July 14, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Hiroe Nakagawa
After fleeing his native Vietnam, Masakazu Minami 50, (Vietnamese name: John Tai Tuan Vin), was rescued off the coast of Ho Chi Minh City by Okinawa Suisan (fishery) High School’s training vessel, the Shonan-maru. It was August 8, 1983. On July 13, 2019—36 years later, Minami arrived in Okinawa to reunite with the former captain of the Shonan-maru, Gensho Miyagi (75, formerly Gensho Shimoji), and his crew. “Thank you,” Minami expressed...
July 12, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
The current situation wherein we cannot even conduct an investigation into environmental problems that could very well threaten the lives and livelihoods of Okinawans is one that we cannot approve of. The Japanese government must quickly pursue an effective policy...
July 11, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
The Committee for Okinawa Karate UNESCO Listing was recently formed with the goal of getting Okinawa Karate registered as an intangible cultural asset with the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The committee members gathered...
July 10, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
An auspicious custom with awamori.
On July 9, in hopes of passing on the culture of and to promote Ryukyu awamori, the Yonabaru Town Council unanimously agreed on Okinawa Prefecture’s first “ordinance that promotes toasting with Yonabaru Town’s Ryukyu...
July 10, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Recently, Assistant Professor Takuto Shitara of the Iriomote Station at the University of the Ryukyus Biosphere Research Center succeeded in photographing an Iriomote cat kitten.
Iriomote cats are Special Natural Monuments of Japan, peculiar to Taketomi Town...
July 16, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Hiroki Ohashi
Okinawa’s finger-whistling music can be heard cheering on the teams at high school baseball games and at Eisa performances. On July 7, Finger-Whistling Day, a “Summer Vacation Finger-Whistling Concert 2019” was held at the JICA Okinawa...
July 08, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Koza City, known as “the military-base town”, is a microcosm of Okinawa. Okinawa City Tourism and Promotion Association has worked to allure visitors locally and from afar, under its president, Takashi Shimabukuro.
The association began receiving class...
July 9, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
In June, a plan by the NPO Ichiman-nin Idobata Kaigi, which runs the Hantagawa Community Center in Naha, Okinawa, to build community centers in Egypt was adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as a “project for promoting...
July 6, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
On July 6 about 350 people gathered in front of a Camp Schwab gate, demonstrating their opposition to the construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF) in Henoko, Nago City, for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (MCAS Futenma).
This...
July 9, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Toyko – The Japanese government decided July 9 not to appeal a ruling by the Kumamoto District Court that recognized that as part of the government’s quarantine policy for those afflicted with Hansen’s disease, not only the afflicted but also the families suffered...
July 3, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
The Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) has decided to propose to the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly an ordinance to protect scarce prefectural wildlife, due to the poaching and exploitation of Okinawa’s wildlife.
Because there are many rare forms of wildlife...
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