CULTURE
Pick Up Stories
Miyako Island presents beauty of nature … [Okinawa Series]
By Jun Ikemura Miyako is the fourth largest island in the Ryukyu Island chain that forms Okinawa Prefecture, of which Okinawa main island is...Read More
Kin Town presents unique mix of nostalgi… [Okinawa Series]
By Jun Ikemura Kin Town is located on the east coast in the middle part of Okinawa Island, just soutwest of Ginoza Village, northeast of Uru...Read More
Okinawa’s Yui Rail is fun to ride [Community]
By Jun Ikemura Okinawa was for a long time known as the only prefecture in Japan that did no have a rail mass transportation system, but on ...Read More
Cosmos festival planned for Fureai Garden in Urasoe [Community]
The Urasoe Green Heights Residents’ Association is organizing a cosmos festival in Fureai Garden next to Maeda sewer pump station in Urasoe City. The festival will take place from ...
2017.06.01
Ajisai-en welcomes summer with 100-year old owner’s smile [Community]
Thousands of the brilliantly colored hydrangea flowers are blooming every year marking the start of the summer on a 9,900-square-meter farm in Izumi, Motobu that once produced tang...
2017.05.13
POPS presents Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” to take Okinawa by storm! [Community]
The Pacific Okinawa Players are presenting William Shakespeare’s The Tempest on the stage of the Foster Community Center Auditorium. The production will run from May 19 through 28t...
Photo exhibit of Naha farmers’ market now open [Community]
A photo exhibition of “Anyatan Nouren Market” sponsored by Okinawa Times and the Naha Central Farmers’ Market Business Cooperative opened Monday at the same market in Naha City. 67...
New playground opens in Kin Town [Community]
Children in Kin Town had a reason to rejoice as a new playground completely new equipment was opened in the town last week. The opening ceremony for the park was held Friday with t...
Pizza House Restaurant to re-open in Minatogawa [Community]
Pizza House, an iconic western style restaurant that first opened in 1958 in Okinawa City and closed in 2010 in Gusukuma, Urasoe, is scheduled to re-open its main restaurant in Min...
2017.02.12
Pacific Okinawa Players present Willy Wonka [Community]
“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination” are the opening lines to Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka JR. presented by Pacific Okinawa Players (POPs), the only community th...
Chatan starts 5-year entertainment project [Community]
Chatan Town has started a 5-year project called “Chatan Entertainment Park City Promotion Project” to develop human resources for entertainment events in the town. About 30 graduat...
2016.12.27
Hatsumode, first visit to shrine is proper way to begin New Year [Community]
The first visit of the year to a shrine or temple is an important Japanese tradition. About three quarters of the Japanese are said to be following the tradition with the first vis...
2016.11.28
Okinawan religion centers on family, based on mix of beliefs [History]
Hoshin Nakamura NPO Okinawa Language Center Religion talks about the “relationship between humans and the Maker of all existence.” The Maker has different name in different culture...
2016.11.14
Nanjo homeowners show their green thumb skills [Community]
Every spring and fall since 2010, private homeowners in Nanjo City have opened the gates to their private gardens to show the public the results of their labors and skills of their...
2016.11.14
National Theater holds kumiodori appreciation class [CULTURE]
Kumiodori is a classical Ryukyu musical that was originally created to provide entertainment and diversion to Chinese envoys, who traveled to the Ryukyu Kingdom to manage the tribu...
2016.11.07
Where muscle counts; All Okinawa Bullfight Contest [CULTURE]
Those who enjoy watching Okinawan style bullfighting will head for Ishikawa Multipurpose Dome in Uruma City on Sunday, Nov. 13, where the 26 strongest bulls from the island and els...
2016.10.16
Volunteer groups make difference keeping Gate 2 Street clean [Community]
Have you ever noticed a group of people cleaning up parks and sidewalks on Kadena Gate 2 Street every third Sunday? The people participating in the cleanup activity are members of ...
2016.09.30
Children’s Halloween costume contest in Naha tomorrow [Community]
October is the month of Halloween, and although Halloween actually is at the end of the month, it has not stopped Okinawa Electric Power Co. and Taiyo-no Ekubo magazine from organi...
2016.09.29
Okinawa City grew in shadow of multi-cultural Koza, Kadena Air Base [History]
By Lily Kuwae Okinawa City prides itself as being the most multicultural community on Okinawa, and that face of the city is nowhere more visible than in the areas outside of Kadena...
2016.09.17
‘Chushu no Utage’ at Shuri Castle recreates splendor of past [History]
Three Living National Treasures of Okinawa will perform classical Ryukyu music and dance at Shuri Castle Park Saturday, while the main event on Sunday is the election of the King a...
2016.09.15
Arts & crafts in limelight at 90th national exhibition [CULTURE]
The National Society of Paintings and Crafts is organizing an exhibition of paintings, block prints, sculpture, crafts and photos. It’s the biggest annual art exhibition in Japan, ...
2016.09.14
School summer vacation in Japan Vs. America [Community]
By David Higgins Summer vacation is the most anticipated and cherished time in a North American students’ life. I fondly remember my childhood summers as the time when many of my b...
2016.09.12
2016 Ichihanari Art Project expands to cover all Uruma islands [Community]
Ikei Island north of Katsuren Peninsula has seen its resident community to shrink as fewer children were born and young people moved of the island to cities and towns in search for...
RYUKYU PRESS