Karate (空手), also karate-do, is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While, modern karate is primarily a striking art that uses punches and kicks, traditional karate training also employs throwing and joint locking techniques. A karate practitioner is called a karate-ka (空手家).
Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It has a population of 1,457,162 and a geographic area of 2,281 km2.
The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner with a crimson-red circle at its center. The flag is officially called the Nisshōki but is more commonly known in Japan as the Hinomaru. It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising Sun.
The United States Forces Japan (USFJ) is a subordinate unified command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. It was activated at Fuchū Air Station in Tokyo, Japan, on 1 July 1957 to replace the Far East Command. USFJ is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo and is commanded by the Commander, US Forces Japan who is also commander of the Fifth Air Force. Since then, it is the first and only sustained presence of a foreign military on Japanese soil in its history.
Okinawan music is the music associated with the Okinawa Islands of southwestern Japan. In modern Japan, it may also refer to the musical traditions of Okinawa Prefecture, which covers the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands in addition to the Okinawa Islands. It has its roots in the larger musical traditions of the Southern Islands.
Okinawa Island, officially Okinawa Main Island, is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately 106 kilometres (66 mi) long, an average 11 kilometres (7 mi) wide, and has an area of 1,206.98 square kilometers (466.02 sq mi). It is roughly 640 kilometres south of the main island of Kyushu and the rest of Japan. It is 500 km northeast of Taiwan. The total population of Okinawa Island is 1,384,762. The greater Naha area has roughly 800,000 residents, while the city itself has about 320,000 people. Naha is the seat of Okinawa Prefecture on the southwestern part of Okinawa Island. Okinawa has a humid subtropical climate.
The Act on National Flag and Anthem, abbreviated as 国旗国歌法, is a law that formally established Japan's national flag and anthem. Before its ratification on August 13, 1999, there was no official flag or anthem for Japan. The nisshōki (日章旗) flag, commonly referred to as the hinomaru (日の丸), had represented Japan unofficially since 1870; "Kimigayo" (君が代) had been used as Japan's de facto anthem since 1880.
Tomoe, commonly translated as "comma", is a comma-like swirl symbol used in Japanese mon. It closely resembles the usual form of a magatama.
Crime in Japan has been recorded since at least the 1800s, and has varied over time.
Okinawa Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd., also known as OTV, is a Japanese broadcast network affiliated with the FNN/FNS. Their headquarters are located in Okinawa Prefecture.
Shōmei Tōmatsu was a Japanese photographer. He is known primarily for his images that depict the impact of World War II on Japan and the subsequent occupation of U.S. forces. As one of the leading postwar photographers, Tōmatsu is attributed with influencing the younger generations of photographers including those associated with the magazine Provoke.
Tatsuhiro Ōshiro was an Okinawan novelist and playwright from Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands.
The Japanese city of Tokyo has two official emblems: the monshō ("crest") and the shinboru ("symbol"). The crest is a six-rayed stylized sun with a dot in the center, while the symbol is a stylised Ginkgo biloba leaf.
Kaidā glyphs are a set of pictograms once used in the Yaeyama Islands of southwestern Japan. The word kaidā was taken from Yonaguni, and most studies on the pictographs focused on Yonaguni Island. However, there is evidence for their use in Yaeyama's other islands, most notably on Taketomi Island. They were used primarily for tax notices, thus were closely associated with the poll tax imposed on Yaeyama by Ryūkyū on Okinawa Island, which was in turn dominated by Satsuma Domain on Southern Kyushu.
Masahiro Mori was a Japanese ceramic designer born in Saga Prefecture, Japan. The well known "G-type Soy Sauce Bottle" he designed in 1958 won the 1st Good Design Award in 1960 and its production and sales have continued until today. He won the Good Design Award more than 110 times in his life. In describing his design philosophy, he stated, "My pleasure as a designer is to conceive of forms for daily use, and to create pieces for production in the factory, so that many people can appreciate and enjoy using them". He worked to design ceramic dishes suitable for the Japanese lifestyle in post-World War II.
Events in the year 1920 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 9 (大正9年) in the Japanese calendar.
Events in the year 1908 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 41 (明治41年) in the Japanese calendar.
The flag of Ryukyu is a number of flags that represent the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Ryukyu Islands, and the Ryukyuan people.
Kenshichi Heshiki was an Okinawan photographer. He is known for his dedication to the subject of Okinawa and often photographed quiet scenes of Okinawans who lived on the margins of society. Heshiki's understated photographs of daily life in Okinawa have been differentiated from images taken by mainland photographers who visited the islands to shoot the protests and tension surrounding Okinawa's reversion back under Japanese control. Heshiki was most prolific between the late 1960s to the 1990s during which he travelled to and photographed various remote areas within the Ryukyu Archipelago. These images feature in his seminal book Lungs of a Goat which earned him the prestigious Ina Nobuo Award.
