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? 🙂