Ryukyu Riders

Katsue Oshiro and Matsuri Kuniyoshi are Okinawa’s two female police motorcyclists.

Why did you become motorcycle police officers?

K.O.  “I joined the police force because I wanted a career that would let me help others. When I got to choose my specialty, I decided to become a motorcycle officer, even though I’d never ridden a bike before. It looked like such a cool thing to do as a career.”

M.K. “I rode a motorbike when I was in high school, and even got caught by the police a couple of times. I decided that I wanted to ride bikes for a living, and joined the police with the one goal of becoming a motorcycle police officer.”

What special training do police riders receive?

“The police bikes we use are 750cc Honda VFR’s. Once you’ve added sirens, lights, speakers and panniers, they become quite large and heavy. We do a lot of training to improve our maneuverability on the bikes. We have to be able to turn them around in tight spaces and weave through traffic. We’re also trained to ride fast; on the expressway we sometimes get up to 140 kilometers an hour to catch speeding vehicles.”

When you start the sirens and flashing lights, do some vehicles refuse to pull over?

“It doesn’t happen very often, but if they don’t stop we follow them until they either give up or lose control of the vehicle.”

What are the main problems that you have to deal with?

“Motorists in Okinawa are getting a lot better about using their seat belts, but now we have a big problem with people using their cellular phones while they are driving. Motorbike riders need to wear helmets that are fitted properly, and chinstraps must be fastened. We also have to deal with people who have made illegal modifications to their car by adding extra-wide tires or exhaust systems that are not designed for their vehicle.

In general, people need to relax and drive more safely. If everyone sticks to the rules then we’ll have fewer accidents on Okinawa.”

Why are roads on Okinawa so slippery when wet?

Older Okinawan roads, especially those in the northern part of the island, had coral rock mixed into the asphalt. These roads can get very slippery. Newer roads in Okinawa are built with higher quality asphalt so they give more grip. It’s still common sense, however, to slow down when the road is wet.

Have you ever seen the TV show CHiPs that’s about the Californian Highway Patrol motorcycle police?

We’ve never seen it, but our boss, Taba-san, is a big fan of Francis “Ponch” Poncherello.

(Interview first published in Okinawa Living Magazine April 2006)

A Sense of Style

It was during a visit to Paris when Kanna Yamauchi originally decided she would become a fashion designer. Some may say it was inevitable and that a sense of style was in her blood – her mother has been one of Okinawa’s top designers for more than thirty years. Upon her return to Okinawa, Kanna quit her job as a tour guide, enrolled in fashion art college, and hasn’t looked back. Now age 32, Kanna has received several design awards, gained prefectural sponsorship, and set up her own company, Yokang.

Where do the ideas for your designs come from?

“I grew up in Yanaburu; it’s very rural so you’re always surrounded by nature. The mountains, trees, ocean and flowers of Okinawa have all influenced the patterns in my clothes. When designing a new article, I think about the structure of the dress or shirt, and then work out which material and pattern will best fit that particular piece.

While studying at college, I spent my afternoons helping my mother make clothes and iron fabric. I guess it influenced me, but my own designs tend to be more functional than my mother’s and aimed at a younger market.

I also appreciate the work of some foreign designers like John Galliano. He uses materials and colors that are similar to those found in Okinawan clothing. Before he was famous, Galliano spent a lot of time ironing clothes for other designers, so I feel we are traveling similar paths.

Who buys your clothes?

Above all, it tends to be people with a real love of Okinawa. They like to have uniquely Okinawan designs, and want to support smaller businesses, like ours, that produce such items. We distribute to about forty stores at the moment, but we are now making contacts with boutiques in other countries. We’ll soon be selling Yokang designs in London and Copenhagen. We’re also starting to develop a following with celebrities; my clothes have been worn by Okinawan models Yamada Yu and Yukie Nakama, and even some Hong Kong movie stars.

What are your plans for the future?

As each item is handmade, I never expect the company to become huge. I think making clothes is at its most satisfying when you are creating tailor-made pieces. I like to be able to spend time meeting and getting to know the client. I love to discuss ideas then create the exact thing they want, whether it is an outfit for a wedding or something more casual.

At the moment ten percent of our designs use traditional bingata printing methods and ninety percent is done using stencils and an airbrush. Using an airbrush is faster and enables more people to afford traditional Ryukyu designs. In the future, however, I hope to spend more time printing with the traditional techniques.

If you could design an outfit for any person who would it be?

I would love to create clothes for Madonna. She’s been a style icon for decades, from her outrageous Jean-Paul Gaultier brassieres through to cowboy chic. Once when I was an elementary student, I went to school dressed like her. I was sent straight home by the principal. I guess not everyone shares my love of fashion.

(Interview first published in Okinawa Living Magazine March 2006)

Bokunen was born on the small Okinawan island of Izena in 1953. As a child, he always carried a sketchbook, and drew pictures of the island’s creatures and landscapes. At that time, he never imagined a career as an artist, and thought he would become either a fisherman or a carpenter. His talent, however, did not go unnoticed. One of his teachers recommended that he attend an art-based high school on the main island of Okinawa. After graduation, Bokunen became a graphic designer and set up his own design production company, Project Core.

It is his skills as a woodblock artist that have gained him them most recognition. His colorful, dream-like prints were used for the Kyoto Climate Conference in 1997, the G8 Summit in 2000, and in numerous exhibitions across Japan.

What process do you go through to create the prints?

“I begin with a vague idea of what the image will be like, but as soon as I start to carve the wood, things change. The whole process is very fluid, almost like someone is working through me. I’m not creating the image directly on the paper, but in the wood which I’ll then print from. Because of this, I feel the process has an almost spiritual quality. You’re never quite sure what’s going to happen.

Once the woodblock is finished, I spread black ink on the surface of the wood, and then press it against the paper. The black and white print is a mirror image of the carving in the wood. I then turn the paper over and paint in the colors on the back of the paper. This reverse coloring technique gives the process its name: uratesaishoku. Traditional woodblock prints, such as the tsunami by Katsushika Hokusai, use another technique called ukiyo-e. Ukiyo-e uses a different woodblock for each color and all are applied to the front of the paper. Painting from the back keeps the blacks dark and vivid, and gives my prints their distinctive style.”

Do you now work exclusively with woodblocks?

“Not at all. I sometimes do sculptures such as the bronze mermaid at Moon Beach. I also do pen and ink designs, which I print as lithographs then paint with watercolors. Woodblocks, though, are my favorite method. I love the process of carving the image; it’s unlike anything else.”

What are your main artistic influences?

“The greatest influence comes from the things around me: Okinawa’s plants, animals, people, ocean and mountains. I also want to do more traveling, as whenever you make a connection with a place or a person, you get inspired, and it is this inspiration I can then channel into my work

I like the paintings of Van Gogh and Picasso. Some people say that my prints remind them of Chagall because the women in my pictures seem to be flying through the sky.

The other person who has inspired me is Shiko Munakata. He was the first to use the uratesaishoku technique in Japan, and was one of this country’s great 20^th century artists.”

As nature is you main inspiration, do you worry about the future of the environment?

“Of course. I believe that the power of life lies hand in hand with the power of nature. I do not directly campaign for environmental protection, but I hope that, through my work, people will see the beauty of Okinawa, and not want to lose it.”

A lot of your creations include images of women or mermaids, but there don’t seem to be any men?

“I think that women are the spiritual heart of life. In Okinawa, they also have the special roles of kaminchu and yuta, priestess and shaman. To some this female power is known as Gaia, others call it Mother Nature. When I begin to draw or carve, the images just come naturally from my subconscious. Maybe, I just spend more time thinking about women than I do about men.”

(Interview first published in Okinawa Living Magazine February 2006)