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Twenty school children from Fukushima visit Okinawa to enjoy a summer camp

Twenty school children from Fukushima visit Okinawa to enjoy a summer camp

July 26, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

The volunteer group Tsunagu Hikari invited school children from Fukushima Prefecture to Okinawa as a part of a support project for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Twenty elementary and junior high school students arrived at Naha Airport on the evening of July 25. They are scheduled to stay for one month until August 22 at Yuimarunomori House, which is located in Onna Village. During their stay, they will participate in a summer camp...

 

Almost half of the driftage in Okinawa washes ashore on Miyako Islands

July 27, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 25, the first meeting in 2011 of the task force for the seashore rubbish problem (organized by the Okinawa Prefectural Government) was held at the Southern Joint Office of the OPG in Naha City. The members of organizations such as the national government,...

Konishiki becomes cultural ambassador for Okinawa

Konishiki becomes cultural ambassador for Okinawa

July 27, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa Prefecture has accredited 47 year-old Hawaiian-born Japanese–Samoan former sumo wrestler Konishiki Yasokichi as the 219th cultural ambassador for Uchina (Okinawa). Certification as cultural ambassador for Uchina is granted to people who...

Statue of Ryukyu Uminchu to be erected in Taiwan

Statue of Ryukyu <em>Uminchu</em> to be erected in Taiwan

July 26, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

The association (Chairman Masajiro Nashiro) dedicated to the project is now working to erect a Ryukyu Uminchu (fishermen) statue at Keelung, Taiwan.
Since about 1905 Okinawan fishermen had a presence in Keelung, Taiwan, where they formed a community...

Deciphering the coral genome for the first time

July 25, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Marine Genomics Unit of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST, Onna Village) succeeded for the first time in deciphering the genome of Acropora digitifera, a coral that inhabits the seas around Okinawa Prefecture.
On July 24, the Unit published...

Okinawan student wins top prize in art contest in Florida

Okinawan student wins top prize in art contest in Florida

July 26, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa Shogaku High School (Naha City) second year student Hitomi Uezu (17 years-old) has won the top prize in an art contest in Florida.
When in Florida as an exchange student at Jensen Beach High School on a scholarship program supported by the Okinawa Prefectural...

U.S. flight activities still causing difficulties for digital terrestrial TV broadcasting around Futenma Air Station

U.S. flight activities still causing difficulties for digital terrestrial TV broadcasting around Futenma Air Station

July 24, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Residents living around the United States Marine Corps Air Station (USMCAS) Futenma in Ginowan City still have poor reception of terrestrial digital broadcasting due to flight activities. According to a survey that the Okinawa Defense Bureau conducted last year,...

Picture books about Himeyuri and Zuisen students published

Picture books about <em>Himeyuri</em> and <em>Zuisen</em> students published

July 20, 2011 Eriko Tamaki of Ryukyu Shimpo

Two picture books have been published that tell the story of female high school students who joined nursing units in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle of Okinawa. They are the Himeyuri Picture Book (Himeyuri Alumnae Incorporated...

Two endangered species flower inconspicuously up in the northern mountain area

Two endangered species flower inconspicuously up in the northern mountain area

July 20, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

Nago City resident Toshiko Miyagi recently confirmed that the endangered species Kashinokiran or Gastrochilus japonicus, which is on the vulnerable (VU) category II Red List of the Ministry of the Environment and the Okinawa Prefectural Government,...

Singer UA sings for the Takae helipad campaign

Singer UA sings for the Takae helipad campaign

July 19, 2011 Naoki Isa

Japanese singer-songwriter UA gave a small concert at the debriefing session held at a farmer training facility in Higashi Village on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the commencement of the sit-in protest by the “Residents Association Against the Helipad...

Eight thousand people enjoy cuisine and culture on “Okinawa Day” in London

Eight thousand people enjoy cuisine and culture on “Okinawa Day” in London

July 18, 2011 Emiko Morita correspondent of Ryukyu Shimpo

The 3rd Okinawa Day, sponsored by the Okinawa Sanshin Association of London and the Okinawa Kenjin-Kai of the United Kingdom, was held in Spitalfields, in central London on June 25. According to a spokesperson for the...