500 Active Geocaches on Okinawa, Japan

[+larzanth]

The number 500 may not seem like a big accomplishment to many who have a lot of land area to play around in, but when the island you live on is only 463.7 sq miles in area with the US military occupying roughly 60% of the land and an estimated population at around 1.5 million, this makes geocaching very interesting. Well, it definitely raises the bar on how many muggles you encounter during a caching trip.

 

Caching in Asia began on Okinawa with the first cache in Asia placed on the island on 3 February 2001 by Sojournen. GC1FB - Maeda Point Cache is still available being actively maintained by the geocaching community here. For anyone wanting to cache on the island, this one is a really nice cache to add to your list of finds.

 

Over the years since, geocaching has steadily grown in popularity, mostly among the American population on the island with a few locals getting involved in the sport. One group of cachers from Tokyo come down at least once a year to cache on the island, and I have had the pleasure of meeting a charter member of geocaching from Australia, Biggles Bear who came to Japan to visit family and stopped by Okinawa to do some caching.

 

Caches here range from easy to difficult, from micro to large and cover almost every type of geocache that is available including one surviving virtual cache.

 

Okinawa is also the site of one of the stages of a world-wide cache that was featured on Latitude 47 - the official blog of Groundspeak.

 

If you're planning a trip to Japan and are a geocacher, why not take a few days to visit our beautiful island. There are many things to see here and the caches on this island will take you to many breathtaking locations.

[Keystone]

What a terrific post, summarizing geocaching history in your part of the world!

 

While I could move this thread to the appropriate regional forum, I'd like for it to stay here so that geocachers everywhere can read what you had to say.

 

Thank you for being a "pioneer" helping to popularize geocaching in your area. It is lonely at the beginning but the momentum builds over time as the cache density increases.

[+ihorn]

What is the name of the World Wide Cache you speak of?

 

Its kind of funny while I was stationed in Japan I never knew about this game. I think it would have been fun to grab on somewhere in Tokyo while I was out on the town one night.

[+The Blorenges]

Thanks for that interesting post, larzanth, and congratulations to Okinawa island cachers on their '500 Placed' milestone. I had to go and look up Okinawa to see exactly where it's located!

 

MrsB

 

 

P.S. Next time you're on the main island, Honshu, could you keep your eyes open for a small bear with a rucksack on his back? Ta.

[+larzanth]

What is the name of the World Wide Cache you speak of?

 

http://coord.info/GC1EG5Z