Top News

British missionary Bettelheim court-martialed during American Civil War

British missionary Bettelheim court-martialed during American Civil War

August 24, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

British missionary and physician Dr. Bernard Bettelheim stayed in the Ryukyu Kingdom for eight years from 1846 before leaving Okinawa with Commodore Perry’s fleet. It is now known that he served as a surgeon during the American Civil War (1861-1865) after going to the United States from Britain. According to a publication released in the United States, Bettelheim was accused of neglect of duty, conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline,...

 

Unjami Festival in Ogimi

<em>Unjami</em> Festival in Ogimi

August 26, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Unjami Festival was held in Shioya Bay and other areas of Ogimi on August 25. Designated as one of Japan’s significant intangible folk cultural assets, the event features the Ugan Barley dragon boat race and Okinawan shaman or kaminchu...

Coral bleaching confirmed at Kunigami for the first time since 1998

Coral bleaching confirmed at Kunigami for the first time since 1998

August 18, 2013 Mifuyu Hattori, correspondent of Ryukyu Shimpo

Nature guides have confirmed coral bleaching in the whole area of reefs in Kunigami. Some experts say that rising sea temperatures caused by record-breaking heat and strong sunlight have affected the condition of the coral reefs....

Thai government holds Thailand Festival in Okinawa

Thai government holds Thailand Festival in Okinawa

August 25, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Seeking to attract tourists from Okinawa to Thailand, the Tourism Agency of the Thai Government has held the Thailand Festival at the Naha branch of Aeon, a specialist shopping mall developer, on August 24 and 25. The agency set up a space for selling miscellaneous...

Okinawa plans to increase Shimakutuba users 30% in 10 years

Okinawa plans to increase Shimakutuba users 30% in 10 years

August 21, 2013 Naoki Isa of the Ryukyu Shimpo

The Culture Promotion Division of the Okinawa Prefectural Government published the Shimakutuba Promotion Plan Proposal on their website on August 20. The division aims to pass on the endangered Shimakutuba or the Okinawan language, to the next...

Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau takes part in Thai International Travel Fair 2013

Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau takes part in Thai International Travel Fair 2013

August 21, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau took part in the Thai International Travel Fair from August 15 to 18.

Four companies and one group from Okinawa including the Naha City Tourist Association, Zuisen Shuzou Distillery and Station Hotel Makishi were...

Ginoza residents protest against U.S. helicopter crash

Ginoza residents protest against U.S. helicopter crash

August 23, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Ginoza residents held a protest rally at the Ginoza Dome in the evening of August 22 in response to the U.S. military helicopter crash earlier that month. Wearing red headbands to indicate their protest against the U.S. military, about 1,100 people from Ginoza...

Okinawan travel commodities sold at Natas Fair in Singapore

Okinawan travel commodities sold at Natas Fair in Singapore

August 20, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

From August 16 to 18, the Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Okinawan travel companies took part in the Natas Fair, the largest travel fair in Singapore. Seven companies and one group, including the Okinawa Tourist Service, Hotel JAL City Naha and the...

Miyagi and Fukushima children come across tsunami debris on Ie-jima

Miyagi and Fukushima children come across tsunami debris on Ie-jima

August 13, 2013 Yukito Kinjo, Correspondent of the Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 8, a lifebuoy drifted from Miyagi Prefecture was found on the sandy beach in Ara, Ie-jima Island. Forty pupils from Fukushima and Miyagi elementary and junior high schools were surprised to see it. They visited the island...

Nine Japanese people left behind in the Philippines visit Japan

Nine Japanese people left behind in the Philippines visit Japan

August 12, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Nine Japanese people left behind in the Philippines in the chaotic times at the end of World War II are visiting Japan in order to get Japanese nationality. The father of Antonio Takara, from Baguio, who had interviews at the Tokyo Family Court on August 8 and...

Junior high school students in Urasoe learn about horrors of the atomic bomb

Junior high school students in Urasoe learn about horrors of the atomic bomb

August 18, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Ten students from five junior high schools in Urasoe took part in a peace education session held in Nagasaki from August 8 to 10. They met students who came from all over the country as peace delegations.

After returning to Okinawa, they visited Urasoe mayor...