This is the lady who always makes my workshop students and me delicious satandagi donuts. As I was captioning images I realized I don’t know her real name as she is always referred to as Oba-san (auntie) or Oba-chan (granny) by everyone. Will have to remember to ask her real name next time I see her!
We were introduced to Maeshiro Shusei through his student Tsueno Shimabukuro. Maeshiro sensei may be 83 but he is full of energy, something he attributes to his healthy diet. He is one of the elder statesmen of Okinawan karate.
2015 began with a quick trip to photograph the snow monkeys of Jigokudani Onsen, Nagano. Back in Okinawa I continued to document the karate masters and the people of the Ryukyu Islands. A few weeks in spring were spent in the UK where I hung out with family and took pics of some local icons. Back in Okinawa I had to update the Okinawa and Kyushu chapters of the Fodors Japan travel guide. I popped down to Iriomote to check out the options for visitors. And up to Kumamoto for a bit of history. Around the same time I was working as a location manager for the Okinawa episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. A cool experience introducing Okinawa to a huge new audience. On March 25th, I bought a house in the morning, then in the afternoon Yuki and I got married at the town office. A good chunk of the summer was then spent renovating the house and making it weatherproof. Yuki and I got some wedding pics done by being models for …
Hiroshi Takamiyagi is the founder of Goshukan Ryu Karatedo which combines Okinawa Shuri-Te Karate with Wu Zhu Quan (Five Ancestor Kenpo). The origins of karate came from Chinese emissaries so this combination is in many way taking the art form back to its most traditional techniques.
Nobuko Oshiro, Kyoshi, 8th dan Okinawa Karate-do Shorinryu, Taishinkan Association in the sugar cane fields of Sashiki Town, Okinawa, These shots were possible because of a high speed flash system that I was able to purchase with the money that came from supporters of the project purchasing a book, print or digital file. It allows me to sync a powerful flash at shutter speeds faster than 1/125 sec. I can now freeze movement without the ambient light blur normally associated with these images. 1/2000 sec at f / 4.0 ISO400 The crew: Yuki, James, Oshiro-sensei, Chris, Bekka.
Quick portrait of an Okinawan woman shot with the Pentax 645Z, 90mm lens, and natural light.
The less well known track by Survivor. Interesting to see just how shallow the depth of field is when shooting with the 645Z and a 90mm macro lens at f2.8 and the minimum focusing distance of 0.413m.
On April 3rd 2015, I moved into the new house. I was well aware that it would need some renovation work. Inside was mainly cosmetic and could wait, but the outside needed immediate work. Some of the drains at the house had been detached by previous typhoons. Leaks had occurred where water pooled up on the balcony and flowed in through air vents. Other water leaks had been caused by air vents missing hoods. In Okinawa rainy season is May to early June. It’s wet but the rain is falling vertically. However in July, August and September there are typhoons. If you have an ocean view, you are going to get hit by the full force of the wind and horizontal rain. The first job was to buy a power washer and clean the dirt off everything within reach. This enabled me to reveal any cracks in the concrete and assess the problems. Most homes in Okinawa are built out of reinforced concrete with a core of steel rebar. They are strong and able to withstand …
2015 has been a busy year, just one of the reasons is that in March I bought my first house. It was a relatively quick and painless process, but it was difficult finding information about all the associated fees in English so hopefully this post will help others. Back in December 2014, I was browsing the internet housing website Suumo. I wanted to check out the prices, and see what was available in northern Okinawa. One property in Motobu caught my attention, or to be more specific the view from the house looked amazing. The website showed an approximate location so I decided to drive over. I found the house, and although there were no FOR SALE signs, I knocked on the door. The owner came out a little surprised, but was very friendly. We had a brief chat and I had a quick look at the exterior. Although it was cloudy, the view was as I’d hoped, fantastic. The next day I called the toll-free number of the Sumo website and was connected through …
A few pics of Nobuko Oshiro sensei teaching a children’s class at her dojo in Urasoe, Okinawa.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 