January 12, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
On January 4, prior to felling the “Gajimaru of Oura Asagi Garden”, which is a gajumaru tree (Ficus microcarpa) that has aged more than 120 years, a memorial service was held at Asagi Garden (in the public square in front of the public hall) in Oura Ward, Nago City to express gratitude to the tree.
Ward residents and former ward residents gathered to offer incense burning, reminisce about the gajumaru tree, and express gratitude to it.
This...
Yo Kakazu
(Nanjo) Kudakajima Island, part of Nanjo City, is known as a sacred place in Okinawa, and roughly 60 thousand people visit there each year.
Many tourists have been trespassing in off-limits sacred spots (utaki) and waters, and islanders who have worked to protect the ancient...
September 21, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Yo Kakazu
(Nanjo) Clothed in a wedding dress, Tomi said, “at last.” On August 30, Tomi, 87, and Yukichi, 86, finally celebrated their matrimony as bride and groom after 69 years of marriage. At the time of their marriage, they were unable to celebrate...
August 15, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
On August 14, which was nakanuhii for Okinawa’s old Bon, a traditional event called “mushaama” was held.
“Mushaama” consists of holding memorial services for ancestors at Taketomi Town’s Hateruma Island, along with praying for a good harvest...
August 8, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Hiroyuki Takatsuji
“Isn’t this Pikachu?” A mysterious creature was found at a fishing port on the northern part of the main island of Okinawa causing controversy over the Internet, where a video of the creature was posted. The creature has become a...
July 10, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
An auspicious custom with awamori.
On July 9, in hopes of passing on the culture of and to promote Ryukyu awamori, the Yonabaru Town Council unanimously agreed on Okinawa Prefecture’s first “ordinance that promotes toasting with Yonabaru Town’s Ryukyu...
July 10, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Recently, Assistant Professor Takuto Shitara of the Iriomote Station at the University of the Ryukyus Biosphere Research Center succeeded in photographing an Iriomote cat kitten.
Iriomote cats are Special Natural Monuments of Japan, peculiar to Taketomi Town...
July 08, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Koza City, known as “the military-base town”, is a microcosm of Okinawa. Okinawa City Tourism and Promotion Association has worked to allure visitors locally and from afar, under its president, Takashi Shimabukuro.
The association began receiving class...
June 13, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
On June 2, University of California, Berkley Professor Eriko Ikehara, who has been researching the history of the black community in Teruya, Okinawa, opened the Koza X MiXtopia Research Center in the Gintengai Shopping Arcade. On the same day, an opening ceremony...
May 30, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Hideaki Yoneda
Takashi Matsuda, 46, of the diving shop Relax Island in Aharen, Tokashiki Village confirmed that the coral of Aharen Beach spawned on the nights of May 22 and 23.
Only once a year, in May or June during the flood tide around the full...
May 24, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
(Itoman) On May 17, the Uruma Association in Solidarity with the Ainu People (representative: Shinya Mayonaka) held an Ainu memorial service (“Icharupa”) in front of the Nanboku Tower in Maehira, Itoman to honor the souls of Ainu soldiers and Okinawans who perished...
Webcam(Kokusai Street)