Having talked about Ichiro Kikuta in my last post I realized I hadn’t put up an Island Icon interview I did with Ichiro three years ago. Here it is. Wildlife Illustrator Ichiro Kikuta Wildlife Illustrator   Ichiro Kikuta is an artist trying to capture the spirit of Okinawa’s wildlife. When he was only an elementary school student, Ichiro Kikuta loved to sketch and paint the birds that nested near his home. During high school, he was inspired by the work of British wildlife artist Charles Tunnicliffe. At that point,he knew what he wanted to do with his life. After graduation, he spent 6 months traveling around Britain exploring the landscapes and animals that had inspired Tunnicliffe. Upon his return to Japan, Ichiro began to explore his own country with sketchbook in hand. For the past 25 years, he has journeyed from Hokkaido to the Ryukyu Islands capturing the beauty of animals ranging from snow-covered crested cranes to the Okinawan rail. He now lives in the northern part of Okinawa known as Yanbaru. There, he continues …

Okinawan Superman Kiyohide Shinjo is an 8th dan master of Uechi-ryu karate. Kiyohide Shinjo was born on Ie Island in 1951. His family moved to Naha when he was five, and Kiyohide began studying karate at the age of ten from his father, Seiyu Shinjo, one of Okinawa’s karate masters. He earned his shodan (first degree black belt) at age 16, and in 1960, Kiyohide and his father opened a new dojo at Kadena Rotary. Kiyohide Shinjo is the nine-time Okinawa Karate Champion in both kumite and kata － gaining him the nickname “the Okinawan Superman.” When his father died in 1979, Kiyohide retired from competition, undefeated, and took over the Kadena dojo. In 2004, the dojo moved to Toguchi in Yomitan. There Kiyohide continues to inspire others with his passion for karate. What’s your favorite technique? “I use the toe kick. It’s one of Uechi-ryu’s iconic techniques; it’s devastatingly effective. It doesn’t matter where the blow lands, it will incapacitate the opponent leaving you in control of the encounter.” (At this point Kiyohide took …

Lion King Mitsuo Miyagi creates plaster shîsâ. He operates his own store and gallery beside Kokusai-Street, and his designs have met with both critical acclaim and commercial success. Mitsuo studied art at Kaiho High School on Okinawa before attending college in Kyoto. Rather than specialize in just one discipline, Mitsuo trained under several teachers to learn pottery, sculpture, papermaking, ink, and painting. At age 21, he returned to Okinawa and started creating shîsâ in his apartment. His unique designs became popular almost immediately, and soon he was overrun with too many orders and too little space. In 2001, he moved to a new studio in Onna Village from which he could create larger sculptures and paintings. On April 3, 2005, he opened his own gallery and store in Naha City, where visitors can browse his work or even create their own shîsâ. What is a shîsâ? Is it a lion, a dog or some kind of dragon? “Shîsâ are sometimes called lion-dogs, but I think this is only half-right. Shîsâ are based on lions, which …