Archive for August, 2011

Recent News

Shinugu – an animistic festival for a good crop and perfect health

<em>Shinugu</em> - an animistic festival for a good crop and perfect health

August 1, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Shinugu, which is designated as a significant intangible folk cultural asset of Japan, was carried out in Ada, Kunigami Village on July 31.
Including rituals such as yamanubui, in which men crowned with grassy headwear and covered with leaves go into the jungle to undergo a purification ceremony, and ushindeku, in which only women do the dancing, the participants prayed for a good crop and perfect health in their region. The...

 

Tamaki wins the 11th Asian Karate-do Championship

Tamaki wins the 11th Asian Karate-do Championship

July 28, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Third-year student 14 year-old Daigo Tamaki of Yabu Junior High School in Nago City was victorious at the 11th Asian Karate-do Championship held in Beijing, China from July 19.
The first person from Okinawa to compete in the Cadet category (14‐15 years of...

China to launch a Cruise Ship Tour between Shanghai and Naha, Ishigaki on a trial basis in October

China to launch a Cruise Ship Tour between Shanghai and Naha, Ishigaki on a trial basis in October

July 28, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), China’s largest ports group, plans to send a cruise ship on tour with 1300 passengers between Shanghai and Naha, Ishigaki in October on a trial basis. If it receives a favorable reaction from Chinese tourists, the...

Twenty school children from Fukushima visit Okinawa to enjoy a summer camp

Twenty school children from Fukushima visit Okinawa to enjoy a summer camp

July 26, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

The volunteer group Tsunagu Hikari invited school children from Fukushima Prefecture to Okinawa as a part of a support project for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Twenty elementary and junior high school students arrived at Naha Airport on the...

Almost half of the driftage in Okinawa washes ashore on Miyako Islands

July 27, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 25, the first meeting in 2011 of the task force for the seashore rubbish problem (organized by the Okinawa Prefectural Government) was held at the Southern Joint Office of the OPG in Naha City. The members of organizations such as the national government,...

Konishiki becomes cultural ambassador for Okinawa

Konishiki becomes cultural ambassador for Okinawa

July 27, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa Prefecture has accredited 47 year-old Hawaiian-born Japanese–Samoan former sumo wrestler Konishiki Yasokichi as the 219th cultural ambassador for Uchina (Okinawa). Certification as cultural ambassador for Uchina is granted to people who...

Statue of Ryukyu Uminchu to be erected in Taiwan

Statue of Ryukyu <em>Uminchu</em> to be erected in Taiwan

July 26, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

The association (Chairman Masajiro Nashiro) dedicated to the project is now working to erect a Ryukyu Uminchu (fishermen) statue at Keelung, Taiwan.
Since about 1905 Okinawan fishermen had a presence in Keelung, Taiwan, where they formed a community...

Deciphering the coral genome for the first time

July 25, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Marine Genomics Unit of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST, Onna Village) succeeded for the first time in deciphering the genome of Acropora digitifera, a coral that inhabits the seas around Okinawa Prefecture.
On July 24, the Unit published...

Okinawan student wins top prize in art contest in Florida

Okinawan student wins top prize in art contest in Florida

July 26, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa Shogaku High School (Naha City) second year student Hitomi Uezu (17 years-old) has won the top prize in an art contest in Florida.
When in Florida as an exchange student at Jensen Beach High School on a scholarship program supported by the Okinawa Prefectural...

U.S. flight activities still causing difficulties for digital terrestrial TV broadcasting around Futenma Air Station

U.S. flight activities still causing difficulties for digital terrestrial TV broadcasting around Futenma Air Station

July 24, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Residents living around the United States Marine Corps Air Station (USMCAS) Futenma in Ginowan City still have poor reception of terrestrial digital broadcasting due to flight activities. According to a survey that the Okinawa Defense Bureau conducted last year,...

Club Med plans to fly 20 charter flights between Shanghai and Ishigaki from December to next February

July 23, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 22, Chairman of Ishigaki City Tourism Association Yasuhiro Miyahira held a press conference at which he announced that Club Med, which operates hotels and other businesses in the city, plans to have charter flights between Shanghai and Ishigaki. There will...