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
Okinawa Shogaku High School obtains IB accreditation [Education]
The Okinawa Shogaku High School, a local private school consisting of both junior and senior high schools, has been officially accredited as an International Baccalaureate (IB) acc...
2015.03.16
Sweet Taro – Taimo no Dengaku [Cooking Recipe]
Taanmu, taro, is in season in Okinawa right now. If you go to the refrigerated section at a farmers’ markets, you will most likely find this unique, grey and light purplish taro. T...
2015.03.15
We need confidence and hope [Education]
By E. Heinrich-Sanchez Well, its graduation time again in Okinawa. The Japanese fiscal and school years run from April 1st to March 31st. The eternal cycle of watching our children...
2015.03.15
GODAC’s spring break workshop set for children [Education]
Spring break is just around the corner, and GODAC, the Global Oceanographic Data Center, is preparing a workshop for children related to ocean creatures. The spring break workshop ...
Okinawa elementary student test scores decline [Education]
The Okinawa Prefecture Board of Education announced at its regular meeting on Mar. 11th the results of achievement tests for elementary school students in Okinawa that took place i...
2015.03.11
Okinawa City opens doors to Craftwork Fair [Living]
The 13th Okinawa City Craftwork Fair is now in progress, taking place at Plaza House Shopping Center Thursday through Sunday. This is one of the biggest craftwork exhibitions and s...
2015.03.09
Spinach and tofu – Horenso no shiroae [Cooking Recipe]
A tofu recipe again! But tofu is just so often used in Okinawa home cooking. Shiroae is a popular dish in Okinawa as tofu is so fresh that you can buy it at supermarkets while it’s...
2015.03.08
It’s all about Green at Key’s Cafe [Gourmet]
Key’s Café is ‘Going Green’ next week, and patrons will find it easy to get caught up in the excitement, merely by wearing something green. St. Patrick’s Day is always special, but...
Turtle exports from Ishigaki to be banned [Nature & Environment]
According to officials at the Ministry of Environment, a large number of Yaeyama Ishigame (Mauremys mutica kami) or Asian brown pond turtles, which is an endemic and rare turtle sp...
2015.03.05
Gourmet foods competition pits local restaurants [Gourmet]
The 4th Naha Meshi Grand Prix is the latest of the popular cooking events to be held this weekend, with nearly two dozen Okinawa restaurants bringing their chefs and special dishes...
2015.03.01
Ryubo Youkai Watch setting local kids under spell [Family]
Youkai, a word or term typically associated with ghosts and Japanese folk creatures, is the latest craze among Japanese and, if anime soothsayers are right, every other pre- and el...
2015.03.01
Access to innovation and democratization of high achievements [Education]
By Jovan Rebolledo-Mendez, PhD It might be natural to think that in order to achieve amazing things, one has to spend years researching, or belonging to a very prestigious institut...
2015.02.26
‘Eat, Play, Collide’ gives new look at foods on plate [Education]
A physicist is all pumped up to share interesting thoughts from the spooky quantum world, and the stuff lightning is made off, at a Saturday presentation at Okinawa Institute of Sc...
2015.02.25
Okinawan tofu and tomato salad [Cooking Recipe]
This is one more way to use local tofu in your meal. Okinawan tofu is quite solid so it is easy to toss in a salad. Also, maybe some readers have noticed that tomatoes at local far...
2015.02.22
Unique art created from PET bottles astonishes [Living]
A PET bottle art exhibition is under way at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum, with an artist demonstrating how throw-away plastic cans be transformed into very special art. Pet bottl...
2015.02.22
Leveraging innovation to solve problems [Education]
By Jovan D. Rebolledo-Mendez, PhD Most of us have the intrinsic spirit of succeeding and becoming better; whatever is the challenge one chooses. The incentive of winning a prize in...
2015.02.22
Getto – Medicinal leaves right under our noses [Health & Beauty]
By David Higgins On December 8th of the Lunar calendar, every family home in Okinawa creates Muuchii (flavored rice cakes). They carefully wrap each muuchii in a leaf that has a d...
2015.02.22
Eggplant and miso [Cooking Recipe]
Japanese people use miso for all kinds of dishes other than miso soup. This is one of my favorite dishes, which uses miso and sweet sake, mirin. This recipe uses only vegetables bu...
2015.02.20
Okinawa Food Flea tickles tastebuds for third time [Gourmet]
A unique food event that debuted on Okinawa six months ago was so much fun it came back in November, and now public demand is such that it’s happening again this Sunday. The Okinaw...
2015.02.20
Palates ready for tasty Okinawa A-lunch competition [Gourmet]
The 4th Koza A Lunch Championship is only hours away, with Okinawan restaurants gearing up for a Sunday battle of the palates, with the public serving as the judges who determine w...
