Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Uruma City in Okinawa Prefecture will screen the Katsuren Omoro Sōshi promotional animated short at the Amawari Park historical and cultural facility in April the 10th Ryukyuan Lord (Aji) of Katsuren Castle He was a prominent historical figure of the Ryukyu Kingdom which predated annexation by the Japanese empire The Omoro Sōshi is a collection of ancient poems and folk songs from the Ryukyu Kingdom The city began streaming a trailer for the anime on Tuesday: Tōru Furuya plays both Amawari and the navigator character Hinukan. Shino Shimoji a voice actress whose hometown is in Okinawa Okinawa-based musician Akira Ikuma will also provide a voiced role and the city is auditioning for three Uruma City residents to perform in the anime Okinawan musician Sally-K will provide the theme song The anime is also receiving local collaborations Students from the Okinawa Prefectural Gushikawa Commercial High School's business multimedia course will produce the poster and a local calligraphy class will provide the text Source: Comic Natalie This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report NAHA--Kiyoshi Uezu and his parents lived through the Battle of Okinawa but he feels they never truly “survived” the war Both Okinawa and the Uezu family have a long history of suffering and despair even after the end of World War II in 1945 Uezu’s own struggles against hardship have taken him around the globe for years on end the 50th anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa to Japan from U.S Uezu was in the Okinawa prefectural capital of Naha After looking at the situation in Okinawa Prefecture Uezu said he does not feel like celebrating the anniversary he expressed what he thought was on the minds of many people in the prefecture: “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Uezu was mowing lawns in Los Angeles to make a living a colleague who was born in Okinawa Prefecture rushed over to Uezu and shouted that the prefecture had returned to Japanese administrative rule They jumped into a car and headed to a Japanese community in the city they listened to a radio report about the news unfolding 10,000 kilometers away The car radio also played an Okinawan folk song called “Bashofu” (Basho fiber cloth) The song made Uezu want to see Okinawa again Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered the blue skies and water of his hometown was born in the South Sea Islands before the Pacific War broke out his family returned to Gushikawa (present-day Uruma) in the central part of the main island of Okinawa annoyed at being unable to communicate with his wife took out his frustrations on her through violence The father also suffered injuries when his car was rear-ended by a U.S citizensin the prefecture were encouraged to emigrate to South America The Uezu family was living in poverty in Okinawa so they traveled to Brazil in 1958 for a fresh start But after their attempts at rice cultivation failed the family found they had settled on infertile land Uezu went to Argentina alone in 1966 before smuggling himself into the United States in 1970 He says he couldn’t help but think that his family became broken after being “tormented” by the war and military bases Uezu hoped to see Okinawa at peace someday And he felt some optimism because the reversion of Okinawa put the prefecture under Japan’s pacifist Constitution Uezu worked hard to save money and returned to Okinawa in 1974 Many buildings now stood along National Route 58 a major artery previously known as Military Route 1 he also saw fences separating residential areas from U.S The South American country is home to the largest community of Okinawan immigrants and many people there were interested in the prefecture’s affairs Uezu heard some people argue that Okinawa should gain independence from Japan Others said the island prefecture would develop even more if it became a U.S Uezu says he often wonders: What is Okinawa But why must it bear too heavy of a burden in terms of U.S Why does Okinawa alone have to make sacrifices Those questions remained with Uezu as he moved around the world a Japanese restaurant and many other businesses in the various countries he visited Uezu went to mainland Japan for the first time Facing bleak employment prospects and running into a language barrier with his Okinawa dialect Uezu learned how difficult it was to live in Japan Uezu also found himself receiving requests to talk about Okinawa from schools and chambers of commerce that had heard about his experiences One issue often raised in his talks was the planned relocation of the U.S Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan in Okinawa Prefecture to the Henoko district of Nago Uezu always asked those in attendance if they would accept a military base in their community He said he knows that those on Japan’s mainland are interested in Okinawa but they are reluctant to focus their attention on the military base issue He said he feels that this is what Japan is Uezu is no longer surprised by how developed the prefecture has become military aircraft including Osprey transport aircraft fly around on a daily basis Although he laments that peace has not really returned to Okinawa he takes pride in the fact that he and his home prefecture have come this far after enduring so much He identifies himself with Okinawa and feels he has always been an Uchinanchu (Okinawan) wherever he may be When it was ruled as a tributary state of imperial China the Ryukyu Kingdom became a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture) Okinawa was then annexed into modern Japan After becoming one of the bloodiest battle sites in the Pacific War the southernmost island prefecture came under U.S Half a century after Okinawa’s return to Japan in 1972 Uezu looked up at the sky while standing on the busy National Route 58 I hope many people will be saying that (Okinawa) has become what they had dreamed of,” he said caption: Kiyoshi Uezu looks up at the buildings along the National Route 58 in Naha in April Search continues for toddler killed in Battle of Okinawa in 1945 Nothing has changed in Okinawa in 50 years Storm of protest over plan to use battle site dirt in base project Survivor of brutal Battle of Okinawa shares worst memories Prewar pictures provide glimpse into daily lives of Okinawans Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission Today's print edition Home Delivery the United States and the Soviet Union teetered on the brink of nuclear war after American spy planes discovered that the Kremlin had stationed medium-range atomic missiles on the communist island of Cuba in the Caribbean The weapons placed large swaths of the U.S — within range of attack and sparked a two-week showdown between the superpowers that Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S called "the most dangerous moment in human history."googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); Six months prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis a parallel drama had played out on the other side of the world as the U.S brought near-identical missiles to the ones the Russians stationed on Cuba to another small island — Okinawa In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division A West Central Spokane family is grieving for a 19-year-old Marine private who died after falling victim to heat exhaustion while training on Okinawa a 2003 graduate of North Central High School collapsed while on a training hike on July 21 in preparation for being deployed in the global war on terrorism He died the next day after his internal organs shut down at a hospital in Gushikawa on Okinawa She said her son was stationed at Marine headquarters at Kaneohe Bay “He always wanted to be a Marine,” Love said “and always dressed in khakis.” While at North Central High School he was drum line captain of the school band and was voted “most inspirational” by his band class four years in a row She and her mother said Mitchell loved playing paintball and participated in baseball His mother said he had perfect attendance all through high school even though he also worked at Wendy’s “He didn’t graduate with honors After being informed of her son’s death she found out from Marine officers who visited her that Mitchell apparently intended to marry a Spokane woman Jennifer Love remembered her brother as always giving her encouragement and advice he dressed up as Santa Claus for me because one of my friends told me Santa wasn’t real,” she said A funeral service for Mitchell will be Monday at 11 a.m at Heritage Funeral Home and he will be buried at Riverside Memorial Park Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens © Copyright 2025, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy