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Pick Up Stories
Obon is time for family gathering to rem… [CULTURE CURRENT ISSUE]
For three days starting on Tuesday, August 25th through Thursday, August 27th, many privately owned businesses on Okinawa will close their ...Read More
Day of Naha: Immerse Yourself in the Cap… [Community CURRENT ISSUE]
July 8th is Naha Day in Okinawa. This special occasion originated from the use of play-on-words or rather, a play-on-numbers. Naha’s two syl...Read More
June 23rd, Okinawa’s Peace Memorial Day [CURRENT ISSUE]
June 23rd is ‘Irei-no Hi’. This is Okinawa’s Peace Memorial Day. It is a prefectural holiday formally recognized in 1961. It is to memoriali...Read More
Marine arrested for theft [News]
Okinawa City Police arrested 20-year-old PFC Walter Winton Ashworth stationed on MCAS Futenma, Monday afternoon, on suspicion of stealing a wallet containing ¥9,000 in cash. He has...
Man arrested for attempted murder of brother [News]
Naha Police arrested 63-year-old Michio Uehara on Tuesday on suspicion of an attempted murder. Uehara, who works as a newspaper delivery man for the Okinawa Times, is suspected of ...
Lead detected in drinking water on Kadena AB [Military]
Kadena Air Force Base announced Tuesday that lead was detected in water of a few water fountains on the base. The Okinawa Prefectural Enterprise Bureau, which supplies water to the...
Kumejima’s Kumesen joins bartender association [Business]
Kume Island’s awamori brewing company Kumejima no Kumesen has been registered as a supporting member of the Nippon Bartender Association (NBA). It became the first awamori br...
2014.05.28
Golden Kings bring home coveted champion trophy [Ryukyu Golden Kings]
For a third time, the Ryukyu Golden Kings proved to Japan it’s a basketball powerhouse, rolling over the Akita Northern Happinets to win the Basketball Japan League Championship fo...
2014.05.28
And this week’s winner is… [Weekly Winners]
The winner of this week’s Japan Update raffle was Ramon Techawudtipat. She’s a 22-year-old young lady from Thailand who’s currently living on Okinawa. She won a pair of tickets to ...
Kerama Blue Rescue established [News]
The Ryukyu Marine Rescue opened a rescue center for marine related incidents on May 15th in Zamami Village. The new center is called Kerama Blue Rescue. In Zakimi Village, most mar...
Power of unity [Sports]
Players of the Ryukyu Golden Kings visited the Prefectural Office, Monday, to hold a championship report meeting. Over 100 fans waited for a glimpse of the players on the 1st floor...
Tornado observed offshore of Ishigaki Island [News]
A tornado was observed between Ishigaki and Taketomi islands about noon on May 23rd. According to eyewitnesses, the tornado moved from Ishigaki towards Taketomi Island and disappea...
“Uchikabi” ¥10,000 bill used to pay for taxi ride [News]
A male passenger in Naha City paid his ¥2,000 taxi fare with a ¥10,000 bill of imitation paper money called “uchikabi,” tricking the taxi driver who is in his 70s. According to Yon...
Okinawa mulls establishing professional baseball team [Sports]
As one of the Liberal Democratic Party’s proposals for the government growth strategy and regional activation plan, an idea of increasing the number of pro baseball teams in ...
Okinawa World albino python lays eggs [News]
The famous white python Nanto-chan, chich calls the Habu Park of Okinawa World home, has laid a pair of eggs. Okinawa World Section Chief Yasuyoshi Iseda discovered on May 22 that ...
Naha – Tianjin direct flights to begin [News]
One more international carrier will be added to the list of airlines operating routes to and from Naha Airport on Jun. 1 when Tianjin Airlines starts a twice a week flights between...
Teacher busted for drunk driving suspended for 6 months [News]
A 39-year-old junior high school teacher was arrested for driving drunk on Apr. 29 this year. Besides paying the normal fines and having his driving license suspended as described ...
Elderly woman falls for Lotto 6 fraud [News]
Okinawa and Tomigusuku City Police announced May 21st that a woman in her 60s was told she would be able to receive the winning numbers for Lotto 6 ahead of the lottery, and was tr...
Thieves grab Nakagusuku aluminum fence [News]
In the Nakagusuku New Port district in Uruma City, along Route 2, about two kilometers of aluminum fence separating the sidewalk from the street was found to been stolen. The fence...
2014.05.25
Soccer Festival attracts thousands of spectators [Sports]
Soccer enthusiasts are getting down to business with the All Okinawa Soccer 10,000 Festival 2014, and Japan Update is teaming with organizers FC Ryukyu to give away free tickets. T...
Nostalgic Naha [News]
Naha City has created a model of Ufujoumae (Ufujoume) Street and replica of the crown of the Ryukyu kings, and held an opening ceremony on May 20th in the Naha City Hall, where the...
Naha Tower sold [Business]
The Tokyo based real estate company Intrance announced Tuesday, the sale of the land and building of Naha Tower, located next to Okinawa Mitsukoshi department store building on Kok...
Okinawa No.1 travel destination [News]
Travel information and buzz marketing site “4 travel” announced on Monday that Okinawa was ranked number 1 among people’s favorite places to travel. The company c...
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