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Okinawa announces 3 of their COVID-19 warning indicators have reached the level of “Widespread Infection,” points to large group parties as primary risk factor

October 27, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa Prefecture continues to see new cases of COVID-19 on the rise, recording the largest number of new cases per 100,000 people since October 3, the worst for all prefectures in Japan. If the spread of the virus continues at its current pace, there is a fear that Okinawa will reach its fourth and highest warning level “Widespread Infection,” leading Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to put out a new “Okinawa Coronavirus Warning” unique to the prefecture....

 

Mahi-mahi sun drying process beings under autumn skies at Ginama Port

Mahi-mahi sun drying process beings under autumn skies at Ginama Port

October 27, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Takahito Arashiro

Kunigami Village’s autumnal tradition of sun-drying funuiyu (Okinawan for mahi-mahi) began in Ginama. The Funuiyu Festival is held annually around this time of the year at the Ginama fishing port, but this year it was canceled due...

Protect the Yambaru Long-Armed Scarab Beetle: In three northern Okinawa villages, 30 people participate in patrol to prevent poaching

Protect the Yambaru Long-Armed Scarab Beetle: In three northern Okinawa villages, 30 people participate in patrol to prevent poaching

October 21, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Northern Okinawa – On October 13, the Joint Council to Prevent Poaching of Yambaru Long-Armed Scarab Beetles (an office of the Okinawa Amami Nature Conservation Office of the Ministry of the Environment) conducted a joint patrol with the villages of Kunigami,...

Beloved local store to be re-built by third-generation owners after operating for over fifty years

Beloved local store to be re-built by third-generation owners after operating for over fifty years

October 23, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Takahiro Kina

Motobu – The Nakasone Store, which has been operating for over 50 years in the Toguchi neighborhood of Motobu near the Motobu Town Market, will be undergoing a rebuild due to deterioration. The shop familiar to many with a history in...

Chatan Mayor asks Enterprise Bureau to stop use of contaminated water from Kadena

Chatan Mayor asks Enterprise Bureau to stop use of contaminated water from Kadena

October 22, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Regarding the issue of carcinogenic chemicals including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) being detected in water from a group of wells on a U.S. military base in Kadena, which are sources of water for Chatan Water Treatment Plant, on October 20 Mayor Masaharu...

Defense Minister and Gov. Tamaki’s Henoko base construction talks come to a standstill

Defense Minister and Gov. Tamaki’s Henoko base construction talks come to a standstill

October 23, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

On October 22, during his visit to Okinawa, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi met with Governor Denny Tamaki; Lt. Gen. H. Stacy Clardy III, commander of the U.S. troops in Okinawa and Okinawa Area Coordinator; and mayors of the municipalities hosting U.S. military...

Damaged roof tiles from Shuri Castle used to make flower bed, providing new home to 300 flowers at Tsuboya Elementary School in Naha

Damaged roof tiles from Shuri Castle used to make flower bed, providing new home to 300 flowers at Tsuboya Elementary School in Naha

October 20, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Hiroe Nakagawa

Flower beds made with the red roofing tiles called aka kawara from Shuri Castle, which was destroyed in a fire, have started blooming flowers such as marigold and bougainvillea in various colors, delighting the eyes of both children and...

Do corals form clouds? University of Tokyo and OIST researchers decode Acropora genome, hope to elucidate environmental adaptability

October 20, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Recently, University of Tokyo Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute associate professor Chuya Shinzato, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) professor Noriyuki Sato, and others decoded the genome of 18 species of coral in the...

São Paulo Councilman Aurélio Nomura institutes World Uchinanchu Day in Brazil

São Paulo Councilman Aurélio Nomura institutes World Uchinanchu Day in Brazil

October 18, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Akihide Celso Shiroma

São Paulo, Brazil—On July 20, law nº 17,395 went into effect, adding World Uchinanchu Day to the city’s Official Calendar of Events. The text of the measure states: “With the purpose of carrying on the legacy of Brazil’s...

Ryukyu Shimpo article “Okinawa Rail Released” used in fifth grade Japanese language textbook

Ryukyu Shimpo article “Okinawa Rail Released” used in fifth grade Japanese language textbook

October 16, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Newspaper Week began on October 15. A Ryukyu Shimpo article, “Yanbaru Kuina Hocho Kunigami Kotsu Jiko de Chiryo Kaifuku” (Okinawa Rail Released in Kunigami, Treated and Recovered After Traffic Accident, July 5, 2017, Local News) is used in Hirogaru Kotoba...

Special exhibit reflects on 50 years since the Koza Riots, open through January 2021

Special exhibit reflects on 50 years since the Koza Riots, open through January 2021

October 16, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

December 20, 2020, will mark 50 years to the day since a riot broke out in Okinawa City (former Koza City) following a U.S. serviceman striking an Okinawan in a car accident; in what became to be known as the Koza Riots, protesters set fire to U.S. military vehicles....