The interview I did with Dr. Craig Willcox went on far longer than the single page that appeared  in the magazine. I have posted the extended version of the interview below for those who are interested. Gerontologist Craig Willcox Okinawa’s most valuable asset is its people. This month we meet Doctor Craig Willcox a Professor of International Public Health & Welfare and Gerontology at Okinawa International University. Dr. Willcox is a principal investigator in the Okinawa Centenarian Study, which has brought global attention to the healthy lifestyles of Okinawa’s oldest citizens. When did you first hear about Okinawan longevity? “While at the University of Toronto I participated in a study investigating how nutrition and other factors were associated with healthy survival. One group we were looking at was Japanese Canadians in the province of Ontario and this is when I first met Toku Oyakawa. Oyakawa-san was 105; he’d been born in Nago City (in northern Okinawa) and later emigrated to Canada. He was living a traditional Okinawan lifestyle in Canada, which suggested that Okinawan health …

Island Icon interview with gerontologist Dr. Craig Willcox in the February 2010 Okinawa Living Magazine

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 …

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 …

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 …