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“I want to drink Awamori over Antarctic ice!” University of the Ryukyus Staff Junji Kinjo selected to join Antarctic expedition

“I want to drink Awamori over Antarctic ice!”  University of the Ryukyus Staff Junji Kinjo selected to join Antarctic expedition

November 6, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 20, Junji Kinjo will depart the Port of Yokosuka headed to Antarctica. Kinjo is a staff member at the University of the Ryukyus and was chosen to join the winter group of the 62nd Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE). The expedition will arrive at Showa Station by the end of the year and plans to spend approximately one year and four months in Antarctica. Kinjo is pure uchinanchu, having never lived outside of Okinawa. Furthermore, his...

 

Ginowan City hits population milestone with birth of 100,000th person

Ginowan City hits population milestone with birth of 100,000th person

November 5, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

In June, the population of Ginowan City reached 100,000. On October 21, the city invited the 100,000th resident, 0-year old Koharu Sueyoshi, her father Yohei, 31, and mother Chiharu, 30, to a ceremony held at the first-floor lobby of the City Hall. Koharu was...

Good Coffee Farms establishes coffee cultivation research site in Okinawa

Good Coffee Farms establishes coffee cultivation research site in Okinawa

November 5, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 4 Good Coffee Farms (Tokyo, represented by Carlos Melen), a company that works with Guatemalan coffee, announced that it will be establishing a research site for commodity development and where there is potential for coffee cultivation on the northern...

[VIDEO] Japanese Olympic Karateka Ryo Kiyuna sets Guinness World Record

[VIDEO] Japanese Olympic Karateka Ryo Kiyuna sets Guinness World Record

November 3, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Karateka Ryo Kiyuna, 30, from the Ryuei-ryu ryuho-kai school of karate and who will represent Japan at the Tokyo Olympics in the men’s Karate individual kata, was recognized by Guinness World Records for setting the world record for most gold medals in international...

Tourism EXPO Japan and ResorTech Okinawa draws in 24,080 people, executive committee notes the positive “impact of fusing in-person and online events”

Tourism EXPO Japan and ResorTech Okinawa draws in 24,080 people, executive committee notes the positive “impact of fusing in-person and online events”

November 3, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

The executive committee for “Tourism EXPO Japan, Travel Festival in Okinawa” (hosted by the Japan Travel and Tourism Association (JTTA), the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)), announced on November...

King and queen kick off Shurijo Castle Festival one year after fire

King and queen kick off Shurijo Castle Festival one year after fire

October 31, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Shurijo Castle Festival, which reenacts the Ryukyu Kingdom’s magnificent ceremonies and traditions, was canceled last year after a fire destroyed the Shurijo Castle’s main hall. This year, the festival
(organized by its executive committee) opened...

Editorial: Prime Minister Suga’s first policy speech reveals incongruity between words and actions that needs rectification

October 27, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga gave his first policy speech at the Diet since taking office. Regarding Okinawa, he stated that he will “endeavor to reduce the base burden” and “steadfastly proceed with the construction for the Henoko relocation in order to...

Tatsuhiro Oshiro, first Okinawan to win Akutagawa Prize for work on postwar Okinawa, dies at 95

Tatsuhiro Oshiro, first Okinawan to win Akutagawa Prize for work on postwar Okinawa, dies at 95

October 28, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Tatsuhiro Oshiro, Okinawa’s first Akutagawa Prize-winning author and leader in Okinawan literature, died of old age at 11:10 a.m. on October 27 at a hospital in Kitanakagusuku Village. He was 95 years old. The Nakagusuku-native examined Okinawan identity throughout...

Protest at Futenma Air Station gate marks 8 years of bid for peace by Gospel-singing association

Protest at Futenma Air Station gate marks 8 years of bid for peace by Gospel-singing association

October 28, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Hirofumi Mazaki

Eight years since its first protest activity, the Association for Singing Gospel at the Futenma Base Gate prayed for peace in front of a gate to the U.S. Futenma Air Station through the singing of hymns. On the evening of October 26, there...

On Global Uchinanchu Day, one group wants Okinawa to establish a global Uchinanchu center in time for the 2022 global Uchinanchu festival

On Global Uchinanchu Day, one group wants Okinawa to establish a global Uchinanchu center in time for the 2022 global Uchinanchu festival

October 30, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

October 30 is “Global Uchinanchu Day.” The Global Uchinanchu Center Establishment Support Committee (Choko Takayama, Takeshi Miki, and Seishin Oyama, joint representatives), which is looking to establish a location where Uchinanchu from all over the world...

More than 5 billion yen donated to rebuild Shuri Castle

More than 5 billion yen donated to rebuild Shuri Castle

October 29, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

By October 28, it was clear that donations to rebuild Shuri Castle, which burned down in October of last year, had exceeded 5 billion yen. As of October 28, total donations to Okinawa Prefecture, Naha City, and the Okinawa Churashima Foundation amounted to at...