Benjamin Martin's Blog: More Things Writing, page 37

High School and Hawaiian Festivals

Events abound in Japan’s Autumn, and although the weather still feels of summer, Fall is definitely in swing. This weekend saw a slew of events on Kume Island, dissimilar but also with underlying threads of culture to connect them. High School Festival Kume Island has only one high school for the entire island. It has a variety of classes for its students, but with such a wide range of classes it is difficult for them to fit every activity into

2014 Kume Island Folk Song Competition

This past Saturday on Kume Island was the 5th annual Folk Song Competition (古典民謡大会). Music is one of the keys to maintaining tradition and culture. Encouraging people to not only listen but create music helps keep local culture alive. Sponsored by the local Board of Education, this year’s event has grown to include competitors from around Japan and even the world. Participants register in advance for this competition, choosing one of 3 songs. With only one chance at their performance
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Upcoming Event in Okinawa

If you’ve been checking in on More Things Japanese over the past month and noticed there haven’t been many posts… It’s because I took a bit of time off to work. With a few special projects I haven’t had the time it takes to edit photos, write, and create quality blog posts. I should be able to get back to sharing more of Japan with you very soon. In the mean time, I want to share some information about a

2014 Kume Island Festival

Every year Kume Island hosts a two-day festival in early August full of fun events and traditions. I’ve covered it rather extensively in the past so check out those posts for more details. This year, I’ll share just a few of my favorite photos from this past weekend as we gear up for our third typhoon of the season.

Kickstart Kumejima

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I live on Kume Island, a small subtropical island 100km west of Okinawa. Although I work a full-time ‘regular’job, I also work hard to share as much as I can of life and culture here. Sometimes that’s through posts here, pictures, or even video. I do most of my video work with my goPro and Canon DSLR, both of which I was able to save up for

Kite Surfing Hateno Beach

One of the great attractions of Kume Island is the amazing white sand beaches, especially the chain of offshore sandbars known collectively as Hateno-hama. Just before Typhoon 1408 hit I had another chance to visit the beach with this year’s Nakasato Exchange. While the students were swimming and playing on the Nakano sandbar, I spotted a few kite surfers enjoying the mild winds and surf on Meenu Beach. Though I’ve never kite surfed, it was an amazing chance to get

Baby Blue Rock Thrush

One of the most prolific birds on Kume Island is the blue rock thrush. It’s a loud yet interesting species of bird that I’ve managed some decent photos of in the past. This time around I had a unique chance to get up-close and personal with a baby blue rock thrush (while being careful not to interfere. My gopro helped me out with that). One morning we woke to a chirping and rainstorm. The source was the baby bird, stuck

Goya Season is Back

One of the most popular keywords that brings new visitors to my blog is Goya (aka bitter melon). One of my very first posts back in 2010 included goya in a recipe. I’m thrilled to see that goya awareness has grown so much over the past few years. If you’re looking for an in-depth article on growing or cooking with this healthy plant check out THIS POST. With 2014 well underway we’re heading into goya season, and although my current

A Kume Island Wedding

This past weekend I had a chance to attend my third wedding in Japan. All three took place in Okinawa, which means the ceremony and traditions are slightly different from what you’ll find in mainland Japan. Since I’ve just begun planning my own wedding later this year, I’ve got a lot more interest in the whole spectacle than I’ve ever had before. Okinawan weddings differ most in the number of attendees. Where eighty guests might be considered large for a

2014 Firefly Festival

First off, thanks for sticking with me during my last two weeks off. With Golden Week and a lot going on at OTEC Okinawa I haven’t had as much time to devote to the blog as I would like. A few weeks ago Kume Island celebrated Spring with its annual Firefly Festival. Though one of the smaller festivals it turned out to be quite a lot of fun. The Firefly festival takes place along jinjin (named for the sound describing