"The first thing you notice when you arrive in Okinawa from other parts of Japan is that everything looks different. The sounds are different. The air is heavy and tropical. The music has a minimalist, almost Gaelic lilt, laid over the staccato plucking on the strings of an Okinawan 'shamisen.' You’ve arrived in an island chain unlike anywhere else in Japan” says documentary photographer, James Whitlow Delano. Pictured here: Crystal-clear waters of Kabira Bay, Ishigaki Island, Okinawa.
James Whitlow Delano