Henoko plan

Nishihara Town is center of Okinawa's education

By Jun Ikemura

Everyone in NishiharaTown thinks education,with a couple of universi-ties and a junior college

within its boundaries, and there’sa high school famous for its

marching bands prowess, as well.The University of Ryukyus,

the only national university inOkinawa, is in Nishihara, as areOkinawa Christian University andOkinawa Christian JuniorCollege. Nishihara High School isthere, and it is very famous for

it’s marching band. NishiharaHigh has more than once won thegrand prize for the All Japan HighSchool Tournament. It’s volley-ball and football clubs are often inthe news, too, as being among thebest in Japan. For pretty obviousreasons, Nishihara Town's nick-

name is “ Educational townNishihara”.

Nishihara Town is locatedjust northeast of Naha City thecapital city of Okinawa. In addi-tion to Naha City, it also sitsalongside Urasoe City, GinowanCity, Nakagusuku Village,

Haebaru Town and YonabaruTown.

There is one element of con-fusion in the town’ s name;“ Nishi” means “ West” inJapanese and “ Hara” means“ Field” , so if one guessedNishihara means a field in thewestern part in Okinawa, they’dbe right, right? It is not. Actually,Nishihara is located in easternOkinawa.

Why is it then Nishi even ifit’s located on the east side of theisland? It’s because of Okinawandialect. In the old days -- and stillolder persons today -- use “Nishi”for its Okinawan meaning“North” although it means “west”in Japanese. Thus, Nishihara islocated north of Naha, specifical-ly from Shuri Castle, so it hasbeen Nishihara since ancienttimes.

During World War II, theJapanese military built an air baseat Nishihara by the ocean, butbefore it was completed, the areawas taken over by U.S. Militaryforces and after the war, used as aU.S. Air Base for a while. After itwas returned to Okinawa, the areabecame an oil storage area and alocation to some factories andsugar cane fields. After the war,the area was famous for sugarcane production, and boasted hav-ing the largest sugar mill in thesouthern part of Okinawa untilearly 90's. That area has beenhome to San-A Nishihara Cityshopping center since 2003.

Katsuki Matayoshi, a profes-sional baseball player playingwith the Chunichi Dragons, hailsfrom Nishihara High School. Hewas chosen to Samurai Japan (AllJapan team) just a few days ago,becoming the first player chosenfor the All Japan team ever from

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Youkai, a word or term typically associ-ated with ghosts and Japanese folkcreatures, is the latest craze amongJapanese and, if anime soothsayers are

right, every other pre- and elementary school agekid in the world, and has now found its way tothe Ryubo Department Store in Naha City.

The game and accompanying anime arewildly popular, particularly with elementaryschool children. Youkai, meaning a mysticapparition or mysterious ghost, applies to allsorts of supernatural beings or legends from vir-tually any culture, thus creating thousands of sto-ries in youkai.

Usually youkai are safely invisible, butbecome visible to a bearer of a special watch.The event now at Ryubo is called “AppearYokai-Watch Land; Let’s go to a wonderful

Adventure.” The program runs through March8th, from 10 a.m. ~ 8:30 p.m., with last entry tothe 6th floor event hall at 8 p.m. daily.Admission is ¥800 for adults, college studentsand high school

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Nishihara Dolphin Park has plenty of dolphin-shaped exciting play equipment for children.

Youkai Watch ready to set local kids

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2Japan Update Classifieds Feb. 26, 2015 - Mar. 04, 2015

Ryukyu traditional performance features masters

There are many Ryukyutraditional performingarts shows on Okinawa,but none better than those

performed by OBs who specializein studying Ryukyu traditionalperforming arts at Okinawa

Prefectural University of Arts.The OB group is comprised

of some 140 members of theschool’s highly skilled alumniwho’ve performed in the frontlines not only in Okinawa andmainland Japan, but overseas.

The public has an opportunity towatch them perform on Saturdayand Sunday at the Yuuna Hall,Onna Village Fureai Hand-onExperience Center. Two showstake place Saturday. Doors openat 1:30 p.m. for a 2 p.m. show,and open again at 5:30 p.m. for a6 p.m. presentation. On Sunday,March 1st, there’s a single per-formance at 2 p.m., with doorsopening at 1:30 p.m.

Advance tickets for adultsare ¥2,000, or ¥2,500 at door.Elementary, junior high and highschool age and college students’advance seating is ¥1,000 and¥1,500 at door. Tickets are beingsold at Onna Village FureaiHand-on Experience Center,Road Station ‘ NakayukuiMarket’, and at the Onna VillageCommunity Center

The OBs are literally thefuture leaders of Ryukyu tradi-tional arts performers. They com-

memorated the 10th anniversaryof the OBs group last year, andare expected to be active in thefuture.

In the weekend performanc-es, they play three parts. In thefirst part, they express the digestversion of the performance ofRyukyu Kingdom era like a typi-cal woman dance of celebrationdressed in gorgeous Bingata cos-tume, and a brave man’s classicdance. Agriculture, fishing andordinary people’s life will beplayed by traditional Eisa, Karateand lion dances in the middle partof the show. The last part is theoriginal performance, which wascreated by OBs of RyukyuPrefectural University of Arts. Itprovides the audience the feel ofauthentic Ryukyu classic per-forming arts.

Other than the show, twotypes of events will take place asa joint event: an artist market and

a curry fest. Artists of RyukyuPrefectural University of Arts willbring craft works like pottery andwoven fabrics. At the curry fest,the popular curries of resort hotelsin the village are served. Peoplecan try free tasting and then eatauthentic hotel curry just for onecoin of ¥500. Admission is freefor these events, which run 11a.m. ~ 6 p.m. both Saturday andSunday. Map:http://goo.gl/maps/8OpBZ

NishiharaContinued from page 1Okinawa.

The bay area of Nishihara andYonabaru Town has seen the building of anew town project and has one of the fastestgrowing populations on Okinawa.Nishihara Town is also the home for somebig factories, and represents the highestvalue of shipments of any town inOkinawa. Major companies include NanseiSekiyu, an oil refinery, Kanehide group,Okiko bread maker, Morinaga dairy indus-try, Ishikawa distillery and several more.Some of the companies accept visitors forback yard tours.

From a historical perspective,Nishihara has interesting stories. King ShoEn, the first king of the second Shodynasty, stayed at Nishihara Uchima Udun

for a while after King Sho Taikyu passedaway. Sho En whose original name wasKanamaru was the chief of staff of KingSho Taikyu, and was assigned the Lord ofUchima in the Nishihara area. The UchimaUdun still exists and even under renova-tion, and is considered a holy place for notonly people of Nishihara but all Okinawa.

Included among historical assets inNishihara Town, is the old Miyazato house,which is located in the Tanabaru district,and is very interesting. Very old toiletrooms still remain, which are open roofedwhere pigs fed in the same space and atehuman stool. The relationship betweenOkinawans and pigs has been around forages and pork is still a very importantingredient in Okinawan cuisine.

Nishihara city is also famous for itsmany places to relax and kid to play. TheDolphin Park next to the man-madeNishihara Kirakira beach. Uehara Takadai

Park is located at the upper hilly part ofNishihara Town, and is very popular withkids. Nishihara Athletic Park is huge and

good for jogging or walking, and NishiharaPark golf is a place for residents to enjoyground golf, also known as croquet.

AGlobal Culture Festival is slated for Saturdayafternoon to provide people in Okinawa with aperspective of other cultures present on the

island.The 1 p.m. festival at the Urasoe Central

Community Center Auditorium on the third floor is free,and open to the public. The Community Center is locat-ed at 1-1-2 Ahacha, Urasoe City, next to the Urasoe Cityoffice building.

This event is for anyone interested in foreign coun-tries and cultures, and Assistant Language Teachers whoteach English at local schools. Coordinators forInternational Relations living in Okinawa (CIRs) willintroduce their cultures. Organizers say Saturday is theperfect chance to learn more about their countries.There will be presentations, Hawaiian Hula dance, hiphop and salsa dance, games and a quiz.

The world cookies and tea tasting time is alwayspopular for visitors.

Global Culture Festival draws attention to diversity

Nishihara used to be the top producer ofsugar cane in southern Okinawa.

Uchima Udun was the official residenceof Sho En before he became the king.

Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) living onOkinawa showcase their countries and cultures.

Programs on stage include Hawaiian hula, hip hop andsalsa as well as game shows.

Nothing is more Okinawan than karate.

Yotsudake is a traditional cele-bratory Ryukyu dance.