The preparation for this year’s commemoration of the Karate Day on October 25th at the Okinawa Karate Kaikan (invitation only) and on 31st at the Itoman Peace Prayer Park are under way. More information is available on this event’s website: https://karate-event.jp/
Furthermore, another event involving karate is schedule on November 1st.
As you may know, November 1st has been declared the “Day of Ryūkyū History and Culture” by the Okinawa Prefecture Government. For the 1st celebration this year, a ceremony will be held at the Okinawa Karate Kaikan. Ryūkyūan dances and karate demonstrations are scheduled to be staged during the event. The event should be aired live online and later available on the official website: https://ryukyubunka.jp
Last fiscal year, the Okinawa Prefecture Karate promotion division created a new application called “Okinawa Karate Navi” as part of the “Okinawa Karate Online Promotion Project”. This bilingual application is configured so that Japanese and international karate enthusiasts can easily search for dojo and karate related historic sites, etc.
This year, our information center has been outsourced to manage this application.
As it is an ongoing project, we will strive to improve the quality of the contents and add dōjō, historic sites and other contents along the way. We hope you will find it attractive.
The posters available in 5 languages of the Okinawa Karate World Tournaments scheduled to be held in 2022 have been released, and the PDF data are now available for download on the official website.
Download the posters at the bottom of this page.
Hanshi 10th Dan and a holder of the Okinawa Prefecture designated intangible cultural asset "Okinawa Karate / Kobujutsu", Wakugawa Kōsei sensei passed away on July 31st. Born in 1926, he studied karate under Gōjū-ryū masters Miyazato Eiichi and Iha Kōshin before being entrusted with the Shōdōkan school. Based in Naha City and Tomigusuku City, he taught generations of karateka for decades. He became a certified holder in 2000. May he rest in peace.
（Wakugawa sensei's demonstrating at the 2009 World tournament's dedicatory demonstration）
Our center held an online course for more than 80 university and graduate students from 10 ASEAN countries and East Timor.
This project was implemented as part of the JENESYS program promoted by the Government of Japan. The program is operated by the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE Kyushu Branch). Students are participating in 10 programs under the theme of “Reconstruction and disaster prevention in disaster areas” from July 29th to August 25th, and the sixth course was “Japanese culture experience (sports) online karate experience”.
On August 10th, the day of the event, OKIC’s director Uehara Kunio gave a lecture titled “Okinawa, its history, culture and karate” and answered questions from participants. After answering the questions, a seminar by Higa Kōyū sensei of the Shōrin-ryū Kyūdōkan was held.
A participants commented, “Since the participants have been sitting and talking so far, this time they were able to experience Japanese culture while moving their bodies, and their faces told a lot about their vivid interest! From a lecture on the history of Okinawa to actual karate practice, it was a very fulfilling and wonderful program.”
