News
Pick Up Stories
OkiEvents This Week!! [CURRENT ISSUE ENTERTAINMENT Festival News]
・11/26 Nago Autumn Fireworks Festival @ Nago Fishing Port 17:00~21:00 (Fireworks 20:00~) Free to enter https://r.goope.jp/srb-47-37/info/479...Read More
The Okinawa Zoo needs your help [News]
The Okinawa Zoo is now asking for Crowd-Funding support in order to raise money to help feed the animals at the zoo. Due to COVID19, attenda...Read More
Man tries to rob officer inside police station [News]
Ishikawa Police arrested Friday 34-year-old Daisuke Yamakawa on suspicion of an attempted robbery. He allegedly pointed a knife at a police officer on duty at Ishikawa Police Stati...
Company turns vacant rooms into exercise gyms for rent [News]
Wise Bank, an Okinawan IT company, has opened its first “Rental Gym”, a gym equipped with exercise machines in a vacant room of a private residence, in Naha. The company aims to in...
Gold smugglers caught on cruise ship [News]
Okinawa Customs and Naha Coast Guard have arrested a group of four men and women, all of them Chinese nationals, on suspicion of violating the customs laws. They are suspected of h...
Participants sought for sports event on Hamahiga Island [News]
A joint sports event of Hama and Higa Wards on Hamahiga Island, Uruma City, is scheduled to take place at a square near Hama Fishing Port at 10 a.m. Sunday. Organizers of the event...
Man’s body found on Ishigaki shore [News]
A man’s body was found Tuesday washed up on the shore at Sakieda, Ishigaki City, According to the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, a couple from Osaka, both in their 30’s, h...
Halloween market grown to rival Valentine’s Day in sales [News]
Halloween seems to have taken a firm hold in Okinawa with many local retailers setting up special Halloween-themed sites and organizing Halloween costume parades. According to econ...
7,159 people found sleeping on streets last year [News]
An investigation by Okinawa Prefectural Police, there were 7,159 reported instances in 2016 of people sleeping on the street, which is the most since such statistics started in 200...
App chronicling Okinawa’s emigrant history unveiled [News]
An app chronicling the history of Okinawans’ emigration to Hawaii, South America and other places of the world is available for downloading. The app, named “WUBpedia”, tells the hi...
Okinawan sherbet maker wins World Sherbet Festival [News]
Taizo Shibano, a co-owner of “la Vous” gelato store in Ginowan, and who also has been named a World Gelato Ambassador, won the first prize at the World Gelato Festival in Italy. Sh...
Website aims to share vacant parking spaces [News]
“akippa”, an Osaka-based company that provides a service for drivers to find and use vacant parking spots via its website, announced Wednesday that it has started the same service ...
Website to introduce Okinawa as photogenic destination [News]
All Nippon Airlines and Okinawa Convention Bureau opened Thursday a special Instagram site “Nanokade Nanatsuno Okinawa Shima Meguri” (Hopping seven Okinawan islands in seven days) ...
Surfer earns letter of appreciation for rescue of tourist [News]
Itoman Police gave a letter of appreciation to 37-year-old Shota Tamaki, a surfing instructor, for rescuing a tourist who had been caught in a rip current and drifted off shore. Ta...
Osaka couple missing in Ishigaki [News]
Yaeyama Police announced Thursday that a couple in their 30’s from Osaka vacationing on Ishigaki Island has been missing since Monday. Their rented car was found near Kabira Bay. Y...
November named “Awamori Month” [News]
Okinawa Awamori Distillers Association has named November an “Awamori Month”, making efforts to promote the sales of the local tipple at special events and public activities. The a...
Nakijin Festival this weekend, Unten Fest on Nov. 4 [News]
The 5th “Iina Untenko Ichariba Matsuri”, an exchange festival between Izena, Iheya and Nakijin, is scheduled for Nov. 4th at Untenko Ryokuchi Park. A sightseeing ferry service duri...
Taketomi Town to create ecotourism ordinance [News]
Taketomi Town announced Tuesday a plan to create an ordinance bill that obliges tour guides to report in advance tours to 16 islands that form Taketomi Town, including Iriomote Isl...
Typhoons cause food shortage on Daito Islands [News]
Because of typhoon Lan last weekend, supply ferries have not been able to enter Minami and Kita Daito Islands since Oct. 15th that has caused food shortages on the two islands. A p...
Approaching typhoon Saola causes event cancellations [News]
Organizers are cancelling many events scheduled for the weekend, as it’s possible that typhoon Saola, the 22nd typhoon of the season, will come close to Okinawa Main Island this we...
Increasing numbers of elderly drivers returning licenses [News]
According to Okinawa Prefectural Police, 2,443 senior drivers aged 65 or over returned their drivers’ licenses between January and September that is 711 more than the previous year...
New soba, habu skin watch win Okinwa Specialty Product Contest [News]
The Central Federation of Okinawa Commerce and Industry announced Saturday the recipients of its 20th Specialty Product Contest Okinawa Governor’s Awards. The top awards went to “O...