All posts tagged: okinawa

Noguchi-gera / Pryer’s Woodpecker / Sapheopipo noguchii

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Up early again today. Jumped in the car and met up with birder Ichiro Kikuta to check out another family of Pryer’s Woodpeckers. It was misty and rainy, but the hole in the tree was low to the ground and close to the road. I set up the tripod in the back of the car and shot from cover out through the open window. (Jack Reacher would have approved.) Every few minutes the female, or the more flamboyant red-capped male, would return to the nest with a beak full of insects.  Ichiro said that the chicks were almost ready to fly as the parents didn’t even have to go inside to feed them. Pentax 645D with SMC PENTAX-FA★645 300mm F4ED[IF] and 1.4x Rear Converter

Ie Island, Okinawa

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Took a 30 minute ferry ride from Motobu across to Ie Island. I’d never been to the island previously, which is amazing considering I’ve lived on Okinawa for over a decade. It also looks to have some great shore diving. Ie is famous for beef, togan, and brown sugar, but surprisingly the main crop on the island was tobacco. Ie island was heavily bombed during the Battle of Okinawa. The local population hid in caves to try and survive the typhoon of steel. In one cave called Niya-Thiya, around a 1000 locals waited out the battle. US war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed on Ie Island on April 18th 1945. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944, and covered the war in Europe, Africa and the Pacific. The main event on Ie Island is the Lily Festival that takes place from the end of April to the beginning of May. There are fields of white lilies, and also several rows of the more colorful varieties of Lily.

No Osprey Protest – Torii Base, Okinawa

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Another No Osprey protest took place last week outside of Torii Army Base. It was much smaller than the event I’d previously photographed near the Ginowan Convention Center. On Friday, there were around 100 protestors (and a couple of bulls), and it only lasted for around 30 minutes. There were several short speeches by leaders of the group about not wanting Osprey helicopters and military bases on Okinawa. Then as a group they faced the gate and shouted their demands. They chanted in Japanese that they didn’t want the helicopters, they didn’t want bases, and they didn’t want military on Okinawa. Then after a brief pause, the chant became “Yankee go home, Yankee go home, Yankee go home.” This was the last thing shouted, and then the protest ended and the gathering broke up. The presence of military bases in Okinawa is a contentious and complicated issue. The Okinawans have every right to voice their opinions and try to effect change on the political situation. However, to end a demonstration repeatedly chanting “Yankee go home,” …

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving in Okinawa

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Here are a few snorkeling and scuba diving images that I shot both for Leia’s modeling portfolio, and for potential use in travel magazines. You could argue that scuba divers wouldn’t be wearing as much makeup, or that a wetsuit might be more sensible when diving in April. This is true, but as I’m not shooting this as a news story, a photographer can use a little artistic license.

Yanbaru Birdwatching Tours

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Shawn Miller and I went out to Yanbaru very early this morning for a birdwatching tour with birder and wildlife artist Ichiro Kikuta. Ichiro has just started offering guided birding tours, either 2-hour dawn tours from 6AM to 8AM, or all-day tours. He can speak some English, is very personable, and has a huge wealth of knowledge about Okinawan wildlife. Shawn and I specifically wanted to see the Noguchi-gera, the rare woodpecker that is endemic to the subtropical forests of northern Okinawa. Ichiro knew where a pair of the woodpeckers were feeding their chicks, and guided us to the nest. We spent a couple of hours photographing this particular bird, while Ichiro identified other species of birds we spotted or heard. Ichiro can be contacted by phone at 090 6867 3160 or email at kikuta-ichiro@mbp.nifty.com 2-hour dawn tours are ¥6,000 per person. All-day tours for one to four people are ¥¥18,000 (1p) ¥24,000 (2p) ¥30,000 (3p) ¥36,000 (4p).  

Kiyohide Shinjo 9th-dan Uechi Ryu Karate.

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On April 30th,  I took portraits of Kiyohide Shinjo. He is a 9th-dan Uechi Ryu karate master and a nine-time all-Okinawa kata and kumite champion. He dominated karate to such an extent he was known as the Okinawan Superman. Shinjo-sensei has conditioned his body to be able to withstand huge blows without sustaining damage. He can smack his knuckles, fingertips and toes into pretty much anyone or anything. Shinjo sensei put on his serious face for the portraits, his whole body tense and ready to strike. I’m pretty sure opponents who witnessed this face were just about to lose their fight and quite possibly consciousness. This was the second time I have photographed Shinjo-sensei, the first time was in 2006. Read my Island Icons interview with Kiyohide Shinjo for Okinawa Living Magazine.

Ryukyu Mike

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  While out shooting Rie in the flower field I bumped into Ryukyu Mike for the first time. He’s a long term resident of Okinawa, and he loves to document the local flora and fauna. Check out Mike’s blog over at Ryukyulife.com  .  Hopefully Mike and I will meet up more often, and go out shooting. He’s a friendly guy, who clearly has good taste in cameras 😉  Any similarity to Albus Dumbledore or Gandalf is purely coincidental.