Archive for September, 2012

Recent News

Over 600000 tourists visit Okinawa in August

September 15, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 14, the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports announced that the number of tourists who visited Okinawa this August was 607200 people. This represents a 2.4 percent increase over the same month last year, and this is the seventh month in a row in which last year’s figures have been exceeded. The number of inbound Japanese tourists rose 0.4 percent to 562100, with foreign tourists jumping 34.2 percent...

 

Typhoon Sanba causes 397 million yen in crop damage

September 18, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

In the morning of September 18, the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) held a disaster response headquarters meeting to report on the damage caused by Typhoon Sanba. By 8:00am that day, it was known that damage to likes of sugar cane has been estimated at...

Japanese government proclaims Osprey to be safe, and will deploy them to Futenma

September 20, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 19, at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Japan-U.S. Joint Committee met to consider the deployment of the MV-22 Osprey to the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. The two governments agreed on a set of measures designed to ensure the...

Hiyamikachi-machiguwa-kan reopens at Naha Makishi Public Market

Hiyamikachi-machiguwa-kan reopens at Naha Makishi Public Market

September 11, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 3, the Hiyamikachi-machiguwa-kan was reopened in an upstairs clothing section of the Makishi Public Market in Naha. Almost every day the hall serves as a venue for free events for traditional arts, comedy, singing and dancing. On the first day,...

Unjami Festival in Ogimi

<em>Unjami</em> Festival in Ogimi

September 12, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 11, the Unjami Festival was held in Shioya Bay and other areas of Ogimi. This event is designated as one of Japan’s significant intangible folk cultural assets. At shrine rooms in Tanna and Yafu, Okinawan shaman or kaminchu prayed...

Delegation from mass rally asks government to cancel deployment

Delegation from mass rally asks government to cancel deployment

September 14, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 13, a delegation from the Okinawan People’s Mass Rally held in Ginowan on September 9 demanded that the government cancel the deployment of the Osprey aircraft. The 44-member delegation met Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto, Foreign Minister...

Okinawa Governor criticizes Japanese government for understating Osprey emergency landing in North Carolina

Okinawa Governor criticizes Japanese government for understating Osprey emergency landing in North Carolina

September 12, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 11 Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto met Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima at the Okinawa Prefectural Office and explained that the emergency landing by an MV-22 Osprey in a field behind a church in Jacksonville, North Carolina on September 6 was...

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium displays a rare deep-water fish

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium displays a rare deep-water fish

September 9, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

From late August, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Motobu has exhibited the pristigenys meyeri, a rare deep-water fish with distinctive large eyes. The aquarium is putting the fish on display for the first time because it is a species of deep-water fish that...

Researcher discovers rare species of butterfly in Takae

Researcher discovers rare species of butterfly in Takae

September 6, 2012 Ryota Nakamura of Ryukyu Shimpo

Akino Miyagi, a researcher who belongs to the Butterfly Society of Japan, discovered about 50 pithecops corvus ryukyuensis at the Arakawa River basin in Takae, Higashi. This butterfly has been designated as a near threatened species. The area...

Kumejima Firefly designated as critically endangered species

Kumejima Firefly designated as critically endangered species

September 1, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 28, the Ministry of Environment reported that the Kumejima firefly, which is an endangered and prefectural protected species, has been designated as critically endangered on its revised Red List of Threatened Species. The Miyako kikugashira komori (a...

Real Madrid to set up training school in Ishigaki

Real Madrid to set up training school in Ishigaki

September 1, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 31, the Ishigaki Municipal Office announced that the Real Madrid Foundation (RMF) has moved to set up a football academy in Ishigaki. The foundation will be established by Real Madrid, which is a powerful football club in the Spanish first division,...