Archive for May, 2012

Recent News

Chibana hanaori to be officially designated as a traditional craft

<em>Chibana hanaori</em> to be officially designated as a traditional craft

May 22, 2012 Ryota Shimabukuro of Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 21, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) officially added Chibana hanaori from Okinawa City to the list of METI-designated traditional crafts. The ministry will make its final decision and the public announcement in July. After Yaeyama minsa and Yaeyama jofu in 1989, METI newly designated a traditional craft from Okinawa for the first time in 23 years, and with this Chibana hanaori becomes the...

 

International exports of Okinawan pork grow rapidly, and production of the agu brand increases 63 times

International exports of Okinawan pork grow rapidly, and production of the agu brand increases 63 times

May 22, 2012 Maki Nagamine of Ryukyu Shimpo

Exports of Okinawan pork are increasing. According to the Livestock Division of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department of the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG), the annual amount of exports of Okinawan pork has increased threefold in...

Big catch of banana fish

Big catch of banana fish

May 23 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 22 at the Toya fishing port in Yomitan, there was a large catch of banana fish, known locally as gurukun, the prefectural fish of Okinawa. This catch is said to signal the arrival of summer. The total weight of the catch amounted to three tons, the...

Passersby rescue stray loggerhead turtle on road

Passersby rescue stray loggerhead turtle on road

May 22, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

After 5:00am on May 21, on the road at Hentona in Kunigami, a driver on Route 58 found a loggerhead turtle, which is designated as an endangered species. In the brisk hours of the early morning, passersby and police officers cooperated to get the turtle back to the...

Model designed for the redevelopment of land occupied by Futenma Air Station

Model designed for the redevelopment of land occupied by Futenma Air Station

May 22, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

A large-scale model made in 1995 by students of Futenma High School to reflect what the redevelopment of land currently used by the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma might look like, has been on displayed in the library of Motobu High School since May 10.

The...

Ishigaki Island to erect a monument to Taiwanese immigrants

Ishigaki Island to erect a monument to Taiwanese immigrants

May 19, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

It has been decided that a monument to the Taiwanese farmers who emigrated to Ishigaki island in the prewar period and introduced agricultural know-how by bringing a water buffalo and pineapples to the island, will be set up in the car park of Nagura Dam in Ishigaki....

1000 people perform in the annual music festival on Hatoma Island

1000 people perform in the annual music festival on Hatoma Island

May 12, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 3, the 15th Hatoma Island Music Festival was held in the plaza in front of the community center on Hatoma Island. About 1000 people from all over Japan visited the island that normally has a population of just 63 people.

In addition to famous musicians,...

Large manbika fish served in Kitanakagusuku school lunches

Large <em>manbika</em> fish served in Kitanakagusuku school lunches

May 18, 2012 Yukito Toyama of Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 10, Children’s Day, the Kitanakagusuku Elementary School served grilled common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) or manbika in Uchinaguchi in school lunches, cooking the fish in its original shape in the likeness of...

Anti-war landowner Zenyu Shimabukuro refuses to provide his land for U.S. military use

Anti-war landowner Zenyu Shimabukuro refuses to provide his land for U.S. military use

May 15, 2012 Kenta Masuda and Ryota Shimabukuro of Ryukyu Shimpo

Farmer and anti-war landowner Zenyu Shimabukuro, who owns land inside Kadena Air Base and Camp Shields, continues to refuse to provide that land for military use. He says, “A radish and a bomb may have a similar shape, but...

Uruma resident feeds blue rock thrush by hand

Uruma resident feeds blue rock thrush by hand

May 16, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

A family of blue rock thrush make an appearance picking food from a man’s hand in Midorimachi, Uruma.
Seiki Agena has been feeding them breadcrumbs from the middle of April. From this month they have come with their four little ones, and have started to take...

Goat-fighting or pijaorasai held on Sesoko Island

Goat-fighting or <em>pijaorasai</em> held on Sesoko Island

May 16, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 4, at the Nakata Shokai in Sesoko, Motobu, the annual goat-fighting, or pijaorasai event was held. Goats from Sesoko Island and Katsuyama in Nago took part in 16 bouts. Surrounded by the smell of goat soup, they smashed their horns against each other...