Aug. 14, 2014 - Aug. 20, 2014 www.japanupdate.com

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Fantastic Okinawa

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By Jun Ikemura

No study of Okinawa history is complete – espe-cially the history of the Ryukyu Kingdom era —without an appreciation of the role of IzenaIsland and its most powerful leader.

The founder of the second Sho dynasty of the RyukyuKingdom, King Sho En was born on Izena, and it can besaid he is the man who was most successful in the history

of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Sho En is the name he gave him-self after he became king; before, his name was Kanamaruand also Machigani in his youth. According to records,Machigani was born on Izena Island. When he was young,he was so handsome and smart he was a big hit with theisland girls. Naturally, other guys didn't like that.

His legend began one drought season, as people wor-ried about the dry spell, but only Machigani's rice field was

filled with water. People were suspicious that Machiganistole the water from other rice fields and cut his field irriga-tion, but a day later, again his field was full of water. Peoplewondered why, but thought it gave them a reason to kickhim off the island. Machigani got critical feelings and left.

His rice field called “Sa-ta”, meaning reverse field,remains to this day still full of water. After he reached

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People who can’t livewithout being con-stantly in touch canrejoice as the Japan

Ministry of Land,Infrastructure, Transport andTourism will ease restric-tions on the use of electronicdevices including smart-phones on aircraft nextmonth.

Starting Sep. 1, passen-gers will be allowed to usesmartphones and personalcomputers at all times duringflights, provided that theyturn off the communicationsfunctions of their devicesexcept data transmissionusing Wi-Fi wireless con-nection in the aircraft.

Currently, the use ofsuch devices is banned dur-ing takeoff and landing.

The ministry officialsalso said passengers will beallowed to make calls withtheir mobile phones soonerthan now after landing,although domestic carriersplan to ask passengers torefrain from making on-board phone calls out of con-sideration for other passen-gers, according to people inthe industry.

In Europe and theUnited States aviationauthorities have relaxedrules on the use of electronicdevices since last year as thetechnologies controlling theaircraft has developed andbecome more reliable andless sensitive to outsideinterference, and theJapanese ministry has decid-ed to follow suit.

Izena is birthplace of King Sho En of Ryukyu Kingdom

Limits on use of electronics on flights eased

Sunsets at Izena Beach are absolutely gorgeous. Izena Tamaudun (top right) was built by the second king of the sec-ond Sho dynasty for his relatives on Izena. King Sho En Park (right) has a statue of young Kanamaru who laterbecame King Sho En. His umbilical cord is buried in a corner of the park called Mihosojo.

Military officials considereasing Japan liberty rules

According to an article published in MarineCorps Times, on Aug. 3rd, U.S. Military officialsannounced that they are considering relaxing thecurrent liberty policy of Marines based in Japan bytweaking the current curfew hours.

The officials have not confirmed yet when thechanges would take effect, if at all. Potential

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According to new rules taking effect Sep. 1, passengersdon't need to turn off their electronics any time.

2Japan Update Classifieds Aug. 14, 2014 - Aug. 20, 2014

Maxx Gallo built home for Okinawan Blues

By David Higgins

If it’s the weekend on Okinawaand you are looking for livemusic, you may be hardpressed to find something

good going on. It’s a rare occa-

sion that stellar bands and musi-cians come to Okinawa to per-form. However, luckily there is anew venue that has opened recent-ly that offers live Blues music; it ispart of a circuit of musicians play-ing throughout Asia.

This venue is Maxx’s LiveHouse, and its owner is MaxxGallo. Maxx is determined to cre-ate a premier location for Blues afi-cionados on Okinawa, and he isalso part of a Blues band herelocally on Okinawa called theShima Blues Band. The venue isequipped with everything a bandneeds to conduct a spectacular per-formance with house lights to setthe right mood. Maxx’s also offersa wide range of cocktails, beer ontap and non-alcoholic drinks.

As well as holding the title ofowner of Maxx’s club, Maxx is aveteran musician and pro drum-mer. He has been playing musicwith several Japanese andAmerican musicians for over 15years and is originally from NewYork. He has been a pro drum-mer for over 30 years.

Maxx's club hosts a varietyof live entertainment and events.There is live music every week-end. On Monday nights the clubhosts Okinawa's longest-runningBlues Jam session called BlueMonday. It has been running

every Monday night for two yearsstraight. Blue Monday is hostedby Osaka Blues man, Otis Yoshie,who often plays on his own alongwith Clint Walker and JohnOliver III who are some of theclub's regular players. The clubhas a full dinner menu thanks toNashville Restaurant and Rodeo.The types of bands include Jazz,Rock, Blues Acoustic andReggae. There are even danceshows by Oki glee, RN DanceStudio, and Moon Roses Belly

Dancers.Usually during any given

Monday on Okinawa not much isgoing on, but thanks to Maxx’sLive House you now have a placeto hear some talented Blues bandson Blue Monday. Your usualMonday blues will be trans-formed into blues of a different,better kind as you listen to thesweet sounds of music comingfrom Maxx’s.

Maxx’ s is located athttp://goo.gl/maps/jesbK

Izena IslandContinued from page 1mainland Okinawa, he stayed at variousplaces and finally reached the central areaof the island and got a job at Shuri Castle.There, he worked for King Sho Taikyuand won favor with him. As he was pro-moted, his position became higher andfinally he got the job managing govern-ment for the Naha area. After King ShoTaikyu passed away, Machigani was notpleased with the new king because of histyrant style and retired. King Sho Toku

died after just one year on the throne andthe new progeny was too young, leadingone of the chief councilors to suggestrecruiting Kanamaru (Machigani) to takeover as the new King of Ryukyu.

At that time, the economy and gov-ernment management was very bad, andpeople agreed to Kanamaru becoming theKing. He accepted it and became the king,King Sho En. His reign was the beginningof the second Sho dynasty. Kanamaru was56 years old at that time, and his dynastylasted unbroken from 1470 until 1879when the Meiji government of Japan

brought the Ryukyu Kingdom to an end,made Okinawa one of its prefectures, andabolished the Ryukyu Royal court.

Izena Island is a small island butthere are a lot of sightseeing places,including the birth place of Kanamaru. It’slocated about 30 km off west from HedoPoint, about one-hour by ferry from Untenport in Nakijin Village in the northern partof Okinawa’s mainland. There are normal-ly just two round trips by ferry each daydeparting 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. fromUnten Port, so if you want to watch somespots and relax, the village’s strong rec-ommendation is to stay at least one night

on the island. Departures from Izena are 9a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

To get to the Unten Port, takeexpressway to the end at Kyoda, and con-tinue on Highway 58 through Nago untilIsagawa intersection, then turn left andtake route 71 and also route 505, andchange to route 72 at Amesoko. Finally,follow the signs to the Unten port.

On this weekend, there is the KingSho En Festival on the island, and theferry could make some extra runs. Detailson the ferry are at http://vill.izena.oki-nawa.jp/ izena/access (in Japanese only).

Maxx Gallo is a professional drummer and the force behind his name-sake live house.

Maxx's hosts Okinawa's longest running blues session on Mondays.