Localbeat

It all came down to the hot hands of power forward Lynn Washington, the man who led the Osaka Evessa to a second round playoff opportunity in a mini-overtime. Osaka and the Takamatsu Five Arrows split a two-game series Saturday and Sunday, plunging the right to advance to a ten-minute mini-game. Read More!

Miyako artist emulates American pop art icon

Toshiichi Shimoji is an artist whoﾕs ﾉ well ﾉ internationally thinking as he chose Andy Warhol as his idol. The Miyakojima-born artist says heﾕs inspired by the islandﾕs winds and fresh summer weather on the island, but adds his real inspiration comes from American pop artist Andy Warhol. Read More!

Basketball MVP honors go to Ryukyuﾕs Jeff Newton

It wasnﾕt really a surprise, but the Ryukyu Golden Kings are celebrating the announcement that center Jeff Newton is the Basketball League Japanﾕs Most Valuable Player for 2008-2009. The team knew that Newton, who joined Okinawa in the off season and led the two-year-old expansion club to a 41-11 season, was championship material. Read More!

Uncertainty ahead as typhoon season nears

Officially, the 2009 typhoon season doesnﾕt begin until June 1st, but Kujira and Chan-hom didnﾕt get the message. Tropical Storm Kujira became the first named storm of the not-yet-started season with its deadly race across the western Pacific beginning last week, slamming into the central Philippines. Read More!

An eco-campaign initiated by an elementary school in Tokyo has spread nationwide, and Okinawa joined the Green Curtain Forum this week in the capital, where Naha City’s mayor made a strong pitch for goya, a popular bitter melon. Takeshi Onaga joined in the second Green Curtain Forum, making a presentation on Okinawa’s role in a ‘Green Curtain Life’ and extolling the virtues of the goya vegetable that’s a near staple in local households. Read More!

Entertainment

U.S. Land offers plenty of bang for the buck

U.S. Read More!

Gourmet

Beniimo Roll colorful, tasty Yoshihachi treat

Yoshi Maekawa knows sushi, and he knows exactly which kinds key leaders of the world prefer. The exuberant, outgoing owner of Sushi Bar Yoshihachi caters to everyone, and heﾕs as comfortable with the Prime Minister of Japan and other world leaders as he is with a young Marine who walks through the front door. Read More!