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Okinawa-based game designer co-develops worldwide bestseller

Okinawa-based game designer co-develops worldwide bestseller

May 6, 2014 Ken Sasaki of Ryukyu Shimpo

An Okinawa resident and game creator Ryo Agarie has co-developed a top-ranking smartphone game app, working from his home in Naha. Since it was sold this February, the Japanese-mythology themed puzzle game is currently first place out of 19 countries in App Store rankings. It is also ranked top in the Puzzle Game category.

Tengami is an adventure game full of Japanese scenery and imagery.
Using a background of traditional Japanese...

 

New harii boats launched in Itoman

New <em>harii</em> boats launched in Itoman

May 2, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

A launching ceremony for three dragon boats built last October was held on April 27 at Itoman Fishing Port. Young people from Nishimura, Nakamura, and Niijima districts – Itoman’s long-established communities – poured rice and sacred sake on the boats...

Local company to sell its Ryukyu glass jewelry in Singapore

Local company to sell its Ryukyu glass jewelry in Singapore

May 6, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

A Ryukyu glass company Rurian has begun selling its jewelry brand products at a select shop in Singapore as of the start of May. The company is working to sell its products in overseas markets with support from the Okinawa Industry Promotion Public Corporation. Rurian...

Okinawan citizen group protests against Japan’s right to collective defense

Okinawan citizen group protests against Japan's right to collective defense

May 1, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

On April 30, a citizen group opposing an amendment to the Constitution of Japan that would allow the pacifist nation to have its own military again, held a press conference at the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office. They criticised plans to revise the constitution,...

60,000 Easter lilies in full bloom in Okinawa

60,000 Easter lilies in full bloom in Okinawa

May 5, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

In the solar calendar of East Asian cultures, May 5 or “Lixia” marks the beginning of Summer. The season was ushered in with the blooming of 60,000 Easter lilies at Okinawa Comprehensive Athletic Park in Okinawa City.

Many families viewed the lillies while...

OPG digitizing Ryukyu government documents

OPG digitizing Ryukyu government documents

April 30, 2014 Yoshiya Hokama of Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) has been working on a project to digitize the official documents created by the Government of the Ryukyu Islands during the American occupation. The OPG plans to release them on the website of the Okinawa...

The rainy season begins in Okinawa

The rainy season begins in Okinawa

May 6, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 5, the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory announced the beginning of the rainy season in Okinawa.

It started four days earlier than average years and five days earlier than last year.
Due to the seasonal rain front, the state of the atmosphere in...

World Youth Uchinanchu Festival to hold an international conference in Germany

World Youth <em>Uchinanchu</em> Festival to hold an international conference in Germany

April 29, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

On April 28, Minami Tamamoto, the president of the World Youth Uchinanchu Association (WYUA) and Chiho Higa, the executive director of the WYUA Okinawa head office, held a press conference at the Okinawa Prefectural Office. They reported on the third World...

2.7-meter long moray captured

2.7-meter long moray captured

April 28, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

Ballroom dance instructor and hobby-fisherman Minoru Higa has caught a 2.7-meter long moray. He said of the catch, “It was a hard work.” Before being pulled in, it struggled to escape, and swam back and forth for 50 meters along the dock.

On the...

Okinawa to lay submarine optical cable to its remote islands

Okinawa to lay submarine optical cable to its remote islands

May 4, 2014 Kazuki Furugen of Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Prefecture Government (OPG) plans to lay about 915 kilometers of submarine optical cable to the remote islands from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2016 in order to modernise communication tools such as the Internet. The cable will be connected...

Poll shows 74 percent of people oppose relocating U.S. Futenma base within Okinawa

Poll shows 74 percent of people oppose relocating U.S. Futenma base within Okinawa

May 5, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

A telephone poll conducted in late April by the Ryukyu Shimpo showed only 16.6 percent of respondents supported the plan to move the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Ginowan to Henoko in Nago. The governments of Japan and the United States promote this plan....