Top News

Air China International to resume flights between Beijing and Naha in July

March 12, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Air China International has decided that on July 3 it will resume flights between Beijing and Naha that have been suspended since last October. The airline will operate this return service twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday. The company had canceled the service because of anti-Japanese demonstrations against Japan’s nationalization of the Senkaku Islands. Staff at the Okinawa branch of Air China International said that they have not yet received an explanation...

 

F/A 18 Hornets drop cluster bombs in the sea around Okinawa

F/A 18 Hornets drop cluster bombs in the sea around Okinawa

March 15 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

On March 14, four F/A 18 Hornets belonging to units based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni took off from Kadena Air Base.
The fighter aircraft are reported to have conducted training over the sea around Okinawa, where they dropped at least 14 of the 18 cluster...

Okinawan Intellectuals criticize Japanese government for political use of the Emperor

Okinawan Intellectuals criticize Japanese government for political use of the Emperor

March 14, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawans are critical of the Japanese government planning to hold a ceremony on April 28 to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Japanese sovereignty after the San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect in 1952. The people of Okinawa see this date as a...

Young woman becomes popular for her skill at slicing up tuna

Young woman becomes popular for her skill at slicing up tuna

March 10, 2013 Masaki Umeda of Ryukyu Shimpo

Recently, an 18 year-old woman who works at the seafood market Osakana Center in the Itoman Roadside Station in Itoman, has attracted praise for her skill at slicing up tuna. Wakana Nohara from Ozato, Nanjo, has been cutting up three or four tuna...

Hijiki seaweed harvest begins

<em>Hijiki</em> seaweed harvest begins

March 11, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

This year’s hijiki seaweed harvest began on the morning of March 10 along the coast at Itarashiki in Yonabaru. This brown seaweed found on rocky coastlines is a local specialty of Yonabaru. Members of the Fisheries Cooperative in Nishihara and Yonabaru...

American veteran passes on information about Okinawa’s postwar history

March 11, 2013 Tamiko Suzuki Correspondent of Ryukyu Shimpo

Through his website entitled REMEMBERING OKINAWA HISTORY, American veteran Donn Cuson, who currently resides in the suburbs of Tucson, Arizona, provides information on Okinawan history under the U.S. occupation from 1945 to 1972.

Cuson...

Juri-uma parade performed in Tsuji

<em>Juri-uma</em> parade performed in Tsuji

March 3, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

On March 1, or January 20 in the old lunar calendar, at Tsuji in Naha, one of New Year’s traditional events called hachika sogachi was organized by the Tsuji Shinshikai Foundation and other groups. Women who are Okinawan shaman or kaminchu visited...

Haebaru releases tourist guide app for smart phones

Haebaru releases tourist guide app for smart phones

March 5, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

On March 3, the Haebaru Municipal Office introduced publically accessible WiFi and, using what is called “augmented reality,” commenced a town guide app service for smart phones under the name Haebaru Sightseeing Navi. Following on from Nanjo, Haebaru is the...

Itoman Sabani boat builder wins MJC award

Itoman <em>Sabani</em> boat builder wins MJC award

March 8, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Tokyo-based Marine Journalists Conference has decided to present the 2013 MJC Marine Award (Cultural and Dissemination Section) to Itoman traditional sabani boat-builder Kiyoshi Oshiro. For many years, 63 year-old Oshiro has made fishing boats known...

OPG moving to designate 32nd Army Headquarters Shelter as cultural asset

March 7, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Superintendent of the Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education Hiroshi Oshiro commented on March 6 that the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) is to consider designating the former 32nd Army Headquarters Shelter as a cultural asset. Oshiro was replying to a question...

Goat food tasting event held

Goat food tasting event held

March 5, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

On February 28, at a restaurant in Naha, the Okinawa Prefectural Government held a tasting event to promote local goat meat and cuisine. This is a part of the 2012 Okinawa Goat Raising and Consumption Promotion Project.

About 40 people involved in the restaurant...