • Slime mold on old wood.
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