My name's scott and I spent the whole year of 1986 on okinawa while in the corps..i miss oki alot and i'd love to talk to people who live there now..find out if places i used to go are still around..i want to come back to visit. 

What places? 

I was here in 2001-2002, came back about 2 years ago and nothing seems to have changed since then... 

was here in 2001-2002, came back about 2 years ago and nothing seems to have changed since then... 

Big difference between two years and over 21 years... :-) 

25 years ** 

Big difference between two years and over 21 years... :-)

I am sure there is, but the difference between 2001-now is more than 2 years. 

I was first here in 1992 and there is a HUGE difference between then and now. Libery cards and Cinderella Liberty. Gate 2 street, Whisper Alley, Sinville are all ghost towns compared to 92. This place was out of control back then. 

Were there pinecones back in the days around here ?? 

Gate 2 street?? is that what they call BC street now? i was stationed down at kinser but my buddies and i went to BC street alot...yeah, i'm familiar with whisper alley..lmao..back in 86 there were two clubs called "the stage" and "the strip"..i'm not gonna go into what went on there other than it all happened on stage..i've seen youtube videos of kinser now, so different, our barracks were very old 3 story deals, now i see high rises there..also does anyone know of a cargo ship that was grounded just off of camp kinser? it happened during a typhoon in august 86 right across from my barracks..did they ever get it off of the reef? 

i'm not remembering pinecones, but we used to call the cab drivers "honcho" and if we wanted to go faster we said "hubba hubba honcho"..oh yeah, the back cab doors opened automatically too, i thought that was cool. 

Were there pinecones back in the days around here ??

Dunno.... maybe- but then again, I wasn't really looking for the ever so elusive pinecones.

Gate 2 street?? is that what they call BC street now?

I still hear it called Gate2 Street- but it's the same thing.

"..i'm not gonna go into what went on there other than it all happened on stage

... "The Stage" is shut down but there are still places where they do the "banana show" ... YUCK. 

my barracks back then was the first one on the left after you passed burger king...just across the street from the e. china sea...they were pretty old even back then...probably from the 50's or 60's. 

"The Stage" is shut down but there are still places where they do the "banana show" ... YUCK. 

To my knowledge "The Stage" never had the banana show. They had an entirely different type of show. 

BC street was wild back then..kinda like tijuana..little honchos outside the bars trying to get us inside for the banana shows or habu shows..oh yeah, in the alley behind the bars on BC were all the "hotels" or whorehouses, they were legal. 

can anyone give me a ballpark figure on a round trip ticket from the states? 

thats not bad at all...i wish the yen rate was still the same as it was when i got there in jan. 86...it was 270y to the dollar..but by the time i left it was about 170. 

yeah today was 80Y-$1 

wow...thats crazy..we were cleaning up on electronics and stereo equipment when it was 270..shipping alot of stuff home. 

wow...thats crazy..we were cleaning up on electronics and stereo equipment when it was 270..shipping alot of stuff home. 

Yeah, I bet you remember the old AAFES electronics sales too eh? Those were some really great deals back then! 

aafes!! yeah paul, everyone i knew had killer stereo systems..i found some letters i wrote my mom from oki telling her i paid $2.45 for a carton of cigarettes and $4.65 for a half gallon of Bacardi..god it was so easy to be a drunk over there...lol..we even had beer machines in the barracks..50cents a can! 

we even had beer machines in the barracks..50cents a can! 

It's hard to even find a beer machine off base! Those were great! 

my barracks back then was the first one on the left after you passed burger king...just across the street from the e. china sea...they were pretty old even back then...probably from the 50's or 60's. 

That barracks is still there and is in the middle of a huge renovation. There's also a new chow hall right next to it now. Cargo ship is no longer in the reef and there is no longer beach access on Kinser. Things aren't cheap anymore here. My husband said he should've bought a couple of grand worth of yen when he was here back in 2001-2002 and sold it now. 

beer machines oh my I never even saw one :) 

The yen rate has even changed drastically from when we first got her six years ago. I remember yen being at ¥118=$1 and that was on the low side. 

wow..it's great to get all this info from people who live there now! Beer machines were awesome..it was in the common area by the pool tables and arcade games. When we got hit with the tyhoon that grounded that ship at kinser, we had to board up all the windows and ride it out..i got a roll of quarters and got super drunk on 50 cent beers out of the beer machine (it was just a soda machine converted to beer).. Madmel, thanks for telling about my old barracks. It's just strange because i still see Oki as a 19 year old marine, and I'm 44 now..lol...oh yeah, my profile pic was taken on okinawa. 

To my knowledge "The Stage" never had the banana show. They had an entirely different type of show

At "The Stage" (aka Naha Music Club), YOU were the show if you chose to roll the fuzzy dice! Haha....umm, at least that is what I heard when I was here in 95. 

At "The Stage" (aka Naha Music Club), YOU were the show if you chose to roll the fuzzy dice! Haha....umm, at least that is what I heard when I was here in 95.
hahaa...this is how it worked in 1986..there was a round stage with rows of folding chairs surrounding it..both marines and okinawan businessmen would be there, although marines were the only ones who would get on stage..girls would dance just like a regular club, but when the lights dimmed and the stage started turning, the first guy to jump on stage got to "perform" with the girl..i think they gave you 3 songs and you had to get down..in the event of a tie, the girl would flip a coin to decide which guy won... I'm sorry if this offends anyone on this site, but thats just the truth about "the stage" in 1986. 

my barracks back then was the first one on the left after you passed burger king...just across the street from the e. china sea...they were pretty old even back then...probably from the 50's or 60's. 

They are renovating those barracks right now, but if it's anything like when they did the ones across the street, they will still look the same. 

I'm sorry if this offends anyone on this site, but thats just the truth about "the stage" in 1986.

It would be pretty hard to offend most of this crowd.

A few are probably disgusted right now, but the rest are probably giggling at the description. :) 

Big difference between two years and over 21 years... :-)

I am sure there is, but the difference between 2001-now is more than 2 years. 

OH my gosh- Kulp- I'm sorry... lol... I read it totally wrong. :D