On October 1, a shelter for protecting young single mothers will open in the central part of Okinawa Island. The shelter, called Oniwa, is represented jointly by Professors Yoko Uema and Makoto Motomura of the University of the Ryukyus. The two held a press conference at the university on September 29. With the cooperation of the perinatal and maternal care center at the University of the Ryukyus Hospital, the center will offer medical support from pregnancy through delivery. Midwives will be on staff at the shelter. Uema says, “We want these young women to be able to become mothers in a comforting environment that makes them feel like they’ve come home. We want to improve their lives and protect them.”
The shelter will be operated as a single mother support organization of the Orion Scholarship Foundation. Associa, an organization that supports job-seeking activities of people with acute social withdrawal or disabilities, will serve as the business operator for the shelter. Motomura will be in charge of intake and managing the shelter environment. Uema will manage the site. The shelter will accept young pregnant individuals in their teens and twenties who do not receive support from family or society. These individuals may use the shelter starting when they are 8 months pregnant, and until one hundred days after delivery. Oniwa will have two regular staff, and expects to see 5 or 6 people use the shelter annually.
Motomura says, “We want to use the expertise at the university to give back to the region and to Okinawa. Our hope is to make the shelter an example of something that we create together, and to see the results.”
Doctor Keiko Mekaru of the University of the Ryukyus Hospital says “Many young, pregnant individuals experience abuse and domestic violence, and are at risk of premature delivery due to mental strain. We will work with the midwives at the shelter to provide mental health support as well.”
Oniwa is accepting donations to cover operations. Donations can be made to the Mirai Fund Okinawa, Okinawa Bank Torihori Branch, Regular Account 1442256.
A press conference discussing the opening of Oniwa, a shelter for young pregnant individuals, is held by (from the right) Professors Makoto Motomura and Yoko Uema of the University of the Ryukyus, and Doctor Keiko Mekaru of the University of the Ryukyus Hospital (September 29, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara)
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (President Kayoko Hayashi) is adding Okinawan to its roster of language courses this fall term beginning November. The Okinawan Language course will also be offered online to the general public, with the same content offered to TUFS students. Associate Professor Satoru Hanazono, who will teach the course, explained, “Students will learn the Okinawan language systematically in stages. People in Okinawa can also take the course since it’s offered online.” According to Hanazono, TUFS will be the first university located outside of Okinawa to offer a course in the Okinawan language.
The course is open to first-time learners of the Okinawan language and is organized around the book Shokyu Okinawa-go (Okinawan for beginners) from Kenkyusha publishing house. Focusing on basic grammar, the course will comprise 12 lessons held once a week between December 8 and March 9, covering the first 12 chapters of Shokyu Okinawa-go. Another course will be offered in the Spring term to cover the remaining 15 chapters of the book.
Hanazono remarked, “The curriculum focuses on grammar, following Japanese pedagogy. The classes will be fun, incorporating games and interactive activities.”
The Okinawan Language course is limited to 25 seats on a first-come, first-served basis. General registration will begin at 3 p.m. on October 21, on the TUFS Open Academy website (https://tufsoa.jp/). The course fee is 20,200 yen.
TUFS launched Open Academy in 2006 as part of its social contribution to realize a multicultural society. TUFS Open Academy has since offered courses to the general public at its campus in Fuchu City, where students study the languages, histories, and cultures of various countries. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Open Academy took its courses online in November 2020.
The fall term offers 142 courses in total, including 52 language courses of varying levels and liberal arts courses.
On September 29 the All-Okinawa Coalition, which opposes the construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF) in Henoko, Nago City, announced that the suspension of the protest activities, such as those in front of a gate to Camp Schwab in Henoko, will continue as of October 1 and ongoing thereafter due to the urgent situation concerning the novel coronavirus.
Japan’s coronavirus state of emergency was lifted on September 30. However, within Okinawa, the numbers of people who are being treated for and newly infected with the novel coronavirus still constitute an advisory level 4, which is why the suspension of protest activities is being continued. The coalition is ready to reassess the possibility of reopening protest activities once the advisory level drops.
Starting in October, the coalition will implement a new campaign called Blue Action, planned for the first Saturday of each month in an online meeting format.
The first meeting has been planned for live-streaming from in front of a Camp Schwab gate on the video sharing website YouTube at 11:00 a.m. on October 2 for 30 minutes. The coalition is calling for standing protest actions to be held in various regions in solidarity.
Uruma – On the afternoon of September 28, it was reported to police that there was a bull outside of someone’s house in Ishikawa, Uruma. The bull was a 700 kg. fighting bull that is being raised nearby the house in question, and the police raced to the house, and slowly and steadily the bull trudged along onto another person’s property, with the police being pulled along for the ride on a rope attached to the bull.
Next, some people who knew the owner of the bull arrived, and the bull was finally apprehended 15 minutes after the police were called. No people or animals were harmed in the encounter.
The bull’s owners land was nearby, and it appears that a stake with a rope tied to it, allowing the bull to exercise, came loose and the bull escaped. Ishikawa deputy police chief Mitsugu Uchizato said, “We were lucky no one was hurt. We would like [the owner] to carefully look after the bull from here on.”
Okinawa Prefecture and the Ministry of the Environment engaged in joint patrols of Yambaru forest on September 22 and 23 to prevent future poaching and theft of the rare and valuable wildlife species that live in the northern region of Okinawa’s main island, which became a World Natural Heritage Site in July. No poachers were found during this patrol, but the participants surveyed Yambaru forest with a wary eye on the lookout for suspicious people and cars.
In addition to the prefecture and the Ministry of the Environment, the patrol was joined by Nago police and the Kunigami Forest Association for a total of 14 people. From late at night on September 22 through the daybreak on September 23, the patrollers split into 4 cars and took two different routes, patrolling the forest roads taking care to watch out for rare wildlife. At one point they found a rental car stopped along a service road, and while it had a permit to travel through the forest, just to be sure the patrollers left a flyer calling to stop poaching under the car’s windshield wipers.
Hunting the precious wildlife in Yambaru is outlawed by various conservation laws. While patrolling, a number of animals listed in the appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, also called the Washington Convention), an international agreement to protect endemic species in places such as Japan’s southwestern archipelago, such as the Anderson’s crocodile newt, Amami woodcock, and Neolucanus beetle.
Naoki Shimabukuro, the head of Okinawa Environmental Protection Division’s World Natural Heritage Preservation and Promotion Office said, “We are making an etiquette book for Yanbaru, placing stations along the roads, and publishing a website. I hope it leads to people following the rules and being more informed.”
On September 23, the Okinawa branch of ANA (All Nippon Airways) held an event at Naha Airport to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its service to Okinawa. ANA employees handed out commemorative gifts to the 207 passengers boarding the 11 a.m. flight from Naha to Haneda and sent them off with a message reading “with gratitude,” written on the tarmac with a mop soaked in water.
ANA first began its service to Okinawa on September 23, 1961, with the Kagoshima-Naha route. Because the Okinawan administration had not yet been returned to Japan, travel to Okinawa from Japan was considered ANA’s only regular international flight and passengers required a passport to board.
With Okinawa’s reversion to Japan on May 15, 1972, ANA debuted the Haneda-Naha route, later adding lines to other islands such as Ishigaki. In the 60 years of servicing Okinawa, the airline has transported a cumulative total of approximately 190 million passengers. Although some flights are currently suspended due to COVID, the company operates 27 routes in and out of Okinawa.
In Okinawa, ANA expanded its business into tourism and beyond, opening the Manza Beach Hotel and Laguna Garden Hotel. In 2009, it opened an international cargo hub and a branch of its aircraft maintenance business, MRO Japan, in 2019. Osamu Iguchi, manager of the ANA Okinawa branch, said, “The Okinawa route is very important. We hope to optimize aircraft on the existing routes and add as many lines as possible to underserved areas.”
On September 19 around 3:20 p.m. off the coast of Matsuda in Ginoza, a 110 call came in saying “I got stuck in a mudflat in my car, and I can’t get it out.” The car was an American-made convertible rental car with the top down. While trying to tow the car out of the water, a spark under the hood caught fire which led to an explosion, engulfing the car in flames. Thankfully, no one was injured.
According to someone involved in the event, the incident occurred on a shoal near national route 329. A pair of visitors to Okinawa in their 20’s entered the shoal in their vehicle at low tide via a slope used by U.S. military amphibious vehicles for entering and leaving the water. About 50 meters down the car got stuck in the sand and could no longer move. It was at this time that they contacted the police, and around two hours later the car caught fire while trying to tow it out.
A woman who witnessed the event said, “The tide came in little by little until the tires were half-submerged in the water. The electronics in the car started to flicker, and then immediately a fire broke out. In the blink of an eye the luxury car exploded and was totaled.”
During parachute drop training at Iejima Auxiliary Airfield in Okinawa, two U.S. Marines landed on private land outside of the zone provided. On September 22, residents of Ie Village spoke out about their concerns that such an occurrence could lead to a serious incident such as human injury.
A woman in her 60s who lives near the airfield witnessed the drop training on September 21 and reported feeling uneasy about the altitude from which the training was being conducted. She mentioned her concern that “The crops could have been damaged.”
In an interview with the Ryukyu Shimpo, Mayor Hideyuki Shimabukuro of Ie Village stressed that: “I think it is deplorable that accidents repeatedly occur despite the fact that, up to this point, we have requested training suspension during bad weather and thorough safety management.”
On the evening of September 22 the members of the Ie Village Assembly went to observe the sites at which these Marines had landed. Masao Tokuji, chairman of the village assembly, said, “If this had been an emergency landing on a private residence or the like, it would be an outrageous story. It would immediately be protested.” The plan is for Mayor Shimabukuro and Chairman Tokuji of the village assembly to pay a visit to the Okinawa Defense Bureau on September 24 in protest of these landings, and firmly request an investigation into the cause as well as recurrence prevention measures from the United States.
Ishigaki – On September 7, a fantastical photograph showing the Milky Way and a plane flying underneath it was taken in Ishigaki. The photographer was Toru Kinjo, managing director of the Yaeyama Visitors Bureau. He says, “This is the first time I’ve managed to take a photo like this. I feel really lucky.”
Kinjo says that photography is his hobby. At around 8:20 p.m. on September 7, he was in Miyara in Ishigaki photographing the Milky Way when a passenger plane about to land at New Ishigaki Airport entered the frame. To photograph the night sky, he had set his shutter speed for a single photograph to 15 seconds.
The picture he took ended up being a fantastical image in which the lights from the airplane trace its flight path. He shared it on social media and received many comments, including one saying “It’s like Galaxy Express 999 (a famous manga by Leiji Matsumoto)!”
Kinjo took the opportunity to promote Ishigaki, saying “On Ishigaki Island, we can see the stars so clearly that they say you can see 84 of the 88 constellations! There are beautiful things to see, so I recommend stargazing at night in addition to sightseeing in the afternoon!”
“There is a large turtle crossing national route 330.” At around 2:45 p.m. on September 16, a number of reports like this started coming into the Ginowan Police Station. The turtle crossing the road was a 70-centimeter-long African spurred tortoise that weighs roughly 50 kilograms. The police station took in the tortoise as a found item, then returned it to its owner. The station put out a warning, saying, “It could have led to a dangerous accident. If you are raising an animal, make sure you have the proper facilities to keep it from escaping.”
According to the police station, the tortoise was crossing national route 330 around Akamichi, Ginowan. There were many people who witnessed the event and reported it to the police. Officers raced to the scene, and found the tortoise about to enter the car of a man. The man told officers, “This is my tortoise, so I am taking him home,” and left with the tortoise. However, when he returned home, he found his own tortoise, and realized that his was not the one that had escaped. He then contacted police, and turned the reptile over to them.
Police then determined that the tortoise must have escaped from a house near where he was found.
On September 17, they visited the man, 61, who owned the tortoise, who said, “I’m sorry for causing everyone trouble. I am glad that an accident did not occur. According to the man, part of the enclosure in his yard that holds the tortoise had broken, allowing the turtle to escape.
On September 15, Senior Citizen’s Day (Roujin no Hi), Okinawa Prefecture announced 589 residents (83 men and 506 women) turned 100 years old this year as of September 1—an increase of 98 from the previous year, marking a record high. The total number of Okinawans aged 100 and above rose by 54 to 1,269 (143 men and 1,126 women), the highest ever.
The oldest centenarian this year is Matsu Gaja of Nakagusuku at 113 years old, followed by Nahi Yonamine of Kitanakagusuku, also 113 years old. The 20 oldest centenarians in the prefecture are all women, excluding the four persons whose names and sexes are undisclosed. The oldest male on the list was 107 years old.
The three municipalities in Okinawa with the most centenarians were Naha City with 225, Uruma City with 130, and Nago City with 85. Nationwide, there are 86,510 people aged 100 years old and older (10,60 men and 76,450 women).
September 15 through 21 is designated Senior Citizen Week. The new centenarians will receive congratulatory letters and commemorative gifts from Governor Denny Tamaki and the national government.
Webcam(Kokusai Street)
