An article of clothing has been found that could possibly be summer wear known as “Umansa,” and was gifted to the Ryukyu Kingdom by ancient China, the likes of which are not known to currently exist in Okinawa.
Masahiro Shuzo Co. Ltd. CEO Masakuni Higa purchased the clothing from an antique shop in Fukuoka about 10 years ago, and it along with 6 handwritten scrolls from the early modern Ryukyu era were donated to the Okinawa Churashima Foundation (OCF, Yoshihiro Hanashiro, Chairman) August 29.
Neither the maker nor the historical background of the article of clothing are known, so the OCF plans investigate.
Scrolls including calligraphy by Shō Iku (left) and Wáng Wén zhì(center) that were donated to the Okinawa Churashima Foundation. August 29, Okinawa Churashima Foundation offices in Shuritobaru-Cho, Naha
There is also a plan to mend the clothing so that it can be displayed to the public.
On August 29, a donation ceremony was held at the foundations offices in Shuritobaru-Cho, Naha, Higa said, “I purchased it as I thought it belonged in Okinawa. [It is good] if it can help develop Ryukyu culture.”
OCF Research Center’s Ryukyu History and Culture Research Laboratory’s assistant lab manager Atsushi Koki said of the scrolls, which appear to have belonged to Ryukyuan King Shō Iku, “These are important items that can be used to examine artistic techniques from this era of the Ryukyu Kingdom.”
Regarding the clothing, he said, “We have a confirmed “Umanton,” winter clothing, but we do not have any examples of Umansa except for what is written in ancient texts,” adding that he was looking forward to the results of the forthcoming research.
It has been 75 years since residents of the former South Pacific Mandate were involved in a land battle during the Pacific War in 1944.
On August 27 at the Okinawa Peace Tower in Saipan, the “50th Okinawa Peace Memorial” was held.
The memorial reposes the souls of those originally from Okinawa lost in the battle.
About 250 people, who were returnees and their families, along with local participants, attended the memorial.
There were performances dedicated to the war dead and martial arts demonstrations.
Attendees vowed not to repeat the same tragedy ever again by mourning for the more than 12,000 people originally from Okinawa who suffered during the war at the former South Pacific Mandate.
Surviving family members of the war dead offered fruits, awamori, and chinsuko by placing them in front of the tower.
Many also offered plastic bottles with water in them for the victims who suffered from starvation and thirst.
The Micronesia Repatriation Association President Kensei Kamiunten said, “There’s no such thing as a holy war.
It only leads to many residents becoming victims. I want the world to become a place that won’t ever go to war again.
Though my feelings about that continue to grow stronger, my age is getting the better of me.
This will be my last attendance. I’m sorry. Please continue to protect peace by making sure it doesn’t fall into disorder.”
Governor Denny Tamaki became the second Okinawa governor to attend the memorial.
The first Okinawa governor to attend the memorial was Jyunji Nishime in 1981.
He greeted everyone and said, “Precious lives of blood relatives and friends, along with many valuable things that had been built were lost.
When I think of the souls of the war dead, I’m unable to suppress my sorrow. We learned the foolishness of war, along with the importance of peace. I would want to pass on this lesson to the next generation.”
(English translation by T&CT and Chelsea Ashimine)
On August 29 it came to the Ryukyu Shimpo’s attention that around 5:30 p.m. on August 27 the plastic window of a CH-53 helicopter from Futenma Air Station fell from the craft about 8 kilometers above the East China Sea off Okinawa Island.
On August 29 the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) contacted some municipalities concerning the incident, including the Okinawa Prefecture, Chatan Town, Okinawa City, and Kadena Town.
The U.S. military had contacted the Japanese government on August 28.
According to the ODB, the fallen window is 58 centimeters in height, 47 centimeters wide, and weighs 1 kilogram. It appears to be a cargo hold window from the rear end of the aircraft.
There have been no reports of injured persons. In December 2017 a window from a CH-53 helicopter fell into the schoolyard of Futenma Daini Elementary School.
The 64th Annual Zento Eisa Festival took place August 22 through August 25, at various locations including the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City.
The three-day event was hosted by the Zento Eisa Festival Planning and Executive Committee (based in Okinawa City,) along with the Ryukyu Shimpo, Okinawa Television Broadcasting, the Okinawa City Tourism and Promotion Association, and the Council of Young Men’s Associations.
Different eisa groups, many of which were from Okinawa City, gathered to showcase the diversified traditional dance. Here, we look back on the electrifying three days in photos.
Day one: The michi junei
The Zento Eisa Festival kicked off with the michi junei, a customary traditional parade, on the evening of August 23, near the Goya intersection in Okinawa City.
Nine eisa groups from within and without Okinawa City joined the parade. The city was filled with the thundering sound of drums and sanshin music.
The Goeku Young Men’s Association of Okinawa City enraptures the crowd with their energetic eisa performance on Koza Gate Street in Okinawa City (Photographed by Keizo Shinzato around 7:30 p.m. on August 23.)
Okinawa City’s Moromizato Young Men’s Association enchant onlookers with a powerful eisa performance on Koza Gate Street, Okinawa City (photographed by Keizo Shinzato around 7 p.m. on August 23.)
Day two: The Young Men’s Associations come together
On August 24—the second day of the festival, the 41st Annual Young Men’s Association Festival was held at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City.
During the event, 14 associations, mostly from Okinawa City, gathered and showed off their powerful choreography and drum performance.
The Misato Young Men’s Association was joined by 12 other associations from Okinawa City, including the Murokawa, Chibana, Teruya, and Kamara associations.
Uruma City’s Ishikawa Jyouhoku Young Men’s Association and Kitanakagusuku’s Kisyaba Young Men’s Association also put on a charismatic performance.
Okinawa City’s Nakanomachi Young Men’s Association performed the finale for this event, making the crowd go wild.
Uruma City’s Ishikawa Jyouhoku Young Men’s Association performing their unique, local traditional dance at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City on August 24 (Photographed by John Matsumoto.)
Okinawa City’s Nakanomachi Young Men’s Association performing the 41st Annual Okinawa City Young Men’s Association Festival finale on August 24 at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City.
Day 3: The final day—14 local and out-of-town eisa groups perform
The main festival was held at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City. In total, 14 groups performed. Okinawa City’s Sonoda Young Men’s Association preformed the grand finale.
Bunagaya-gwa, a youth group preforming a full-body dance choreography incorporating traditional eisa moves, at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City, on August 25.
Multinational members of the Okinawa City International Association’s putting on an energetic performance at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City on August 25.
Okinawa City’s Ikehara Young Men’s Association showing off their graceful and slow-tempo performance at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium in Okinawa City on August 25.
Beaming dancers and instrumental performers of Arakaji Eisa, a group from Nakano, Tokyo, fill the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium Field with their chanting and drum beats on August 25, in Okinawa City.
Uruma City’s Esu Young Men’s Association performing their rhythmic and dynamic new choreography at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium Field in Okinawa City on August 25.
Members of the Isobe Young Men’s Association from Yomitan Village showing off their graceful and elegant dance at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium Field in Okinawa City on August 25.
Uruma City’s Akano Young Men’s Association entertaining the crowd with their distinctive maneuvering of the pahranku (hand-held Okinawan drums) and rhythmic movements at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium Field in Okinawa City on August 25.
Uruma City’s Heshikiya Young Men’s Association (West) moving in perfect unison, mesmerizing spectators with their graceful performance, at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium Field in Okinawa City on August 25.
Members of the Takashiho Young Men’s Association from Yomitan Village, kicking their drums in a dynamic performance at the Koza Athletic Park Track and Field Stadium Field in Okinawa City on August 25.
See the video here:
Courtesy of Kadena-cho Chihara EISA preservation society.
The Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB, Yoshiro Shimoji, president) held the first 2019 meeting of the “Okinawa-wide Tourism Association Conference” at the Okinawa Karate Kaikan in Tomigusuku July 5, which brings together the tourism associations from each of Okinawa’s cities, towns, and villages to discuss undertakings and issues related to tourism. Each municipality reported the problems that came with the increase in tourism, which OCVB president Yoshiro Shimoji recognized, “The key word for the era when the goal was to increase tourism was deregulation, however is it now necessary to tighten regulations to some extent.”
The conference was attended for the first time by the tourism associations from Nakagusuku and Ogimi, which were formed this year.
In Onna, which is seeing a surge of resort weddings, there was also been an increase of cases of people trespassing onto resident’s properties and beaches to take photos.
The Onna Tourism Association has begun offering a service to help people obtain the necessary local permits to have a photo shoot on the beach. The fee for the service is 3,000 yen, and in half a year it has raised 2 million yen.
1,000 yen of the fee is returned to the municipality, an example of how the tourism association was able to increase income independently.
In Ishigaki, there have been five reported cases of deaths related to marine leisure activities, and Ishigaki Tourism Association President Hiroaki Omatsu disclosed, “Groups that are not part of the Yaeyama Diving Association are causing the incidents. There is a problem with the leniency around opening a diving shop, which is threatening safety,” and identified the flood of low-cost diving services were a particular problem.
He also disclosed that, “There was even an example of an organized crime group having a shop.”
On August 26, association representative Seihan Nakazato and other members of the Miyakojima Residents’ Liaison Association Against the Missile Base visited the Okinawa prefectural office and the Okinawa Defense Bureau with a list of demands including cancellation of the deployment of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) in Miyakojima, removal of storage vaults in JGSDF Camp Miyakojima, and an information session for residents regarding construction work for a munitions storage facility in the Bora mine zone (in Gusukube, Miyakojima) planned to start in October.
In the evening of the same day, a “rally in solidarity with opposition to SDF militarization in Miyako, Ishigaki, and Yonaguni” was held at the Urasoe Community Center, and there participants from each of the islands discussed the current situation in their respective hometowns.
When asked about the soft ground and existence of cavities in the ground under the fuel facility in Miyako, a member of the Okinawa Defense Bureau explained, “We have confirmed that the required support strength is there, so we have not performed any ground improvement.” Members of the association responded with doubts about the safety of the situation.
Meanwhile, at the prefectural office, Executive Office of the Governor head Takekuni Ikeda met with the association members and told them, “I will convey your demands to the governor.” He then explained the position of the prefectural government: “We will not accept forceful deployment that will fuel divisions in a region where various perspectives exist and there is no consensus among the residents.
We intend to call on the national government to engage in dialogue with the residents and provide a thorough explanation.”
On the afternoon of August 22, the Gathering for Remembering Takeshi Onaga was held at the Okinawa Karate Hall in Tomigusuku.
The gathering was planned around the 1-year anniversary of former Governor Onaga’s death, which occurred suddenly last August while he was still in office.
People praised Mr. Onaga’s merits, such as being a member of the Naha City Council and Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, his successive terms as Naha City Mayor, and his contribution to the development of the prefectural government as the Okinawa Prefecture Governor.
Those who attended the service observed a moment of silence and gave prayer.
Executive Committee Chairman Morimasa Goya who supported the Onaga prefectural administration from the economic world greeted everyone and said, “He was a politician who advocated solidarity among prefectural residents under the slogan, ‘identity over ideology.’
” Governor Denny Tamaki vowed in front of Mr. Onaga’s portrait and said, “I vow to inherit Onaga’s spirit and to work at improving the prefectural government with all my heart and soul.”
Mr. Onaga’s wife Mikiko attended the ceremony and took the podium to voice her appreciation as tears welled in her eyes.
She said, “I’d like to report to my family’s Buddhist altar that many people gathered. Thank you so very much.”
(English translation by T&CT and Chelsea Ashimine)
Top South Korean airline, Korean Air, announced major changes to its Japanese routes on August 20.
Beginning September 29, Incheon-Naha flights (currently offered daily) will be temporarily curtailed to four flights a week, departing Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Many Korean tourists have been cancelling travel plans to Japan amid rising tensions between the two countries, and six South Korean airlines have suspended or reduced flights to Okinawa as of August 20.
There are currently 71 flights connecting Okinawa to three Korean cities—Seoul, Busan and Daegu, per week; This number will drop to about 35 flights a week starting September, servicing only two Korean cities.
Okinawan travel agencies are voicing anxiety over an uncertain future.
There will be no flights between Daegu and Naha for some time; South Korean budget airline T’Way Airlines (currently offering five flights per week) announced on August 20 via its website that Daegu-Okinawa flights will be suspended August 27 through October 26.
For Busan flights, Asiana Airlines announced service suspension (three flights per week) starting on August 23.
Budget airline Jin Air will roll back its number of Busan-Naha flights (seven flights per week) to three per week, between August 21 and October 26.
As for the Incheon-Naha route, Budget airline Easter Jet announced it will suspend service (currently seven flights a week) from September 1 until November 30.
Air Seoul will also suspend service (seven flights per week) between September 1 and October 26.
Jin Air and T’Way Airlines will each cut back Incheon-Naha flights, down to three or four a week.
Korean Air, a full-service carrier, said the number of Korean passengers travelling to Japan started dwindling in mid-July, and the airline has since struggled to sell tickets.
Service suspension is expected to end on November 16, but the flight schedule thereafter will depend on future conditions.
A Korean Air spokesperson said, “[Korean Air] does not want to roll back on flights, but there are only half as many passengers as before, and the figures are brutally low. Resuming service is situation dependent.”
As Okinawa’s tourism is impacted by the escalating Japan-Korea dispute, Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau Chair Yoshiro Shimoji planned to visit Korea from the 25th to the 27th this month, to exchange ideas with airlines and relevant parties.
Shimoji said, “The service suspension is concerning, but our top priority is to ensure the tourists who are currently in Okinawa are happy and satisfied.
I want to find out what specific actions companies need from us in different scenarios.”
(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki) Go To Japanese
Onna – The Ryuei-ryu Ryuho-kai karate organization (Tsuguo Sakumoto, president) hosted the “International Peace Offering Demonstration” August 20 at the Onna Beach Park in Onna.
Approximately 1,000 Karate-ka from Okinawa, other parts of Japan, and even abroad gathered to perform the martial arts demonstration, raising their voices in a wish for perpetual peace.
The simultaneous demonstration saw members of the Ryuei-ryu Ryuho-kai and other Karate enthusiasts from 33 regions and countries such as various Japanese, prefectures, Spain, Italy, and Hong Kong.
Additionally, top students such as three-time world Champion Ryo Kiyuna, performed traditional martial arts demonstrations with sais, sickles, and staves.
Yuta Hibi, 17, who came from Osaka and performed the Anan kata said, “I am honored to do karate with Kiyuna and some of the best Karate-ka from all over the world. Doing Karate on the sand was refreshing.”
Kazuki Yamura, 37, who was visiting Okinawa for sightseeing from Okinawa with her family, said smiling, “[The demonstration] had power, and was exciting.
We just happened to be visiting, and were treated with seeing something spectacular. It was a great celebration.”
The demonstration offering coincided with the200th anniversary of the birth of Norisato Nakaima, the founder of Ryuei-style Karate.
The organization will also be hosting the “International Exchange Karate and Kobudo Seminar” at the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan in Naha from August 21-23.
On August 19 at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma in Ginowan City, Okinawa, U.S. military aircraft were repeatedly taking off and landing outside of the timeframe allowed by aircraft noise regulatory measures (the noise-prevention agreement), past 10:00 p.m. up until midnight.
Local residents called the police phone number 110 and made complaints regarding damage from the base such as, “It’s noisy and I can’t sleep,” and “It is very bothersome, I want it to stop.”
A U.S. military notice to airmen (NOTAM) warned that between August 19 and 22 the air station would be open until midnight, which sparked worry that nighttime flights would take place day after day.
On August 19 after 10:00 p.m. a CH-53E transport helicopter, a MV-22 transport Osprey, and an AH-1Z attack helicopter performed takeoffs and landings. Also, until about 10:00 p.m. one Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft was repeating touch-and-go exercises.
Local citizens’ complaints included the following: “Even though it is usually a burden, for foreign aircraft to be performing dangerous training late at night is highly offensive”, “It is a tempestuous roar”, and “It woke me up”.
A F-35B stealth fighter from MCAS Iwakuni (Yamaguchi Prefecture) flew in to MCAS Futenma on August 11 and remained until August 17.
At 12:21 a.m. on August 17 this aircraft took off toward MCAS Iwakuni and a noise measurement was taken from Ueojana Community Hall, which is located in-line of the runway, recording a maximum of 116.9 decibels for the prefectural and city noise measurement investigation.
A noise level of 110 decibels occurred on unke (the welcoming day) and nakanuhi (the middle day) of Obon, and there was a flood of complaints from local citizens. Aircraft also flew past 10:00 p.m. on August 20.
August 19, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Hanayo Oya reports from Spokane
On August 17, at the annual convention of the peace organization Veterans for Peace (VFP), which is currently being held in Spokane, Washington, members voted unanimously in favor of a proposed resolution opposing the construction of a new U.S. military base in Henoko, Okinawa.
The resolution calls on the U.S. government to perform its own on-site survey of the situation at Oura Bay.
Each year at VFP’s annual convention, a business meeting attended by the directors and members is held, and there resolutions opposing such issues as environmental destruction and military intervention in other countries by the U.S. military are discussed.
The proposed resolution submitted by VFP-ROCK (Ryukyu/Okinawa Chapter Kokusai) members explains that the seafloor in Oura Bay is weak, that around 77,000 piles will need to be driven into the ground, and that a prefectural referendum held in February of this year showed roughly 72% of voters expressing opposition to the new base construction.
It goes on to express VFP’s demand to the U.S. Defense Department and the Government Accountability Office, a federal investigative body, that the U.S. perform its own on-site survey of Oura Bay.
Following discussion, the resolution was agreed upon unanimously.
This marks the fourth time an anti-Henoko-base resolution has been adopted by VFP since 2016.
This resolution was the first to call on the U.S. government directly to perform a survey without going through the Japanese government.
“We have called on the Japanese government to stop the construction many times, and it has led nowhere. I hope we can make a breakthrough by having VFP make a unanimous demand to the U.S. government directly,” said VFP-ROCK member Yoshikazu Makishi.
Voting will be open to all VFP members around October as to whether to adopt, as the consensus of all of VFP, the resolution proposal adopted at the annual convention.
Webcam(Kokusai Street)
