Shoji Kudaka

1 week ago | okinawa.stripes.com | Shoji Kudaka

Next time you make instant noodle, try this phrase – “Oyu wo sosoide san-pun machimasho.” Japanese instant noodles are awesome. If you get a craving for the guilty pleasure, this is a phrase for you. “Oyu wo sosoide san-pun machimasho,” means “Pour hot water and wait three minutes.” Repeat after me.

1 week ago | japan.stripes.com | Shoji Kudaka |Takahiro Takiguchi

Constant gray skies and gloomy showers can only mean one thing in the so-called Land of the Rising Sun: The rainy season. It starts to fall on Okinawa in mid-May followed by mainland Japan and Kyushu Island in early June. Cold northerly and warm southerly air masses collide to create 45 to 50 days of a continuous dreary weather front of clouds dropping anything from drizzle to torrential downpours. But there’s no reason to let the bad weather get you down. Look on the bright side.

1 week ago | okinawa.stripes.com | Shoji Kudaka |Takahiro Takiguchi

Constant gray skies and gloomy showers can only mean one thing in the so-called Land of the Rising Sun: The rainy season. It starts to fall on Okinawa in mid-May followed by mainland Japan and Kyushu Island in early June. Cold northerly and warm southerly air masses collide to create 45 to 50 days of a continuous dreary weather front of clouds dropping anything from drizzle to torrential downpours. But there’s no reason to let the bad weather get you down. Look on the bright side.

1 week ago | okinawa.stripes.com | Shoji Kudaka

According to Okinawan newspaper, Ryukyu Shimpo, there are more than 420,000 immigrants and their descendants from Okinawa living in foreign countries. Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) explains that there are 102 Okinawa Kenjin-kai (association of people from Okinawa prefecture) overseas. These include 51 in the U.S., 3 in Canada, and 7 in China among others.

2 weeks ago | okinawa.stripes.com | Shoji Kudaka

It’s official! The rainy season began on the islands of Okinawa. On Thursday, May 22, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced the arrival of the tsuyu season for Okinawa and the Amami Islands for 2025. This announcement came one day later than last year and 12 days later than average. This season is called Tsuyu or 梅雨, which means plum rain, as it coincides with the seasonal ripening of this luscious and sour fruit, according to one theory.