Archive for November, 2016

Recent News

Physically challenged karate champion and the two masters behind her success

Physically challenged karate champion and the two masters behind her success

November 25, 2016 Wakana Hanmine of Ryukyu Shimpo

An unexpected bond between three generations of masters and an apprentice has resulted in a karate champion. Aika Arakaki is a 23-year-old who is deaf and practices karate while working at a confectionery factory in Naha. In October, she won for the first the Women’s Individual Kata in the Persons with Physical Disabilities Division (Deaf/Hard of Hearing) of the 12th All Japan Karatedo Championships for Persons with Disabilities. Behind...

 

Annis and Uehara publish English shopping guide of Okinawan vegetables and farmer’s markets

Annis and Uehara publish English shopping guide of Okinawan vegetables and farmer’s markets

November 24, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawans are very well-acquainted with goya (bitter gourds), hechima (loofah gourds), handama (Okinawan spinach), and such Okinawan vegetables. However, when foreign people first encounter these, they notice many peculiarities in appearance and taste. Casey...

Onaga encourages other governors to imagine 18% of their prefecture consisting of U.S. bases

Onaga encourages other governors to imagine 18% of their prefecture consisting of U.S. bases

November 22, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

(Tokyo) At an assembly of nationwide governors on November 21, the first meeting of a study group established within the governors’ association with the aim of reducing the burden of U.S. bases on Okinawa was held at the Prefectural Assembly Hall in Tokyo’s...

Vietnam and Okinawa to make TV drama

Vietnam and Okinawa to make TV drama

November 22, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

A press conference on a joint TV drama co-production between Okinawan and Vietnamese television broadcasting companies was held recently at the head office of Okinawa Family Mart in Naha City.

The drama aims to promote tourism, products and friendship...

In second Futenma noise lawsuit, court rejects demand for flight ban, claims of unconstitutionality

In second Futenma noise lawsuit, court rejects demand for flight ban, claims of unconstitutionality

November 18, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 17, the Okinawa branch of the Naha District Court, presided over by Judge Tetsuya Fujikura, issued a judgement in the second Futenma noise lawsuit. The lawsuit saw 3,417 residents living near U.S. Maine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma demand a substantial...

Nine hundred people gather to demand fair trial from Supreme Court in Henoko lawsuit

Nine hundred people gather to demand fair trial from Supreme Court in Henoko lawsuit

November 21, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

At noon on November 21, the All Okinawa Kaigi (All Okinawa Coalition) held a gathering in front of the Naha Branch of the Fukuoka High Court at Jogaku Park, demanding a neutral and fair trial from the Supreme Court. According to the organizers, 900 people participated...

Looking to Stir Up Excitement Overseas, Okinawa Hosts the 3rd Great Okinawa Trade Fair

Looking to Stir Up Excitement Overseas, Okinawa Hosts the 3rd Great Okinawa Trade Fair

November 22, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Japan’s largest international food industry expo, “The 3rd Great Okinawa Trade Fair” was held on November 21 in the Okinawa Convention Center in Ginowan. The Executive Committee of the trade fair hosted 188 suppliers from 41 different prefectures throughout...

OPG calls for an environmental assessment of Ospreys in NTA land reclamation plan

November 17, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 16, the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) submitted a written statement of opinion to the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) regarding the plans for returning more than half of the Northern Training Area (NTA) back to Higashi and Kunigami Villages. The...

Ryukyuan food to be theme for Singaporean film “Jimami Tofu”

Ryukyuan food to be theme for Singaporean film “Jimami Tofu”

November 16, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 5, filming kicked off for a romantic movie called “Jimami Tofu”, which has Ryukyuan food as its central theme. On November 14, Singaporean Jason Chan, one of the main characters and the film director, and an actor from Okinawa Masane Tsukayama...

Survey shows coral in Oura is “healthy” with some bleaching

Survey shows coral in Oura is “healthy” with some bleaching

November 17, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

A group named “The Association for Fishers who Protect and Harness Beautiful Sea” conducted a survey on the coral reef in Oura Bay, Nago City, on November 16. The group consists of those who are involved in fishery and are against the construction of the...

Okinawans overjoyed at successful heart transplantation of one-year-old Himari

Okinawans overjoyed at successful heart transplantation of one-year-old Himari

November 16, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

One-year-old Himari Morikawa traveled to the United States to undergo a cardiac transplantation and the operation was successfully carried out on November 14. Head of “Save Himari Association,” Narimasa Tsuha, said, “We managed to be successful...