LIFE
Pick Up Stories
Shimenawa, sacred New Year rice straw fe… [Living]
“Shimenawa,” literally a “closing rope” is a decoration mostly seen at Shinto shrines to mark holy places where spirits reside. A variation ...Read More
What do you do on Okinawa during the New… [CULTURE LIFE]
It’s finally the end of the year 2025, and so it’s time to ask how was your year 2026? Good memories, bad memories, each person has their ow...Read More
Okinawa Expressway Renewal Work Starts J… [CURRENT ISSUE LIFE Living]
NEXCO, the company operating the Okinawa Expressway announces that Expressway renewal works start from January 6th to April 28th in 2026 bet...Read More
2015.06.08
AR links printed paper to video on smartphones [Technology]
By Jun Ikemura Japan Update has installed a new powerful information technology application called AR (Augmented Reality) that allows a reader to watch a video using a mobile devic...
2015.06.07
Cape Maeda is most popular diving spot on Okinawa [Nature & Environment]
By Jun Ikemura With the arrival of summer, scuba diving is moving to the forefront of the most popular activity on Okinawa. Scuba diving is more than popular, to say the least. Bec...
2015.06.07
Exhibition of iconic Sazae-san at Ryubo [Family]
Sazae-san was originally the female housewife main character of a Japanese comic strip created by Machiko Hasegawa in 1946. It was originally published in Fukunichi Shimbun, a loca...
Coral spawn off Sesoko [Nature & Environment]
According to reports by local residents, coral has been observed spawning in the ocean areas off Sesoko Island in Motobu. The spawning turned the ocean pink over the night between ...
2015.06.01
Upcoming typhoon season may be more intense [Nature & Environment]
By Bill Charles After a couple deadly typhoon seasons, weather forecasters are bracing for an even more active time ahead. The weather prognosticators across the Pacific are concer...
2015.06.01
Sueyoshi Park is best place to observe fireflies [Nature & Environment]
By Tony Nakamoto When I was a child, fireflies were everywhere. I chased after blinking yellow lights in the evenings trying to catch one, but I rarely made it since I was too smal...
2015.06.01
Frenchwoman hosting first Okinawa photo exhibition [Living]
A French woman who’s long been in Japan studying martial arts and Buddhism is bringing her hobby passion to light in Yomitan for ten days, exhibiting her photographic talents. Evel...
University of Ryukyus to add three new courses of study [Education]
Hajime Oshiro, the president of the University of the Ryukyus held a press conference, May 27th to announce that the university is planning to launch three new academic disciplines...
2015.05.29
Hiyashi Somen – Chilled somen [Cooking Recipe]
So now we’re in the middle of rainy season and after this, hot and humid summer is waiting for us. Somen are very thin Japanese noodles and this is one of the most popular dish dur...
2015.05.29
June 1st is day dedicated to Okinawa’s Kariyushi Wear [Living]
Monday’s Kariyushi Day, and promoters of Kariyushi wear are organizing a unique event at the open space ‘Kenmin Hiroba’ in front of the Okinawa Prefectural Government Building in N...
2015.05.29
Local markets set to revitalize old Yonabaru Town [Shopping]
Champuru Ichi & Keibin Ichi have their sights set on drawing attention to old Yonabaru Town with a pair of simultaneous market events. Yonabaru Town, the smallest town on the i...
2015.05.27
Japanese mayonnaise is good on everything [Gourmet]
By David Higgins Growing up in North America, Mayonnaise was not something I relished and craved but definitely was a third tier specialty for sandwiches, losing out only to the be...
2015.05.27
OIST hosting Kitagama pottery exhibition [Living]
Kitagama x OIST ~ Tradition and Science is the theme of a pottery exhibition is now running at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. The pottery exhibition features pott...
2015.05.24
Karabezi is Yaese Trademark [Living]
Karabezi is the Japanese name for colorful vegetables, and the word is on the lips of virtually everyone in Yaese Town, a producer of various kinds of agricultural products like ve...
2015.05.24
Yagiya serves soba in historic cultural setting [Gourmet]
Yagiya is an old folk house Okinawa Soba restaurant so important to the island’s history that it is registered as a national cultural property. The honor came in November 2011 in O...
2015.05.24
Yumekoubou cakes are based on very special miso [Gourmet]
Youko Henna learned her craft from her mother, and that the best way to have happy customers in her shop is to serve delicious and healthy products made with local ingredients. Tha...
2015.05.24
Kyurino Tsukemono – Cucumber with spicy vinegar [Cooking Recipe]
When you order a set meal at Japanese restaurants, you often find this kind of small dish. We call these pickled dishes sunomono and also hashiyasume. Hashiyasume means “a dish to ...
2015.05.21
Hydrangea beauty charms at Ajisai-en [Nature & Environment]
There are more than 9,000 hydrangea blooming at Ajisai-en, and most are the handiwork of an elderly Okinawan woman who’s been tending the gardens for nearly four decades. Motobu ha...
2015.05.20
Ocean conservation is more important than ever [Nature & Environment]
By E. Heinrich-Sanchez Our world oceans have a chance to recover resilience if we allow it. Every part of the ocean needs our protection. Present development plans on Okinawa, whic...
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