The bats in the tree are the Ryukyu flying fox (Pteropus dasymallus) and in Okinawa Main Island we have the subspecies Orii’s fruit bat (P. d. inopinatus). The bats were feasting on the fruit of the areca palms (Dypsis lutescens). They were so busy chewing away, they didn’t care about me taking pics. Sony A7RIV with Sony 70-200mm lens.
RIP Seiki Takushi 1939-2026 Goju-ryu, Kobudo Matayoshi-kei Hanshi 10th Dan who passed away this week. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and students around the world. On July 27th 2026 he was awarded the title of Preserver of Okinawa Prefecture’s Designated Intangible Cultural Property: “Okinawan Karate and Kobujutsu” Photographed July 18, 2014 at the Karate Kaikan, Okinawa for the Karate Masters Portrait Project.
Starting in April 2026, I have a new client, the Okinawa Yambaru DMO, for whom I will be working as their official photographer. The Okinawa Yambaru DMO has been created with the goals of promoting tourism in the Yambaru region, enhancing its appeal, and promoting sustainable community development.The DMO will collaborate with businesses, local government, and residents so that it benefits both visitors to the Yambaru and the people who live there. The Yambaru region is made up of the 12 municipalities of northern Okinawa Prefecture: Kunigami, Ogimi, Higashi, Motobu, Nakijin, Nago, Onna, Ginoza, Kin, Ie, Iheya, and Izena. I’ll be documenting cafes and restaurants. The endemic Yambaru wildlife both on land, and underwater. The local festivals and the farming community. Marine sports whether you surf, or stand-up-paddle. And the many other activities such as visting botanical gardens, studying with karate masters, or simply cruising around the island. This is a great opportunity to share my love of northern Okinawa with the world 🙂
In October, I had the pleasure of photographing the beautiful wedding of Manon & Jeff. It was a delightful open-air ceremony at Sara-no-ue-no-shizen & il Gastro Sara (皿の上の自然& il Gastro Sara), location photography among the orchids at Bios botanical gardens, then the reception back at il Gastro Sara. The reception was fantastic with an amazing array of fine food created by the chefs at il Gastro Sara. Thank you so much for having me as your photographer on your special day.
The karate interview series is back! Watch a 6 minute preview of Episode 1, then I give some updates on Series 3. Huge thank you to those who’ve already made donations as sponsors or supporters for Series 3. SERIES THREE SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex Goju Ryu Karate Series Three – Supporters Artur Carballo Justin Sheehy Olaf Steinbrecher Masaru Hoshi K.R. Ruiz Click here to learn more about the documentary series, and how you can help!
Back in 2017, Zachary bought his wife Kelley a location / studio portrait session for Christmas. Kelley had amazing ideas inspired by classic Disney movies, so we went with a demure princess look amongst Okinawa’s cosmos flowers, then transformed her into an all-powerful queen. With Kelley looking magnificent (or possibly Maleficent), we shot in the studio, then headed over to Bise Village to get images at the beach and amongst the fukugi trees. Zachary was even willing to step in front of the camera so that Queen Kelley could demonstrate the true power of the crown. Over the past 8 years, Zachary has himself transformed into a legendary Thunderbird. It was fantastic to see both Zachary and Kelley in the new Netflix documentary (That’s Zachary (Zeke) in the Official Trailer thumbnail!). So happy to see them following their dreams, and their lovely young family. Hopefully we’ll meet again if they are ever back in Okinawa, but until then safe flights as you serve your Queen and country. Thank you to Audra Pesicka for her great …
R.I.P. Jyosei Yogi, Kounan-ryu Karate & Okinawa Kobudo Renseikai, passed away at 91 years old. Fond memories of our shoot in June 2012.
Grey-faced buzzard (Butastur indicus) a common winter visitor in Okinawa happily perched on the corner of my studio.
We are embarking on creating Series 3 of Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate. We have filmed a fascinating interview with Tatsunori Matsuda of Okinawa Kenpo, and recorded the first pieces of B-roll. We’ve also got the go ahead to film interviews with Seisuke Adaniya (Matayoshi Kobudo / Shorin-ryu), Yoshio Kuba (Goju-ryu) and Kiyohide Shinjo (Uechi-ryu). The plan is to film at least 6 interviews with Okinawan masters in Series 3 so there are several other sensei that we will be reaching out to. We will also conduct several interviews with international karateka. I hope to start releasing the interviews in October 2025 around Karate Day and the Martial Arts Film Festival. If you’d like to watch previous interviews, learn more about the series, or support the project then please click the link below https://travel67.com/the-karate…/sensei-documentary/ Any questions just ask! A huge thank you to the organizations, dojos, and individuals who helped sponsor and support the first two series. SERIES TWO SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex Goju Ryu Karate Doug Perry – Okinawa Shorinryu Karate Cezar Borkowski …
A couple of pics of a Ryukyu flying fox that was taking a nap in one of our garden’s trees. We often see them flying around in the evening, but they don’t usually sleep in the trees right next to our house. The Ryukyu flying fox is a species of megabat, their wingspan is about 1.4 meters and they can weigh up to 500 grams. There’s no chance they are going to try and grab our cats, as they mainly eat fruits and flowers.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 