Archive for March, 2021

Recent News

A super-sized haul of high-class spangled emperor fish known as taman brought into Toya Fishing Port in Yomitan, “It will be tasty any way you cook it”

A super-sized haul of high-class spangled emperor fish known as taman brought into Toya Fishing Port in Yomitan, “It will be tasty any way you cook it”

March 24, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Yomitan – Around eight tons of spangled emperor fish called taman, which is now in season, was brought into Toya Fishing Port in Yomitan on March 23. Along with akajin grouper, akamachi snapper, and makubu blackspot tuskfish, taman is among the highest class of fish that can be caught in Okinawa. “We have rarely seen a haul this size in recent years,” said an excited representative from the Yomitan...

 

Under blue skies, the season for harvesting fresh lettuce arrives in Itoman City

Under blue skies, the season for harvesting fresh lettuce arrives in Itoman City

March 26, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

On March 25, due to being covered by a high-pressure system, sunny weather spread to regions throughout Okinawa. This heralds in the season for harvesting lettuce in Itoman City.

In Maehira, Itoman City, harvesting work is very busy in 45-year-old...

World’s first commercial technology to freeze pig sperm enables stable production of Agu brand pork

World’s first commercial technology to freeze pig sperm enables stable production of Agu brand pork

March 25, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Hideki Tatemoto, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus Faculty of Agriculture, announced on March 24 that he developed a technology to supply frozen purebred-Agu pig sperm to industry. The Agu is an indigenous Okinawan pig breed restored to...

Closing ceremonies held at Okinawan elementary and junior high schools, “We made it through a difficult year”

Closing ceremonies held at Okinawan elementary and junior high schools, “We made it through a difficult year”

March 25, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

On March 24, 245 public elementary and junior high schools in Okinawa held closing ceremonies to mark the end of the school year. At Nakagusuku Minami Elementary School in Nakagusuku, measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 meant that the entire...

First “Sexual Diversity Ordinance” in Okinawa passed by Urasoe City Council, bans discrimination and officially recognizes LBGT couples

First “Sexual Diversity Ordinance” in Okinawa passed by Urasoe City Council, bans discrimination and officially recognizes LBGT couples

March 23, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

(Urasoe) On March 23, at its final regular meeting in March, the Urasoe City Council (Chairperson: Chobun Goeku) unanimously passed the “Ordinance for Achieving a Society that Honors Sexual Diversity” bill, which includes introduction of a “partnership...

A rare alcanor form great Mormon butterfly, one of Japan’s largest, spotted in Ogimi

A rare alcanor form great Mormon butterfly, one of Japan’s largest, spotted in Ogimi

March 22, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Fumie Asato

 

Ogimi – A female great Mormon butterfly in its rare alcanor form (characterized by the tails on the end of the wings) was spotted fluttering around Ogimi March 6. Great Mormons are one of the largest butterflies in...

Okinawa teams up with local organizations to improve health of working age people, hopes to recapture longest average life expectancy title in Japan by 2040

Okinawa teams up with local organizations to improve health of working age people, hopes to recapture longest average life expectancy title in Japan by 2040

March 18, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Representatives from five organizations including the Okinawa Prefectural government and the Okinawa Labor Bureau (OLB) signed a “comprehensive cooperation agreement” the morning of March 18, to resolve issues and promote effective policy for improving...

Hong Kong loves Okinawan Shikuwasa introduced on TV as a superfood; exports grow twentyfold

Hong Kong loves Okinawan Shikuwasa introduced on TV as a superfood; exports grow twentyfold

March 19, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Erina Ishii

 

In Hong Kong, demand for Okinawan shikuwasa (Okinawa lime) has exploded since the end of last year. 478COMPANY is a Tomigusuku-based company that supplies shikuwasa juice to Hong Kong. The company’s exports in 2020 grew twentyfold...

Hoshinoya Taketomi-jima installs self-sufficient seawater desalination system, reducing plastic bottle waste

Hoshinoya Taketomi-jima installs self-sufficient seawater desalination system, reducing plastic bottle waste

March 13, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Under the management of General Manager Kaoru Honda, the resort hotel Hoshinoya Taketomi-jima in Taketomi-Cho, Taketomi Island, recently started supplying its drinking water by desalinating seawater. The hotel hopes to reduce plastic bottle waste,...

Kadena Mayor requests base burden reduction following recent “intolerable” noise and odor from Kadena Air Base

Kadena Mayor requests base burden reduction following recent “intolerable” noise and odor from Kadena Air Base

March 18, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Due to aircraft noise and a foul odor coming from Kadena Air Base and increasing in severity on and after March 15, Mayor Hiroshi Toyama of Kadena Town visited Director General Toshinori Tanaka of the Okinawa Defense Bureau at said Bureau on March...

Editorial: U.S. transpartisan letter an opportunity for international solidarity aimed at stopping new base

March 16 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

We must take full advantage of this letter. The Overseas Base Realignment and Closure Coalition, a group of U.S. intellectuals, former officials, and others, published a letter addressed to President Biden calling for closure of U.S. military bases...