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Council to offer practical courses to preserve Okinawan language

Council to offer practical courses to preserve Okinawan language

April 24, 2022 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Takuya Kayou

 

On April16, the prefectural council for promoting and disseminating the Okinawan language held its board meeting at the civic collaboration plaza in Naha City and decided on its activities for the fiscal year 2022. Its plan focuses on succession...

 

Okinawan folk music star Misako Oshiro dies at 84, best known for “silk voice” and collaboration with Rinsho Kadekaru

Okinawan folk music star Misako Oshiro dies at 84, best known for “silk voice” and collaboration with Rinsho Kadekaru

January 18, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Misako Oshiro, a leading Okinawan folk singer, passed away on January 18. She was 84 years old. A private memorial service will be held for her surviving family.

 

According to sources, Oshiro was found lying down in her Naha City...

Tatsuhiro Oshiro, first Okinawan to win Akutagawa Prize for work on postwar Okinawa, dies at 95

Tatsuhiro Oshiro, first Okinawan to win Akutagawa Prize for work on postwar Okinawa, dies at 95

October 28, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Tatsuhiro Oshiro, Okinawa’s first Akutagawa Prize-winning author and leader in Okinawan literature, died of old age at 11:10 a.m. on October 27 at a hospital in Kitanakagusuku Village. He was 95 years old. The Nakagusuku-native examined Okinawan identity throughout...

Okinawan music from Hawaii: Kagiyadefu Bushi performance by Sokyoku Koyo Kai Hawaii Shibu President

Okinawan music from Hawaii: Kagiyadefu Bushi performance by Sokyoku Koyo Kai Hawaii Shibu President

September 16, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Derek Fujio, president of the classical Okinawan koto school Ryukyu Sokyoku Koyo Kai Hawaii Shibu (branch), made a guest appearance on Hawaii United Okinawa Association’s YouTube channel “HUOA Yuntaku Live!” Fujio performed three solo songs on the...

JICA volunteers sing Shokichi Kina’s hit song “Hana” in 14 languages

JICA volunteers sing Shokichi Kina’s hit song “Hana” in 14 languages

August 11, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

JICA Okinawa (Japan International Cooperation Agency Okinawa Center) recently uploaded a rendition of Shokichi Kina’s hit song “Hana” sung in 14 languages and in the Okinawan language to YouTube. The music video is meant to spread hope to those...

Official history of Ryukyu Kingdom to be designated Important National Cultural Property

Official history of Ryukyu Kingdom to be designated Important National Cultural Property

March 19, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

On March 19, Japan’s Council for Cultural Affairs made a recommendation to Koichi Hagiuda, the minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, to designate the official history books of the Ryukyu Kingdom—the Chuzan Seikan (six volumes), Chuzan...

Kumiodori celebrates 300 years, prayers for Shuri Castle

Kumiodori celebrates 300 years, prayers for Shuri Castle

February 16, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

The event Ryukyu Buyo and Kumiodori was held on February 15 at Shurijo Castle Park in Naha City to celebrate the 300th anniversary of kumiodori (traditional Okinawan dance) and to offer prayers for the reconstruction of Shuri Castle.

The event was organized...

Sayuri Yoshinaga and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s emotional ode to Okinawa

Sayuri Yoshinaga and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s emotional ode to Okinawa

January 6, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

A charity concert was held on Jan. 5 by actress Sayuri Yoshinaga and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto at the Okinawa Convention Center Theater in Ginowan City.

Sakamoto’s sophisticated piano performance and Yoshinaga’s poetry reading, which spoke to the preciousness...

Ryukyu performance arts win national arts awards

Ryukyu performance arts win national arts awards

December 26, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

The play Gungwachi Kungwachi (Okinawan for May and September) by the Ryukyu Art Embassy was awarded Grand Prize in the Popular Entertainment category of the 2019 74th annual ACA National Arts Festival, organized by the Japanese government Agency for...

US contestants receive traditional Ryukyu music awards

US contestants receive traditional Ryukyu music awards

August 5, 2019 The Ryukyu Shimpo
Sanemichi Kinjo

Two fourth-generation Okinawan-American performers from the Los Angeles branch of the Afuso School of Classical Ryukyu Music Association (Koten Afuso-ryu Ongaku Kenkyuu Choichi Kai USA), Ryan Yasuaki Nakamatsu, 35, and his apprentice, Yuko...

Photographer Mao Ishikawa wins Lifetime Achievement Award

Photographer Mao Ishikawa wins Lifetime Achievement Award

June 3, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Photographic Society of Japan held an awards ceremony on Jun 3, at the Sasakawa Hall in Tokyo, where Mao Ishikawa was awarded the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award. Ishikawa was presented a certificate and a trophy. She pledged to “Continue to create ‘made in...