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Akutagawa Award winner Naoki Matayoshi talks about writing that captures Okinawa’s atmosphere at the Ryukyu Forum

Akutagawa Award winner Naoki Matayoshi talks about writing that captures Okinawa’s atmosphere at the Ryukyu Forum

July 12, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

The July meeting of the members-only lecture series “Ryukyu Forum” (Ryukyu Shimpo President Junichi Tomita, presiding) took place July 12, at the Hotel Roya Orion in Naha. Comedian and author Naoki Matayoshi lectured on the topic, “Me and Literature,” in which he gave his thoughts on literature as well as his Okinawan an Amami roots.

Matayoshi, who won the Akutagawa Award for literature in 2015 for his novel, Hibana, is known commonly as a “bookworm...

 

ND proposes Henoko alternative in Washington, expressing skepticism about “deterrence”

ND proposes Henoko alternative in Washington, expressing skepticism about “deterrence”

July 14, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

Correspondent Yukiyo Zaha reports from Washington D.C.

On July 12, the New Diplomacy Initiative (ND), a think tank made up of former Japanese government officials, journalists and others, held a symposium at the East-West Center in Washington, DC. The group...

Higa wins world junior golf championship, the first Okinawan winner since Mika Miyazato in 2006

Higa wins world junior golf championship, the first Okinawan winner since Mika Miyazato in 2006

July 14, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

Riona Higa, a 3rd grade student at Kakazu Junior High School, won her first victory at the girls 13-14 year-old division in the IMGA Academy Junior World Championships held in the United States. She played a total 207 of a 9-under-par 72 in the final day held at...

Mangos from Okinawa get priced at 150000 yen in Tokyo

Mangos from Okinawa get priced at 150000 yen in Tokyo

July 7, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

Representatives from the prefectural government, JA Okinawa, and Tomigusuku City visited the Ota Market in Tokyo to promote Okinawan tropical fruits such as mangoes in the early morning of July 6. During the bidding, a one-kilogram box with two mangos from Okinawa...

US marines carry out MV-22 Osprey take-off and landing training for first time on new helipads in NTA

US marines carry out MV-22 Osprey take-off and landing training for first time on new helipads in NTA

July 11, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

At about 2:40 p.m. on July 11, a U.S. Marine MV-22 Osprey aircraft landed and took off from N1 and H helipads, recently built in the Northern Training Area in Higashi and Kunigami villages.

It is the first time the N1 and H helipads have been used for training....

Symbol of burials in Yonashiroteruma, Uruma dismantled as cremation takes its place

Symbol of burials in Yonashiroteruma, Uruma dismantled as cremation takes its place

July 10, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

Uruma – The demolition of a ganya, a structure used to store a gan prior to a burial, took place in Yonashiroteruma, Uruma on June 24. A gan is a portable shrine used to carry the coffin. In Okinawa, cremation has long since replaced burial as the norm, and as...

French practitioners hone their skills at karate’s birthplace in Okinawa

French practitioners hone their skills at karate’s birthplace in Okinawa

July 11, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

Pascal Ibert a Nana-dan (7th rank) practitioner of Okinawa Goju-ryu Karate has been training for 38 years in Dordogne, southern France, where he now teaches about 50 students. For three consecutive years beginning in 2015, he has traveled to Yamashita Town, Naha...

Chibana Hanaui to produce kariyushi shirts to increase popularity

Chibana Hanaui to produce kariyushi shirts to increase popularity

July 2, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 28, the Chibana Hanaui Business Cooperative visited Mayor Sachio Kuwae at the Okinawa City Office and reported on the production of their original Kariyushi shirts. The Cooperative will work with the Chubu Dressmaking Association to prepare a mass production...

Okinawa governor, mayors of municipalities near Kadena airbase boycott change of command ceremony

Okinawa governor, mayors of municipalities near Kadena airbase boycott change of command ceremony

July 10, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing held a change of command ceremony on the morning of July 10, with Col. Case Cunningham relieving Brig. Gen. Barry R. Cornish.

Kadena Town Mayor Hiroshi Toyama, Okinawa City Mayor Sachio Kuwae, Chatan Town Mayor Masaharu Noguni...

Kazufumi gives a lecture at Ryukyu University about producing Okinawan Kuruchi and avoiding war

Kazufumi gives a lecture at Ryukyu University about producing Okinawan Kuruchi and avoiding war

July 7, 2017 by Ryukyu Shimpo

The 93rd Ryukyu University 21st Century Forum was held June 29 at the Ryukyu University Law School in Nishihara. The forum featured musician Kazufumi Miyazawa, who lectured on the topic of, “The future of our island – Kuruchi, uta, and sanshin.” Miyazawa...

Executive Office for the Governor of Okinawa states U.S. military will not be allowed use of Naha Airport as a condition for Futenma return

July 6, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

In regard to the fact that the United States military predicates the return of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma on the ability to use a civilian airport in case of emergencies, Kiichi Jahana, head of the Executive Office for the Governor of Okinawa, said...