Archive for August, 2013

Recent News

Coral bleaching confirmed at Kunigami for the first time since 1998

Coral bleaching confirmed at Kunigami for the first time since 1998

August 18, 2013 Mifuyu Hattori, correspondent of Ryukyu Shimpo

Nature guides have confirmed coral bleaching in the whole area of reefs in Kunigami. Some experts say that rising sea temperatures caused by record-breaking heat and strong sunlight have affected the condition of the coral reefs.
Large scale coral bleaching has occurred for the first time in 15 years, with the last incidence being in 1998. The bleaching that occurred in Okinawa in 2001 and 2007 did not really affect the...

 

Thai government holds Thailand Festival in Okinawa

Thai government holds Thailand Festival in Okinawa

August 25, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Seeking to attract tourists from Okinawa to Thailand, the Tourism Agency of the Thai Government has held the Thailand Festival at the Naha branch of Aeon, a specialist shopping mall developer, on August 24 and 25. The agency set up a space for selling miscellaneous...

Okinawa plans to increase Shimakutuba users 30% in 10 years

Okinawa plans to increase Shimakutuba users 30% in 10 years

August 21, 2013 Naoki Isa of the Ryukyu Shimpo

The Culture Promotion Division of the Okinawa Prefectural Government published the Shimakutuba Promotion Plan Proposal on their website on August 20. The division aims to pass on the endangered Shimakutuba or the Okinawan language, to the next...

Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau takes part in Thai International Travel Fair 2013

Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau takes part in Thai International Travel Fair 2013

August 21, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau took part in the Thai International Travel Fair from August 15 to 18.

Four companies and one group from Okinawa including the Naha City Tourist Association, Zuisen Shuzou Distillery and Station Hotel Makishi were...

Ginoza residents protest against U.S. helicopter crash

Ginoza residents protest against U.S. helicopter crash

August 23, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Ginoza residents held a protest rally at the Ginoza Dome in the evening of August 22 in response to the U.S. military helicopter crash earlier that month. Wearing red headbands to indicate their protest against the U.S. military, about 1,100 people from Ginoza...

Okinawan travel commodities sold at Natas Fair in Singapore

Okinawan travel commodities sold at Natas Fair in Singapore

August 20, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

From August 16 to 18, the Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Okinawan travel companies took part in the Natas Fair, the largest travel fair in Singapore. Seven companies and one group, including the Okinawa Tourist Service, Hotel JAL City Naha and the...

Miyagi and Fukushima children come across tsunami debris on Ie-jima

Miyagi and Fukushima children come across tsunami debris on Ie-jima

August 13, 2013 Yukito Kinjo, Correspondent of the Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 8, a lifebuoy drifted from Miyagi Prefecture was found on the sandy beach in Ara, Ie-jima Island. Forty pupils from Fukushima and Miyagi elementary and junior high schools were surprised to see it. They visited the island...

Nine Japanese people left behind in the Philippines visit Japan

Nine Japanese people left behind in the Philippines visit Japan

August 12, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Nine Japanese people left behind in the Philippines in the chaotic times at the end of World War II are visiting Japan in order to get Japanese nationality. The father of Antonio Takara, from Baguio, who had interviews at the Tokyo Family Court on August 8 and...

Junior high school students in Urasoe learn about horrors of the atomic bomb

Junior high school students in Urasoe learn about horrors of the atomic bomb

August 18, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Ten students from five junior high schools in Urasoe took part in a peace education session held in Nagasaki from August 8 to 10. They met students who came from all over the country as peace delegations.

After returning to Okinawa, they visited Urasoe mayor...

Sharp increase in Taiwanese tourists visiting Okinawa

Sharp increase in Taiwanese tourists visiting Okinawa

August 18, 2013 Wu Li Jun of Ryukyu Shimpo of the Ryukyu Shimpo

The number of foreign tourists coming to Okinawa has been increasing for five consecutive months since March. Taiwanese tourists were the largest group, at around 50 percent of the total. Their number has been increasing every...

War victims in South Sea Islands file lawsuit against government

War victims in South Sea Islands file lawsuit against government

August 15, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

War victims in what were formerly as known the Nanyo Gunto (South Sea Islands) during World War II filed a lawsuit with the Naha District Court on August 15. They have sought an apology and damages of 11 million yen per person from the government .The plaintiffs...