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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
Okinawa marks 54th anniversary of revers… [Politics]
May 15th marked the 54th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to the Japanese administration in 1972. According to published figures, the Japa...Read More
Okinawa fourth worst in Japan to abandon pets [News]
Sep. 20th through 26th was the Animal Protection Week in Japan. During that week, the Okinawa Prefecture Nature Conservation Division announced the statistic regarding the number o...
2013.09.28
And this week’s winner is… [Weekly Winners]
Natalia won the Japan Update weekly raffle just in time to go and see the Yubikiri Haunted House in Ashibinaa Outlet Mall in Tomigusuku. The haunted house closed last weekend after...
2013.09.28
Tough guys in Okinawa City [Sports]
By David Higgins Okinawa has the reputation of its citizens being some of the longest living in the entire world. This would imply that staying healthy is most important, but have...
2013.09.28
Prime Minister ponders dealing with planned tax hike [Politics]
Japan’s Prime Minister is hinting he’s planning to take another look at what to do with the feasibility of hiking the consumption tax to 10% starting in October 2015. The Liberal D...
2013.09.28
Era ends for Marines’ Sea Knight helicopters [Military]
The last of the U.S. Marines’ stalwart CH-46E helicopters, a medium lift, tandem-rotor transport machine in use for decades, go into retirement on Monday, making the short hop from...
Okinawa has number one birth rate 39 years in row [News]
Okinawa Prefecture Welfare Division announced Tuesday the 2012 Okinawa Vital Statistics data. According to department figures, the number of births in the prefecture increased by 1...
Koza Rock and Jazz collaboration event Saturday [News]
“The Birth Story Of B.C. Street, Photo Exhibition, Talk Show & Okinawa Rock All Stars + Jazz Collaboration” event will be held Saturday in the Ashibinaa Theater on the third fl...
Drunk school teacher arrested after break into residence [News]
Uruma City Police Department arrested 39-year-old elementary school teacher Takayuki Nakama, of Okinawa City, on Sep. 22, for breaking into a residence while drunk, in Uruma City. ...
Unexploded ordnance found again in Uruma City [News]
Unexploded WW II era bombs have repeatedly been discovered along the coast Miyagi Island in Uruma City. A total of eight duds have been found since July. City officials say that th...
Naha Airport to have second runway open by 2020 [News]
Japan’s Cabinet Office has decided to finalize the construction of the second runway at Naha Airport by Mar. 31st 2020. The construction is scheduled to begin January 2014, and be ...
Lawson Okinawa and San-A to release Private Brand mechandise [Business]
Lawson Okinawa President Masayuki Koja and Tessei Uechi, the president of the San-A department store and Supermarket chain announced plans, Sep. 20, for the two retailers to collab...
Okinawa National College of Technology celebrates 10th anniversary [News]
A total of 1,100 students, teachers and invited guests attended the 10th anniversary ceremony of the Okinawa National College of Technology in Nago on Sep. 21st. In his speech, the...
Ban on men entering Se-Fa-Utaki under consideration [News]
Nanjo City Mayor Keishun Koja announced Sep. 20th, that he would consider controlling the entrance of male visitors to one of Okinawa’s World Heritage Sites, the Se-Fa-Utaki. The r...
Okinawa’s Ryo Kiyuna wins karate championship for 2nd time [Sports]
The 5th Karate Premium League 2013 Tournament sponsored by World Karate Federation (WKF) was held in Hanau, Germany, Sep. 21st. In men’s singles, Ryo Kiyuna (Ryueiryuryueikai) from...
2013.09.20
Renovated San-A Machinato opens [Business]
San-A , Machinato on Hwy 58 in Urasoe, is opening today (Sep. 20) after extensive renovations it has undergone over the past few weeks. The renovated department store features new ...
Academic Conference on Endangered Languages in Okinawa [News]
The “18th Academic Conference on Endangered Languages” is scheduled to be held in Okinawa from Sep. 7th through 10th. The purpose of the international academic conferen...
First artificial heart implant surgery performed in Okinawa [News]
In June this year, the University of Ryukyus Medical Department implanted an artificial heart into a patient with a severe heart condition. This is the first time in Okinawa for su...
Children learn soccer techniques from professionals [Sports]
FC Ryukyu soccer coaches and players gathered on Sep. 16 at Okinawa City Stadium for the “Ryukyu Shinpo presents Kid’s Soccer Caravan” event. A total of 60 children from Uruma City...
Hagoromo Elementary School to open next spring [News]
The construction work is going on in Oyama, Ginowan, to make a new pre- and elementary school. The new school, named Hagoromo Elementary School, is scheduled to open at the beginni...
Record 700,000 tourists visit Okinawa in August [News]
According to the Okinawa Prefecture Tourism Division, 705,500 tourists visited Okinawa during the month of August. This marks the first time the number rose to more than 700,000, a...
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