Okinawa.com

Toufuyou

oceanpears — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:34:39 +0000

For those with daring taste buds, toufuyou is a must-eat cuisine only loyal families ate during the Ryukyu Kingdom era. Fermented with jiuqu, moascus purpureus, and awamori, toufuyou is a reddish tofu delicacy, rich like urchin meat (meaning it’s creamy and thick). If you’ve ever tried Chinese fermented bean curd, you have an idea of what it might taste like.

http://benihamashop.jp/toufuyou/(in Japanese)

Okinawa International Asia Music Festival 2012

oceanpears — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:56:18 +0000

March 16th (Fri), 17th (Sat), 18th (Sun) 2012. Includes live concerts and conference about music and social media. Participating musicians include: Diamantes, Chitose Hajime, Misako Koja, Hidekatsu, Wei Wei Wuu, Marty Friedman, and [how lovely], Ryujin Mabuyer.

For more information, go to the official website (in English): http://musix-okinawa.com/2012/en/

Sketches of Myahk

oceanpears — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:08:23 +0000

Directed by Koichi Onishi, “Sketches of Myahk” is a documentary film about traditionally inherited chants in praise of God and sacred songs of Miyakojima vanishing in the time. The film received Special Mention by Semaine de la Critique of Locarno International Film Festival 2011.

To learn more about the film, go to this link: http://www.kubotamakoto.com/som.pdf

Makoto Kubota, musican and the film’s supervisor, released the album “Sketches of Myahk” under the Blue Asia project to complement the film.

http://www.hmv.co.jp/news/article/907100152/ (in Japanese)

You can sample some of the music on his website, http://kubotamakoto.com/, under the Blue Asia section in Discography.

World CM Festival

oceanpears — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:38:28 +0000

World CM (Commercial) Festival will take place in Okinawa from January 28th to February 3rd in Okinawa. French producer J.C. Bouvier first started this event in 1999, and it is considered to be the Japanese version of La Nuit des Publivores.

http://www.cmfestival.com/index.html

Unfinished magatama discovered in ruins of Goeku Castle

oceanpears — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:28:50 +0000

On January 16th, the Okinawa Municipal Museum announced its discovey of magatama (a comma-shaped bead) in the ruins of Goeku Castle, where King Sho Taikyu of the Ryukyu Kingdom ruled during the 15th century. This 5cm stone-made magatama is considered very rare because the center hole is missing, indicating that this piece is still unfinished.
Found in the 12th to 14th century stratum, experts believe Noros (women priests) wore them during religious rituals.

http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article_photo/45304/

Night rainbow

oceanpears — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:30:33 +0000

http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/article_photo/44998/

Night rainbow, Lunar rainbow, Moonbow, space rainbow. There are many names you can call it. Gekkou （月虹）is a rainbow produced by moonlight, usually faint and appears white to the human eye. This incredible natural phenomenon which is believed to bring happiness was observed by the Ishigakijima Astronomical Observatory on January 7th, 2012. What a beautiful start for the New Year!

Okinawa Oden

oceanpears — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:22:36 +0000

Winter is here, and tis the season to crave for oden in Japan. Boiled eggs, daikon radish, potatoes, devil’s tongue, and fish cakes soaked with soy-based dashi broth bring smiles to people’s faces across the country. Regional variations exist, but Okinawa oden is its own kind.

Okinawa oden’s main ingredient is tebichi (or pig’s feet). If pig’s feet sounds somewhat unappealing, remember about the collagen in it which softens your skin and helps prevent spots and wrinkles on your face (not to mention it’s also very delicious). Okinawa oden differs from mainland Japan because it also includes green veggies such as lettuce, bok choy, spinach, and Chinese water spinach.

Here is a link (in Japanese) to stores in Okinawa that serves oden: http://r.tabelog.com/RC010801/okinawa/

Okinawa International Anime Contents Summit

oceanpears — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:10:25 +0000

As an anime fan, I cannot believe I missed out on Okinawa International Animation & Contents Summit which was held on December 19th. The purpose of this summit was to establish Okinawa as the world’s contents hub for East Asia and introduce contents related to Okinawa through events such as symposiums and live concerts. The anime song performers at the live concerts included Takahashi Youko, Hirano Aya, and Inoue Azumi. If these names sound unfamiliar to you, think Evangelion, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Hayao Miyazaki’s Totoro, an on parade of one of the most popular animes of our time. Not to forget a museum exhibition of Ultraman written by Kinjo Teruo who hails from Okinawa. Here are some interesting facts for you: Some of the names of monsters from Ultraman come from Okinawan dialects (ie: Zanpa is a name of a peninsula and a famous awamori brand). It is also said the idea of Ultraman of protecting humanity derives from the god of Nirai Kanai and Kinjo’s desire for the Okinawan people who suffered a history of war since ancient times. Lastly, what does Clavelina diminuta, a white-spotted ascidian. look like to you?

Toumaiahkah (泊阿嘉)

oceanpears — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:31:15 +0000

Toumaiahkah is an Okinawan version of Romeo and Juliet created by actor Ganeko Yaei in 1911.

The Romeo of this story, Tarukani from Akajima (阿喜島), falls in love with Umichiru. Sprung, he writes poetry for Umichiru, but she burns them… Doesn’t Umichiru sound like a heartbreaker? What we don’t know is that she kept the portion of the letter because she secretly desires Tarukami (turns out she is a tsundere instead). Eventually, love grows between the two, and they become bonded by a special relationship.

Worried about his son getting carried away because of Umichiru, Tarukami’s father sends him on an errand for 3 months in Iheyamura. We may think 3 months isn’t such a long time, but for Umichiru, it felt like eternity. Unable to bare the pain of being apart from Tarukami, Umichiru falls ill and dies. Returning home, Tarukami finds out about Umichiru’s death, and he also dies from loneliness in front of her gravestone.
Here are pictures from the March 4th, 2007 performance at the Okinawa Prefecture Heritage Theatre: http://www.okinawa-sibai.org/menu/kyodo/sibai/tomaiareker1.html

Okuyama no Botan (奥山の牡丹）

oceanpears — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:59:20 +0000

Okuyama no Botan (English title: The Peony of the Deep Mountains) is one of the famous, tragic Okinawan Plays along with Iejima Handuguwa and Toumaiahkah.

Due to his father’s dissipated life, the son from a loyal family lived in the countryside where he fell in love with a woman named Chi-rah. They had a child together; however, their relationship was not approved due to class differences. Wishing a better future for her son, Chi-rah decides to let go of him go and disappears into the deep mountains. (It’s also said Chi-rah is separated from her son by the loyal family’s servants.) When her son grew older, he travels to find his mother. However, a tragic ending awaits the two…

The play was written by Inchiki Ihara (伊良波尹吉) who was born in Yonabaru-Cho in 1886.