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Citizens see US soldier holding gun along roadside in Kunigami

Citizens see US soldier holding gun along roadside in Kunigami

March 23, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Pedestrians witnessed a US soldier pointing a gun during training near the roadside around landing zone 4 in Aha, Kunigami village around 5:30 p.m. on March 20. The road leads to the village’s environmental education center, “Yanbaru Manabi no Mori,” and the soldier was aiming along the driveway that leads to prefectural road 2. The soldier was lying face-down on the roadside. According to Kunigami village, the road was built when Aha dam was constructed....

 

Okinawan Nisei Ono Immersed in Ryukyu Performing Arts

Okinawan Nisei Ono Immersed in Ryukyu Performing Arts

April 4, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Sadao Tome

Sponsored by the Okinawa Prefectural Government, exchange student 25-year-old Amy Ono studied at the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts for one year. She is an Okinawan Nisei (second-generation immigrant), born in Los Angeles. Her study...

Movie version of novel Cocktail Party more than 10 years in the making

Movie version of novel Cocktail Party more than 10 years in the making

April 5, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

In the United States, film director Reggie Life has made a movie version of author Tatsuhiro Oshiro’s 1965 novel Cocktail Party, the first literary work from Okinawa to win the Akutagawa Prize in 1967.

In 1995, Oshiro made a play version of the book set...

Medoruma’s arrest: suppression of the opposition movement must not be tolerated

April 4, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

The detention of Shun Medoruma was an act of illegitimate confinement on the part of the United States military with the aim of using brute force to suppress freedom of thought, belief, and expression. We must not tolerate pressure that antagonizes Okinawan opposition...

Agu pork from Okinawa to be sold in Singapore for the first time

Agu pork from Okinawa to be sold in Singapore for the first time

March 29, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Kin Agu Corporation shipped its first Okinawan agu pork to Singapore. Meat products totaling 456 kg per month will be sold at local high class restaurants and stores. According to the prefecture, this will be the first import of Okinawan agu to Singapore.

All...

Awamori shipments declining for 11 consecutive years

March 30, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On March 29, the Okinawa Distillers Association announced figures of shipments of Awamori for the fiscal year of 2015. The total of shipments was 19,247 kiloliters, down 3.9% on the previous year, and the first figure under 20,000 kiloliters in 16 years. Shipments...

Okinawa promotes charm of Awamori to British luxury liner guests

Okinawa promotes charm of Awamori to British luxury liner guests

March 30, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On March 26, British cruise ship Queen Elizabeth docked at Naha Cruise Terminal, its first visit to Okinawa. The Okinawa Sake Brewers Association and the Okinawa Regional Taxation Office, the governing agency of Awamori, held a tasting event to showcase Okinawan...

Biggest tuna caught in Ishigaki

Biggest tuna caught in Ishigaki

March 31, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On March 30, a 413 kilogram-bluefin tuna measuring about 2.6 meters was landed at Ishigaki Fishing Port. With a large population of tuna, Ishigaki is one of the foremost fishing ports in Okinawa. Hiroyuki Tanaka, the captain of Tenshinmaru, said it took five hours...

Regional opinion poll reveals opposition of 58% to Henoko relocation and 68% to Futenma Air Station remaining in place

Regional opinion poll reveals opposition of 58% to Henoko relocation and 68% to Futenma Air Station remaining in place

April 1, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Prefectural Government carried out an opinion poll among Okinawan citizens in 2015 relating to regional security. One question asked was “Do you support or oppose the Japanese government’s plan to relocate Futenma Air Station to Henoko in Nago City?”...

Testimony by Japanese soldier of Korean descent tells of abuse by fellow soldiers

Testimony by Japanese soldier of Korean descent tells of abuse by fellow soldiers

April 1, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Hideki Matsudo

U.S. forces landed on Okinawa Island on April 1, 1945, marking the start of the Battle of Okinawa. On March 31, 2016, Ryukyu Shimpo obtained a written record of testimony made by a Japanese soldier of Korean descent who had been captured...

Okinawan novelist released after being held for 8 hours in US military base

Okinawan novelist released after being held for 8 hours in US military base

April 3, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On April 2, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) referred Akutagawa Prize winning novelist Shun Medoruma, 55, to the Naha prosecutor’s office. The novelist was arrested on March 1 on suspicion of violating the Act on Special Measures Concerning Criminal Cases for entering...