Turtle Release at Emerald Beach, Okinawa Expo Park
The day after I got back from Yakushima, I was up at Emerald Beach to photograph the release of captive bred turtles into the ocean. Here are a selection of images from the event.
All posts filed under: Okinawa
10,000 Person Eisa Dance
I should have mentioned this before the event, but today was the 10,000 person Eisa dance festival on Kokusai Street in Naha. Took the big camera and shot a roll and a half. Manual focus and medium format film is not ideal for fast moving dances – there is a good chance that many if not all the shots will be out of focus or have an arm blocking the face. Will have to wait and see if there are any keepers when I get the film back. Until then here’s one from a couple of years ago.
The Best of Nagasaki
My feature “The Best of Nagasaki” is in the August edition of Okinawa Living magazine. You can read the entire text from the article and check out more photographs of Nagasaki here: The Best of Nagasaki.
An unfair advantage…
Last weekend I went for a bike ride with my friend Tom. He was visiting from California, and as a keen cyclist wanted to get at least one good ride in while he was in Okinawa. The problem with riding with Tom is that he is simply too fast. (Tom has ridden at 66 miles an hour while facing backwards on a recumbent tandem bicycle!) To give me a fighting chance, Tom started 40 kilometers away, riding my old heavy mountain bike. When he reached my house I joined him on my road rocket and we did a 70 kilometer loop up to Nago City and back. It was a great ride with fantastic weather, and we were both able to maintain a similar pace. The joys of an unfair advantage.
Annya Eyestone Photography
My friend, and fellow photographer on Okinawa, Annya Eyestone has a photo on the back page of this month’s Okinawa Living. Congratulations Annya! You can see more of Annya’s work at her website Picture Okinawa.
Open-Air Photography in July’s Okinawa Living Magazine
In the July issue of Okinawa Living, I have a 6 page feature on photographing Okinawa’s outdoors. Scans from the magazine below, and I’ll put up the text next month for people who’d like to read the feature but aren’t on Okinawa.
Shamisen Rock
In the interview with sanshin player Byron Jones I asked if he could play Hendrix. Yesterday I found this video by shamisen player Kevin Kmetz proving that you only need three strings to rock! I believe the Japanese dubbed version of Iron Man began with this song 🙂
Okinawan Bus Driver Kills Boy
From JapanUpdate Okinawa’s weekly English newspaper: City bus strikes, kills bike-riding youngster Date Posted: 2009-06-25 A seven-year-old boy is dead after being run over by a Nanjo City bus Monday afternoon. Nanjo City Police say the fatality occurred as a city bus driver on the Baten Branch run in Tsuhako, Sashiki area of Nanjo City, on Route 331, encountered the young boy on a bicycle in front of him. The bus driver reportedly tried to get the youngster, Kousei Chinen, to move to the side of the road, and tried to pass him. When the bus driver sounded his bus horn, the noise surprised the elementary school student and caused him to lose control of his bicycle. Chinen fell from the bicycle, and beneath the bus. The driver, realizing what happened, stopped the bus about 100 meters from the accident. A passenger aboard the bus ran to the youngster, saw his school nametag, and called him “Kousei chan, Come on, please. Can you hear me?” The boy was transported to a nearby hospital, where he …
Island Icons – Sanshin Virtuoso Byron Jones
After mentioning Byron Jones in the previous post I thought I should put up the entire interview for those who didn’t see it in the magazine. Sanshin Virtuoso Byron Jones was born in Quantico, Virginia. In 1985 his father, a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, was transferred to Camp Foster on Okinawa. Byron attended high school on base, but developed a deep interest in the local Ryukyu culture. At 19, he started playing the sanshin, a traditional Okinawan three-string instrument, which would become his passion. As his proficiency increased, he gained a reputation in the local and national media as “more Japanese than the Japanese.” Byron now teaches the sanshin at various places including the University of the Ryukyus. What is your musical background? I played the clarinet when I was in the 4th Grade, and in high school, one of my friends taught me to play guitar. I saw a sanshin for the first time while visiting my friend’s house and immediately wanted to learn how to play. It wasn’t possible to rent …
Okinawan Sanshin in a Pussycat Dolls’ Song?
Listening to the local radio station the other day I heard a song by The Pussycat Dolls. The tune would have been forgettable except for the fact that it sounds like an Okinawan sanshin is playing in the background. Does anyone happen to know if it really is a sanshin? The song is called Whatcha Think About That The Okinawan sanshin is a three stringed instrument, similar to a banjo. It is a close relative of the shamisen that is played on mainland Japan. Here’s a shot of professional sanshin player Byron Jones that I took for Okinawa Living.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 