Last year, the Japan Tourism Agency enforced a “Karate tourism contents creation for Okinawa, the birthplace of karate" as part of a global campaign to attract visitors to Japan. OCVB was the main entity in charge of the project.
This year, OCVB was entrusted with the project "Creating attractive karate tourism” a model project for expanding inbound tourism utilizing local sports resources. This project is sponsored by the Japan Sports Agency.
As part of this year’s project, a website has been released to support local companies that develop karate related programs. For more details, visit https://karate.ocvb.or.jp/
On the day of karate, October 25th, the 2020 recipients of the "Okinawa Prefecture Award of Merit" were announced. Among the 10 personalities is the chairman of the Okinawa Shōrin-ryū Karatedō Kyōkai and head of the Miyagi Dōjō in Urasoe City, Miyagi Takeshi sensei (85 years old).
Miyagi sensei, who studied under the late Miyahira Katsuya sensei, the successor to Chibana Chōshin, 1st president of the same association, formed a karate enthusiasts group in 1955 and renamed it Miyagi Dōjō in 1963. Even today, he teaches children and adults three times a week.
A new special exhibition "Okinawa Karate and School Education Part 2" starts on December 17th in the exhibition room of the Okinawa Karate Kaikan. Titled “Okinawa Karate grabbed college students’ hearts”, it will introduce the spread of karate outside Okinawa Prefecture. It will last until March 23, 2021.
Please see the bilingual leaflet for details.
The schedule of this year's "Karate Day" commemorative event is as follow.
11: 30-12: 15 Dedicatory demonstration
(Dedicatory demonstrations by holders of the Okinawa Prefecture designated intangible cultural asset 'Okinawa karate and kobujustu')
13: 30-15: 10 Commemorative demonstration
(Demonstrations by representatives of the ODKS, Okinawan dojo, overseas and Mainland Japanese dojo, simultaneous demonstration of Fukyu-gata I)
This year, the event is not open to the public, so please enjoy the live streaming. Live streaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC176Q7L3JfTmYBzDDPk2UhA
October 30th to November 1st, 2020, some Okinawa karate demonstrations will be held in front of Shurijo Castle’s Kōfukumon Gate. Advance reservations are required, so please apply using the link below.
Application Website (in Japanese)
