Archive for January, 2016

Recent News

Squirrel monkeys in Ishigaki attract visitors wishing for a wonderful year

Squirrel monkeys in Ishigaki attract visitors wishing for a wonderful year

January 1, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Pretty squirrel monkeys cheerfully played and jumped up on peoples’ shoulders on Ishigaki Island for the beginning of the year of the monkey. The 59 monkeys met the visitors at the Risuzaru no mori (squirrel monkeys’ forest), Yaima Village in Nakura, Ishigaki City.

The monkey’s forest had 12 baby monkeys newly born last year, which is the biggest number in the past 10 years. The park is expected to be more popular with the lucky news.

The...

 

People celebrate first sunrise of New Year in Henoko

People celebrate first sunrise of New Year in Henoko

January 1, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

The construction of a new U.S. military base in the Henoko district of Nago to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma saw approximately 300 people gather to celebrate the first sunrise of the New Year. Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine was among those admiring the...

30% of high school teachers notice students financially in trouble

December 24, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On December 23, a questionnaire carried out by the Ryukyu Shimpo and the Prefectural High School and Handicapped People’s School Teacher’s and Staff Union revealed that 28.9% of high school teachers and staff had noticed some students could not bring...

Over 10 million tourists estimated to visit Okinawa in fiscal 2021

Over 10 million tourists estimated to visit Okinawa in fiscal 2021

December 23, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On December 22, the Okinawa Convention & Visitors’ Bureau (OCVB) presented its visitor arrival statistics projected for fiscal years 2015 to 2025. OCVB estimates that in fiscal 2021, tourist arrivals will exceed the 10 million-target figure set by the prefectural...

Documents exposing regulation of Okinawa’s free speech under US administration found

Documents exposing regulation of Okinawa’s free speech under US administration found

December 31, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo by Mamoru Yasuda

As of December 30, a large quantity of documentation from the Government of the Ryukyu Islands regarding the regulation of freedom of speech under U.S. administration was discovered. These were documents handled by the Ryukyu government between...

“Peace Poetry” initiative to share Okinawan spirit with the world

December 31, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo
Ryukyu Shimpo Culture section’s Yasutake Onaha reports

The Ryukyu Shimpo is starting an initiative to collect poems that reflect aspects of Okinawa’s spiritual culture. Cultural aspects to be included in the poems include the desire for peace symbolized...

Whale watching tour starts

Whale watching tour starts

December 25, 2015 Hirokazu Otsubo Correspondent of Ryukyu Shimpo

On December 21, fishermen reported to the Zamami Whale Watching Association the appearance of two humpback whales. Association staff started looking from an observation point for signs of spray from a whale’s blowhole and successfully...

Fantastic tunnel of lights, New Year eve concert in Tomigusuku

Fantastic tunnel of lights, New Year eve concert in Tomigusuku

December 19, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Tomigusuku Tourism Association started an event called the Illuminated Garden of Lights at Toyosaki Kaihin Park on December 12. The garden is illuminated from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The entrance fee for adults is 300 yen and it is free for junior high school students...

Toshiko Kinjo looking for her sister separated in Saipan during war

Toshiko Kinjo looking for her sister separated in Saipan during war

December 25, 2015 Takahiro Miyagi of Ryukyu Shimpo,

Eighty-one-year-old WWII survivor Toshiko Kinjo is looking for her younger sister who was separated from her at an internment camp in Saipan in 1944. Kinjo is a director of a preschool in Nishihara Town, and her sister, Etsuko, was one year...

City of Cambridge, MA second in US to pass resolution opposing Henoko base

December 24, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On December 21, the city council of Cambridge, Massachusetts in the northeastern United States passed a resolution opposing the construction of a new base in Henoko, Nago as part of the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. It was the second such...