All posts tagged: okinawa

Crusader for Health – Interview with Dr. Makoto Suzuki

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Dr. Makoto Suzuki is a cardiologist and geriatrician. In 1976, he moved from Tokyo to Okinawa and began work at the Ryukyu University Hospital. While working in the field of community medicine, he discovered that there were an unusually high number of very healthy old people living on Okinawa. He began the Okinawa Centenarian Study, which has documented the phenomenon for more than 30 years. The findings of his research became the basis of several books that became bestsellers in Japan and around the world. How did you discover the phenomenon of Okinawan longevity? “I had heard that there was a very healthy old lady living in Yomitan Village, so I, and two others from the hospital, went out to meet her. She was over 100 years old, but when we arrived she was outside cutting the grass with a sickle. I was amazed at how fit and strong she was. When we talked to her, she didn’t think she was unusual at all. In fact, she pointed out that another healthy centenarian lived directly …

Words of Warning and Wisdom – Interview with Dr. Andrew Weil

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Dr. Andrew Weil is the director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. He’s been on the cover of Time magazine, written several best selling books and was recently described as one of the twenty most influential people in America. During his visit to Okinawa I talked to him briefly about his thoughts and views on healthy living and the longevity of Okinawans. What do you think are the major problems with the western diet? “Too much meat and animal products in general. Too few vegetables and too few fruits, the wrong kind of fats especially too much refined vegetable oil, margarine and artificially hardened fats, and too few of the Omega-3 fats from fish. Also too much refined carbohydrates, highly processed wheat flour and in general too much processed food, not enough fresh natural food, I’d say they were the main problems.” What can we learn from the Okinawan diet? “Many more vegetables and a greater variety of vegetables, more legumes especially soy and other special Okinawan foods, goya and …

USO Color Blast Okinawa 2014

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This morning was the USO Color Blast 5km Fun Run on Okinawa. The Color Blast is very similar to the Indian festival of Holi. Participants throw powdered paint at each other and everyone comes away from the event a lot more colorful than when they arrived. The Color Blast combines throwing paint with a 5km run, and the paints used are waterbased and non-toxic. (This is not always the case in India. I had to throw away most of my clothes and scrub off a couple of layers of skin to remove the paint after shooting Holi in Jaipur.)

Friday Night Lights

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My friend Chris said his son was playing football on Friday night and invited me to come along and take a few pics. Jonathan is a Tiny Mite football player. This is tackle football for kids aged 5 to 8. They put on their pads, helmets, and mouthguards then attempt to decimate the competition. We had a few minutes before the game so I took the Pentax 645Z, a 25mm wide angle, and the B1 strobe onto the edge of the field. A few quick shots while there was a little color still in the sky and we were done. I don’t know anything about American Football (I believe one team used a refrigerator as a player in the ’80’s). However, when I wanted Jonathan to give me his game face I simply said show me Hulk and got exactly what I wanted.

Yotsudake Dancers, Ryukyu Dynasty Parade, Kokusai Street.

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Yotsudake is one of the traditional Ryukyu dances. The dancers wear a flower shaped hat, and a bingata kimono. They hold a pair of instruments similar to castanets which are made from four (yotsu) pieces of bamboo (take). They clap the yotsudake in time to the music. These images were all shot with the Pentax 645Z and the 90mm lens. The 90mm lens is an excellent portrait lens, allowing a shallow depth of field when needed and also has image stabilization to reduce motion blur due to camera shake.

Shurijo Castle Festival – Traditional Procession November 3rd 2014

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Before my more linguistically minded friends point it out, I realize that as jo means castle saying Shurijo Castle is a tautology, and may cause annoyance. However as the official title of the festival on posters and leaflets was Shurjo Castle Festival, I shall use their version. On November 3rd the ceremony begins in the courtyard of Shurijo. The procession of courtiers, envoys, guards, regents, and of course the king and queen then parade out of the castle. They descend through the various gateways and along the main road almost to the monorail station. Monday was a gorgeously sunny November day, but it did mean I was looking for patches of shade when shooting portraits. There were many excellent  fake beards on show. There were also several priestesses (yuta) who were once the religious counsel to the royal family. They still play a role in modern Okinawa as mediums and advisers.

Halloween in Mihama

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Mihama’s American Village in Chatan Town is the place to be on Halloween. The fancy dress competition is probably the most popular event of the year. I stopped by on the way home from helping set up the Okinawa 9 exhibition in Naha and took a few pics. I used the Pentax 645Z, 90mm lens and the Profoto B1 strobe with a beauty dish for light. Spooky fun.

Zombie Walk in Okinawa

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On Sunday, I was invited to the Annual Zombie Walk in American Village, Chatan. The zombies lurched their way from the AEON parking lot to Depot Island. Some may have expected that terror would smother the area like a wool blanket laced with smallpox. The reality was smiles, selfies, and an impromptu dance-off between a zombie and a group of high school girls. Awesome. Pics taken using the Pentax 645Z and the Profoto B1 with voice activated light stand (Thanks Cody)

World’s Largest Tug of War

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Last weekend was the world’s largest tug of war. It is held each year on route 58 in Naha City, Okinawa. First the two halves of the rope are joined together with a giant wooden pin. Kings of the west side and east side are then carried to the center of the rope. Thousands of spectators including Okinawans, tourists and local American military take part in the event pulling for either the East or West team. I was pleased that this year I could add to my selection of images of the tug of war . I already had a fantastic overview shot from 2010, but it was great to get some POV shots from the center of the action. The above shots were all taken with the Pentax 645Z and the 25mm lens held above my head on a monopod. The photo below was with the Pentax 645D and 55mm.

Ryukyu Dance – Kazue Higa performs at the National Theatre Okinawa

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I photographed dancer Kazue Higa performing at the National Theatre Okinawa last weekend. A wonderful opportunity to see such a spectacle, and to be allowed to take an enormous camera, tripod and telephoto lens into the theatre. After I have a chat with Higa-san I will update this post in the near future giving details of the costumes and dances performed in each of these pics. These were all photographed with the Pentax 645Z and the 300mm f4 ED lens at 1/100 sec ISO 400 at f4.5