Fantastic Okinawa
Henoko base construction
Hanta Path offers walk through Okinawan history
Okinawa’s budget slashed, but Henoko continuesThe central government in Tokyo
has been sending not-quite-so-sub-tle signals to Okinawa GovernorTakeshi Onaga, who’s only been in
office a month, letting him know that oppo-sition to the national government programsand plans for relocating Futenma MarineCorps Air Station from Ginowan City tonorthern Okinawa will come at a cost.
Onaga’s opposed to the base reloca-tion to the sparsely populated Henoko dis-trict of Nago City, and has vowed to find away to reverse approvals that have initialland reclamation and plans for the new air-base well under way, thanks to approvalsby former governor Hirokazu Nakaima.That’s not sitting well with Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe’s government, which severalweeks ago refused to even see GovernorOnaga when he was making calls in Tokyo.
Now, Abe’s team is sending anotherwarning; oppose us and your funding foreconomic promotion of Okinawa will bediminished. Reports from Tokyo earlierthis week are calling for a reduction from¥350.1 billion for the upcoming fiscal yearpromised to Governor Nakaima, and a ¥40billion decrease to just over ¥310 billion.
Within the prime minister’s inner cir-cle, there’s not unanimity on how to handlethe Okinawa opposition. Some re saying itis necessary to get Okinawa’s attention,rewarding good conduct and punishing badconduct. Others, however, think it is tact-
less, or in poor taste, to slash budget num-bers previously promised. The StateMinister for Okinawa and the NorthernTerritories Affairs, Shunichi Yamaguchi,told reporters he thought it’s wrong to cutOkinawa’s funding. In fact, he’s asked theFinance Minister, Taro Aso, limit budgetcuts to a “mild” level.
“It’s not right to reduce what’s neces-sary for Okinawa,” he said. At the sametime, Chief Cabinet Secretary YoshihideSuga reiterated there’s no chance of theFutenma airfield relocation project beingstopped. “The former Okinawa prefecturaladministration approved the plan, and thereare no problems with carrying out thework,” Suga told a satellite television pro-
gram. What will not change, the ChiefCabinet Secretary promised, is support forconstruction of a second runway at NahaInternational Airport. The current yearnational budget includes ¥33 billion for theairport expansion.
By Jun Ikemura
Hanta Path was once a part of the RyukyuKingdom’s main road connecting KatsurenCastle, now part of modern day Uruma City, withShuri Castle, the seat of the government, through
Nakagusuku Castle in Nakagusuku village, and KochiCastle in Nishihara.
The Hanta Path is easily accessible by car, after whicha relaxing walk provides opportunities to contemplateOkinawan history. According to undocumented history,the road was constructed gradually during the 12th through15th centuries, serving as the area’s principal road on thewest side of Okinawa Island. Many historical assets stillremain along the road, but unfortunately, the path is solong and hard to clean throughout the year, meaning someparts of it are covered with bush at least during some partsof the season. Because of that, there is the possibility of an
encounter with a habu snake, especially in summer time.As visitors walk this historical path, they’re encouraged towalk carefully and avoid going into the brush.
The middle Ryukyu main road was from Katsuren toShuri in ancient times, but it is still open for walks through theNakagusuku part. It is called Hanta Path, and its starting pointis at San-A Nakagusuku Branch, and ending at NakagusukuCastle ruins. Hanta means cliff in Okinawan dialect, and visi-tors quickly find why they call the path cliff street when walk-ing the path. Although only one part of the ancient road, theexisting Hanta Path is about seven kilometers long, and thereare some long and steep stairs along the way, making it not soeasy for people with physical limitations.
If visitors park their cars at the starting or end pointand walk the path, they must return the same way, unlesssomeone agrees to move your car. The stroll provides areal feel of the Ryukyu era along the path, and it is easy toimagine ancestors who used to walk this path.
There are a couple of ancient assets here, and caretak-ers hope visitors will enjoy the Hanta path in Nakagusukuvillage. First, there is Agai Tida bridge: it is located justbehind the San-A Nakagusuku branch and from there it iseasy to see the Nakagusuku Village and Nakagusuku Bay.Along the way is Arakaki stone bridge, a stone bridge inArakaki district in Nakagusuku. It is also a part of Hantapath. There were more bridges in that area before war, butothers were destroyed and now just one bridge remains.
Tsunmaasu is the ancient rotary circle. A pine tree isplanted at the center of the circle. Another popular photosite is Perry's Banner Rock: When Commodore MatthewPerry's party explored the island’s east coast during hishistorical visit in 1853, they walked through the HantaPath. Taking a rest under this rock, and the view wasamazing, they placed the American flag on the top of therock and named it the “Banner Rock”.
When Commodore Matthew Perry and his entourage took a rest by this rock during his visit in 1853, they hoisted theAmerican flag on top of it, and the site has been known ever since as "Perry's Banner Rock."
The Path winds through a landscape of sugar fields.
Only one of the stone bridges along the Hanta Pathremains, the rest were destroyed in the war.
Jan. 15, 2015 - Jan. 21, 2015 www.japanupdate.com
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Traditional dance and music bridge two cultures
Paintball is newest adventure sport at northern resort
Bali and the Ryukyu Kingdom are dividedby the Pacific, but Okinawa is puttingtogether a really unique program of col-laboration between Bali and Ryukyu
performing arts teams. The islands of both Bali and Okinawa are
known for original traditional performing arts.
On these small islands, thousands of dances andmusic were produced in the kingdom era, andthese traditional performing arts of dance andmusic have come down to the next generation byadjusting to present interests The NationalTheatre Okinawa is bringing the two culturestogether on Sunday, Jan. 25th, with an afternoonand evening of music..
The show has four themes: ‘TraditionalDance’, ‘Masked Dance’, ‘Dance of Love’ and‘Fisherman Dance’. Balinese performers arefrom the group Matahari Terbit. The groupformed in 2005 by mainly foreign students ofOkinawa Prefectural College of Performing Artsas the group of a gamelan players and dancers.They now play at a live house in Urasoe City,and at various events around the island.
Doors for the show open at 4:30 p.m. withthe program beginning at 5 p.m. Advance ticketsare ¥3,000 for adults, or ¥3,500 at the door.Children ages 5 ~ 18 pay in advance ¥2,500, or¥3,000 at the door. Tickets are available at e-plus, Co-op Apre, Ryubo Department Store, andat the National Theatre Okinawa ticket counter.
It might still a little bit if the hunterbecomes the victim, but that’s part of theexcitement of paintball, about to beunveiled as a part of the adventure activi-
ties at the Kanucha-Bay Hotel Okinawa inNago City.
The soft opening event for the new paint-ball venue is February 8th, with hotel officialsinviting the public to check out the paintballand give it a try from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.Kanucha Bay officials are asking those inter-ested in participating in the paintball competi-tion to R.S.V.P. by email or fax to the hotel.Officially, the response deadline is January16th, but officials say they’re flexible.
Participants will be provided masks andharnesses for safety protection. The event will
be held in area 22 at the Kanucha Bay Hotel.A parking lot is available for visitors, withparticipants then taking a hotel shuttle bus tothe competition site. Organizers of the paint-ball competition remind participants to wearlong sleeve shirts and pants that will probablyget dirty. There will be a tournament gameexperience for participants 12 years of age orolder, and a mark hitting competition for kidswho cannot join the tournament.
Full details on the opening eventFebruary 8th are at http://www.kanucha.jp/en/map/index.html. Questions can be posedin Japanese at (098) 866-4519, or [email protected]. For English or Mandarinanswers, call (098) 869-4022, or [email protected].
A pair of Balinese dancers accompanied by a Gamelan percussion group.
Facial impressions, hand movements and bodygestures tell the story in Balinese dance.
Paintball game involves intense teamwork, crawling and hiding.
Kids who are too young to join thetournament can shoot a target.
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