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OPG to start full-scale project to promote Shimakutuba

September 15, 2012, Kazuki Furugen of Ryukyu Shimpo

From the 2013 fiscal year, the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) will redouble its efforts to preserve Shimakutuba, the Okinawan language. The OPG has put together a ten-year plan for Shimakutuba in the second half of this year and will increase the current budget from 2 million to 20 million yen. Daiichi Hirata, the director general of the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the OPG talked to the Ryukyu...

 

More than 3000 Chinese cancel travel to Okinawa because of souring relations between Japan and China

September 20, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

Increasing numbers of Chinese, who planned travel to Okinawa, and Okinawans who had booked travel to China, have canceled trips due to protests in China against the Japanese government’s purchase of three of the disputed Senkaku Islands. Chinese organizations...

First test flights of MV-22 Osprey held in Iwakuni

First test flights of MV-22 Osprey held in Iwakuni

September 22, 2012 Kenyu Uchima of Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 21, at the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, the U.S. Marine Corps began test flights of the MV-22 Osprey vertical take-off and landing transport aircraft. The MV-22 squadrons are staying temporarily in Iwakuni, before they move...

Students appeal to the UN Council that concentrating U.S. bases in Okinawa is a violation of human rights

Students appeal to the UN Council that concentrating U.S. bases in Okinawa is a violation of human rights

September 19, 2012 Kyoko Ishii Ryukyu Shimpo

Members of the Association of the Indigenous Peoples in the Ryukyus, Tomomi Ganeko and Reina Uema, will attend a meeting of the United Nation Human Rights Council to be held in Geneva from September 17 to 28. They will submit a written statement...

Learning from Quebec to commercialize Okinawan culture

Learning from Quebec to commercialize Okinawan culture

September 15, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 14, at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum the International Content Business Symposium, “Globalizing Okinawan cultural content – Learning from Canada-Quebec how to promote local culture” was held to consider how to use Okinawan...

Irabu Dialects Dictionary presented to Miyakojima Mayor

Irabu Dialects Dictionary presented to Miyakojima Mayor

September 15, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 11, members of the Irabu Branch of the Miyako City Senior Club visited Mayor Toshihiko Shimoji at the Miyako-jima Municipal Office in Hirara and presented him with a compilation of Irabu dialects, Irabu panali and sumautsu: Indigenous people’s...

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology opens in Okinawa

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology opens in Okinawa

September 1, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 1, at Tancha in Onna, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) celebrated its official opening. It was established in order to contribute to the promotion of Okinawa’s self-sustaining development as well as to the advancement of...

Okinawa Film Office helps with filming of 822 movies and dramas

Okinawa Film Office helps with filming of 822 movies and dramas

September 8, 2012 Wu Li Jun Ryukyu Shimpo

From 2003 to the end of August 2012, the Okinawa Film Office supported the filming of a total of 822 projects. This includes subsidizing the cost of the production of the Japanese-Canadian movie Karakara, which won the Public Award for the most popular...

Shimakutuba Contest held

Shimakutuba Contest held

September 10, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 9, at the Ryukyu Shimpo Hall in Izumisaki, Naha, the Shimajima nu Kutuba Katayabira Taikai was held by speakers from six regions. The event was hosted by the Naha Cultural Association and was co-hosted by the Okinawa Language Dissemination...

Okinawan companies sign estimated 120 million yen worth of deals at China International Fair

Okinawan companies sign estimated 120 million yen worth of deals at China International Fair

September 18, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

Fourteen Okinawan companies and organizations took part in the 16th China International Fair for Investment and Trade held in Xiamen, Fujian, from September 8 to 11. According to the Okinawa Industrial Promotion Public Corporation, the deals organized by the...

U.S. military to permit Okinawan people to pass through bases in case of Tsunami

U.S. military to permit Okinawan people to pass through bases in case of Tsunami

September 13, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On September 12, at an evacuation drill explanatory session held in Camp Foster, a representative of the U.S. Marines in Okinawa stated that in the case of a tsunami, the Corps will allow local Okinawans to pass through the bases on foot via three approaches...