Nature & Environment
Pick Up Stories

Okinawa Beach Opening Information 2025 [Nature & Environment News]
Okinawa Beach Opening Information 2025 Ginowan Tropical Beach (Apr. 26) Chatan Sunset Beach (Apr. 11) Chatan Araha Beach (Mid. Apr.) Nish...Read More

Yohena’s Ajisai-en, The Hydrangea Garden… [Nature & Environment]
As spring moves toward summer, the floral landscape of northern Okinawa is taking on new colors as hydrangea flowers, or ajisai’s in Japanes...Read More

International Orchid Show opens Nov. 12 … [Nature & Environment]
Orchids are one of the largest families of flowering plants with some 28,000 different species. They are also widely admired for their beaut...Read More

45 kilos trash collected from Matsuda Beach [Nature & Environment]
By Edo Heinrich-Sanchez It was still a little windy on Saturday with the typhoon on its way out passing Ishigaki. Under an hour we collected about 45 kilos of trash. Mostly of Japa...
Security through environmental symbiosis in Henoko [Nature & Environment]
By Zak Kulberg Economic growth that slowly seduces away the coral, the sea grass, and the forest, is a core of conflict more threatening than any war. Many of the international gri...

Beach cleanup leads up to Ocean Day [Nature & Environment]
Matsuda Beach is the site chosen for a beach cleanup this weekend as Japan rolls into a long weekend celebrating Japan Ocean Day, Monday. Yellow banners with the Manta symbol will ...

16th Summer Calanthe Exhibition all about orchids [Nature & Environment]
Neo Park Okinawa is the venue for Summer Calanthe, an exhibition focusing on a kind of an orchid of the wildness now in bloom through September. The Summer Calanthe exhibition kick...

I LOVE OKINAWA Campaign® news [Nature & Environment]
Our call for sponsors and support was answered by the Johnson Controls Inc. Japan under their Blue Sky Involve Program. Employees selected NPO Okinawa O.C.E.A.N. for a $1,000 grant...

Global warming, coral reefs focus of conference [Nature & Environment]
A two-day international conference on coral reef conservation ended in Okinawa Prefecture, Sunday, with a call for collaborative action against global warming. A chair’s stat...

Environmental Conference decides to meet again; Keramas to become National Marine Park [Nature & Environment]
By Edo Heinrich-Sanchez Amidst the headlines panning the proposed landfill at Ourawan Bay (Henoko) at the cost of 2310 x ¥100,000,000 and prayers for peace at the June 30th Miyamor...

World O.C.E.A.N. seeks funding for fall project [Nature & Environment]
The World Ocean Culture & Environment Action Network has launched its 21st annual I love Okinawa Campaign this month, and is now looking for assistance to revamp the organizati...

Int’l Conference seeks to protect coral reefs from climate change [Nature & Environment]
Dozens of officials from Japan and five other countries are gathering in Okinawa this weekend to get down to serious discussions on protecting coral reefs from climate change. The ...

Warmer weather brings beach service opportunities [Nature & Environment]
Many hands pull together on Okinawa to keep waters and beaches clean, and organizations are now putting together summer programs to get the job done. The “I Love Okinawa / I Love M...

Night Tour in Kodomo no Kuni offers new perspective [Nature & Environment]
The Okinawa Zoo, Kodomo no Kuni, is offering nocturnal visits to the facilities during June, starting this weekend. The 7 p.m. ~ 9 p.m. zoo tours are available each Saturday evenin...

Bios Hill night tours highlight mysteries of jungle [Nature & Environment]
Bios no Oka, Bios Hill, is now offering weekend tours through the end of June, experiencing the beauty of a botanical gardens and a more mystical set of evening events. The night t...

Vivid Hydrangea now blooming in northern Okinawa [Nature & Environment]
By Bill Charles As spring moves toward summer, the floral landscape of northern Okinawa is taking on new colors as hydrangea flowers are now bursting into full bloom. Thousands of...

Seven Wonders of Physics being unveiled at OIST [Nature & Environment]
Have you ever wondered why a rainbow is so colorful, or the moon’s gravity causes the flux and reflux of the tides? Sir Michael Berry, a physics professor at the University o...

Forecasters Predict ‘normal’ Typhoon Season [Nature & Environment]
By Bill Charles The 2013 typhoon season officially kicks off two weeks from now, onJune 1st, and thus far there’s nothing on the ocean horizons to suggest any storms before then. P...

Wild Bird Panel Exhibition on at Kodomo no Kuni [Nature & Environment]
It’s spring, the season when wild birds breed, and the Okinawa Zoo, Okinawa Kodomo no Kuni, is now featuring a panel exhibition on not only birds, but also 200 kinds of animals inc...

Fossil Exhibition big draw at Nago Museum [Nature & Environment]
Nago Museum, Okinawa Stone Association, Ryukyu University Hujukan and Okinawa Prefectural Museum have teamed up to offer a special Fossil Exhibition through Sunday, May 20th, at th...

Azaleas are in full bloom at Higashi Village [Nature & Environment]
This week’s sunshine has been perfect for the island’s azaleas, which are now in bloom in Higashi Village where the 31st Azalea Festival is under way. The flower festival is runnin...

Venture into adventure in northern Okinawa [Nature & Environment]
By Bill Charles Cape Hedo is the northernmost point on Okinawa Island. It is also one of the island’s most famous landmarks, attracting visitors both for its sheer beauty and for i...

‘Tropical’ defines flower show at Okinawa Zoo [Nature & Environment]
The theme of this year’s 4th Okinawa Kodomo-no-Kuni Flower Festival is “tropical”, which may seem a bit strange with this being a sub-tropical island. It is what it is, though, and...