Park Santinmo Park & Observation Tower

[David]

Santinmo Park (marked on Google Maps as Santenmo Park, but pinned below) is a great kid-friendly and dog-friendly place to visit with some sceneic views of Itoman, Okinawa, the East China Sea and 360 degrees all around. This is because it has an observation tower smack dab in the park that lets you circle the island up high to see more.

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If you only go for the view, after spiraling to the top, you can catch a nice sunset or even look around Itoman. It won't be hard to find and wait for as the perimeter is marked with directions at the top, also making it easier to understand where you're looking if you're not going for the sunset.

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One thing is that the sun typically will set right behind the massive hotel as the observation tower is directly due east of it. Nonetheless, you still get a good glimpse of the sky and the colors that the sunset brings.


If you're into WWII history, you can see that Santinmo Hill was also the location of a lookout point for the Japanese Imperial Forces to identify incoming aircraft, friend or foe.

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The octagonal concrete base on Santinmo Hill was once a WWII air defense spotter post for the Japanese Imperial Forces. From this point, spotters identified approaching aircraft as friend or foe. The information was then quickly and accurately reported to Command as a basis for air raid alerts or other needs.

Without the then still new radar systems used by the US Forces, the Imperial Forces mostly depended on human spotters and their hearing to identify enemy aircraft. In Okinawa, the HQ of the Air Defense Monitor Unit was within the Prefectural government with the Governor as its chief. However, actual operations were handled by the Police.

Of Okinawa's 11 outposts, a staff of 21 served at Itoman including the director and the vice directors. 18 lookouts divided into three teams worked three shifts around the clock.

On the eve of 1944's devastating October 10 bombing raid, the team spotted and reported a large formation of U.S. carrier-borne aircraft approaching from the south-east. However, no air alert was sounded.

Prior to the war, the Okinawan people used the hill as a landmark at sea of where to return with their fishing loot.

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This park also provides an awesome kid-friendly jungle gym, and a not so friendly "skull crusher" slide—what I call these as I can just imagine sliding so fast and jerking back in the process.

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Across from the kid's playground, there's also a nice clearing so that you can bring your dog along and have a great time with them too!

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This park is great for just about everyone to have some outdoor fun in Okinawa. There's even some Ryukyu history there too.

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This 15 m-high rocky outcrop stands close to Itoman rotary (roundabout). On the top of the southern wall is a traditional tomb said to be that of Tarumai, the last king of Nanzan. At the start of the Itoman Dragon Boat Race held every year on May 4 of the lunar calendar, a hare gong is rung a week before, from here at Santinmo, which overlooks the port.

It's also interesting that Itoman has kept its history by retaining the roundabout, making the area a more modern feel of what it was like after World War II.

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