okinawa hai!

I received a fun email from Brenda last week about a video her son directed and edited and had uploaded to YouTube.  In the last couple of days, the video seems to have gone "viral" on FaceBook as well!  Here's the story behind the video: CONTRIBUTED BY BRENDA JONES This is a music video featuring [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY EUGENE MCFADDEN One of the greatest things about Okinawa is the way it hides all manner of little cultural treasures and experiences; if one knows where to look it is simply amazing what one can find, often in the most unlikely of places.   One such great find sits just off Kokusai Dori, [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES Just when we were about ready to give up looking for this place, we see a corner restaurant with the words “en Okinawa.”  We parked excitedly and started out of the car and practically by the time we set foot on the ground, we were greeted by a man holding a [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY ERIN STRAIT Of course Okinawa has plenty of homeless people, and there are those few faces that you recognize time and time again. One specifically I have seen all over the island, usually hanging out in underpasses with that Okinawa-famous flower hat. Like many homeless regulars of small towns this guy owns the [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY MARY RICHARDSON Join the local community and support runners in the Okinawa Marathon 2010. The race is on Sunday March 7 from 9:00 am to 3:15 pm, ending at Comprehensive Park in Okinawa City. Last year, we had a blast standing along the race course, cheering on runners and observing all the funny [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY JEANINE CZUBIK Last week on a drive up north to “see what we could see”, my friend and I spotted Ryukyu Tribes – with this artistically refined pig:   I am no longer fazed at seeing pigs in Okinawa: from the Puma sneaker brand styled Shisa shirts to the real skinned pig’s face [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY JEANINE CZUBIK Having just surpassed the one year point on Okinawa, I feel especially aware of the proximal occurrences of Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.  Whether it’s living so close to base, participating in more spouses events, or simply living overseas, I am particularly overwhelmed with gratitude.   Thankful for our military sacrificing their freedoms [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY MARY RICHARDSON Next time you head to Shuri Castle, why not take a short detour and drop in Kyoko Art Gallery? Kyoko Nakamoto is an Okinawan artist who has featured her work locally, in mainland Japan, and internationally in such places as New York City and Los Angeles. Her tiny gallery in the [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY MARY RICHARDSON Do you need a little push to get in the spirit of Halloween? Try out the Spooky Sites Tour offered through Tours+ on Foster.  My husband and I ventured out on this tour in the rain and mist last Friday, and despite having fairly average expectations, we had a really fun [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY MARY RICHARDSON A few months back, my husband and I attended a bullfight in Okinawa, of all places!  Now, I’ve been to traditional Spanish style bullfights before and came away less than enthusiastic about recommending the gore or violence I witnessed there. However, that was not the case here. The local Okinawan event [...]

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