Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Okinawa (Page 6)
Locals, citizens, and politicians continue to clash regarding the proposed relocation of a U.S. military base to the Henoko (辺野古) district of Nago City, Okinawa. A recent movement to oppose the base sought to gain support from famous Japanese people, including (sort-of) retired Studio Ghibli Director, Hayao Miyazaki.
If you’ve ever longed to go back to an old Japan, where samurai stayed at old ramshackle inns and merchants filled the air with the scent of food, then some of these traditional streets will be right up your alley. We take you to five of Japan’s most-loved streets, from well-worn paths in secluded valleys to bustling pilgrimage routes in scenic villages, all with an amazing history and atmosphere. Let’s take a stroll together and see what they have to offer.
With the greater acceptance among adults that animation has in Japan, it’s not unusual to see anime characters pop up in advertisements and other endorsements. Usually, though, there’s at least some sort of connection linking the message and the characters, though, either in tone, back story, or demographic appeal.
For instance, convenience stores get a lot of young customers who’d rather be spending their time watching anime than cooking, so a tie-up with Attack on Titan makes sense. Likewise, hanging in my local train station is a public safety poster from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police asking citizens to be on the lookout and report crimes, which also feature the giant law enforcement robot from Patlabor.
So the fact that two anime-style magical girls have been created for a series of TV ads isn’t so surprising. What is weird, though, is the product they’re pushing: bank loans.
Visiting World Heritage Sites is a great way to see Japan. Since the sites are scattered all around the archipelago, you’re bound to be close to at least one of them no matter where you are in the country, and having gained the prestigious status by UNESCO, you can be sure you’re seeing the very best of Japan. After all, World Heritage status is not easily obtained and competition is stiff.
Join our peripatetic reporter as she takes you to each site and gives you the lowdown on what to see, how to avoid the crowds, and how to enjoy the sites on your own terms. Ready? Let’s go!
Nago is located in northern Okinawa, a tourist town with beautiful beaches and a pineapple park. Its waters are home to gorgeous coral and seagrass beds that serve as the feeding grounds to Japan’s last remaining population of dugong, an endangered sea mammal related to the manatee. Nago is also the site of the proposed relocation of Futenma airbase, the US Marine complex that is at the core of a controversy between the Okinawan, Japanese, and US governments.
The mayor of Nago, Susumu Inamine, was in New York last weekend to deliver speeches and have informative discussions regarding the issue.
The folks at popular Japanese travel site Another Tokyo have given us the itch to go traveling again. We’ve gotten used to drooling over their cool photos of off the beaten track places around Tokyo, but this time they’ve branched out a bit — all the way to tropical, sunny Okinawa!
Although we have to give the Tokyo area credit for its share of unconventional cafes, you’ll be blown away by the photos from this “Cave Cafe” in Okinawa, which is located inside – you guessed it – an actual cave! If you’re traveling to Okinawa soon and looking to do something a bit extraordinary, be sure to add this spot to your sightseeing list. After all, how many people can claim to have sipped coffee in a cave?
Of all the art-you-can-eat creations that seem to be trending in Japan these days, most use easily manipulated and relatively sturdy substances such as rice and grated daikon radish, plus obvious stuff like cake and marzipan. So if these trendy edible canvases rank an eight or a nine on a 1-to-10 food art skill rating, we’d have to wager that ice-based food art is cranking it up to 11. And with ice melting in a matter of minutes, you’d think somebody would have to be crazy to try and make an edible sculpture out of it.
We can picture it now: The poor, young shaved ice art prodigy ridiculed and shunned by the food art community, forced to take his craft to far-off Okinawa and a decrepit-looking shop on an unassuming corner to carry out his trade in relative anonymity.
At approximately 9:00pm on 23 January, reports started coming into the Okinawa Times about a strange array of lights over their capital city Naha. Japan’s Self Defense Force and astronomical experts are without answer, yet witness accounts and videos claim a dozen or so bright orange lights appearing to hang and shift around in the sky could be see in the area.
The Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa is renown for its massive whale sharks. Now tourists can enjoy riding inside a whale shark on their way to seeing a whale shark thanks to the decorated JAL planes. What’s more, the company has just announced the addition of a pink plane featuring the huge fish. Let’s take a closer look!
Goya champuru, unlike its name, is extremely simple. The dish consists of only a few main ingredients: goya (bitter melon), tofu, egg and spam. It’s a homey comfort food from Okinawa, Japan that highlights the island prefecture’s long history with the United States. Susan Hamaker, writer and editor over at JapanCulture•NYC, an online resource for “all things Japanese in New York City,” let us know about a wonderful booth they ran at Japan Block Fair showcasing this down home dish. Let’s take a look!
Our reporter was strolling through Ginza one afternoon and found herself in an Okinawa specialty goods store. As she was browsing through the aisles, she couldn’t help but notice a brightly colored can of Coca Cola with a red shisa (lion dog) printed on the front. Upon further inspection of the can, she realized that she had stumbled upon Okinawa Coca Cola, made with the waters of Okinawa. How would this special Coke taste? She just had to buy one and find out.
It’s time to put on your detective pants and try to figure out what happened in this strange death of a man in his 70s in Okinawa. Details are sketchy but police are leaning towards an accidental death.
The Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau (OCVB) along with the prefectural government have cancelled their plans to use space on women’s bare thighs for marketing the islands as a graduation trip destination to students outside the prefecture. Citing criticism, the two bodies stated January 24, “Placing temporary tattoo-like stickers on the thighs of young women to advertise Okinawa is not in line with prefecture’s brand image.”
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On a recent trip to Naha, Okinawa, our correspondent spotted a Starbucks t-shirt which, at first glance, looked like a factory reject, but turned out to be a clever tip of the hat to traditional Okinawan culture.
Since 16 October a curfew has been in place on all US soldiers stationed in Japan restricting them from leaving their bases from 11pm to 5am. This was in response to an incident where two soldiers allegedly raped a young Japanese woman in Okinawa.
However, on 2 November what appeared to have been a drunk American soldier trespassed into a room and struck a young boy. The police investigation is ongoing.
According to South Korea’s Far East Daily newspaper, China’s public radio broadcast an interview with a currently active Major General who spoke like many Generals do, with much aplomb and sabre rattling to be heard. Let’s see what he has to say.
Yes, people all over the world love cola, and once again, we can look forward to a new cola beverage coming onto the market in Japan. We’ve already told you about the fat-busting cola which came out in April. This time, the new cola has an exotic twist with ingredients from the tropical islands of Okinawa Prefecture. Read More
The Japanese version of the popular travel information site Trip Adviser recently published a list of the best factory tours in Japan. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the nation’s most popular exports makes it to number one. Read More
Starbucks releases an official green tea chai latte with special Japanese ingredients
Practical Zelda Tears of the Kingdom merch is here to be Hyrule-helpful in your daily life【Pics】
This super cheap, super Japanese-looking Tokyo hotel is a hit with foreign travelers
Ultra-cheap, convenient Tokyo hotel is a great place to stay…if you pay extra for earplugs
McDonald’s Happy Meals in Japan now come with Shinkansen robots
Dog’s change in expression when offered a strawberry melts hearts 【Photos】
Uniqlo brings cultural cuteness to Edo animals T-shirt line with Japanese history’s greatest artists
Starbucks releases a new Matcha Frappuccino in Japan with a pun behind its creation
Japanese public toilet tours become popular with foreign tourists in Tokyo
Japanese man tells friend to wear suit to wedding party, so he comes as Mobile Suit Gundam
2nd line of Casio watch rings hits Japanese capsule machines and we got the secret one!
Starbucks releases special matcha Frappuccino made with Japan’s first matcha leaves of the year
Yes, our new smartphone looks like at least two Studio Ghibli anime characters, Sharp saysPractical Zelda Tears of the Kingdom merch is here to be Hyrule-helpful in your daily life【Pics】Japanese man tells friend to wear suit to wedding party, so he comes as Mobile Suit Gundam
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Mt. Fuji-blocking screen installed as response to bad tourist manners to be in place by next weekStarbucks releases an official green tea chai latte with special Japanese ingredients
Cool capsule toys recreate how Japan navigated trains in pre-smartphone days【Photos】
Tokyo’s beckoning cat temple asks foreign tourists to stop writing on the beckoning cats they buy
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of societyLife-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsYes, our new smartphone looks like at least two Studio Ghibli anime characters, Sharp says
New Tokyo restaurant charges higher prices to foreign tourists than Japanese locals
“Mt. Fuji convenience store” issues apology for bad tourist manners, adds multilingual signs2nd line of Casio watch rings hits Japanese capsule machines and we got the secret one!
Tokyo’s famous Lost in Translation hotel is closed
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
Bad tourist manners at Mt Fuji Lawson photo spot prompts Japanese town to block view with screensMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950sForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Dog’s change in expression when offered a strawberry melts hearts 【Photos】
Uniqlo brings cultural cuteness to Edo animals T-shirt line with Japanese history’s greatest artists
Starbucks releases a new Matcha Frappuccino in Japan with a pun behind its creation
Japanese public toilet tours become popular with foreign tourists in Tokyo
Japanese man tells friend to wear suit to wedding party, so he comes as Mobile Suit Gundam
Sea urchins will fight over the same piece of cabbage, Japan is adorably shocked to learn
Kyoto study finds nearly 500 translation errors for foreign tourists, new guidelines released
We try five menu recommendations from a clerk at CoCo Ichibanya and almost fall in love
New Sailor Moon merch goes old school as the magical girls turn into eight-bit pixel art
Some Japanese school regulations don’t make any sense!
Ramen tea? Unusual drink is hot in more than ways than one
Super Mario and Baskin-Robbins release a power-up ice cream collection in Japan
How should you respond when a Japanese person gives you a compliment?
Father and son dissect a gachapon capsule toy machine to show us its magical insides【Video】
