okinawa hai!

Bokunen Exterior 2 CONTRIBUTED BY ERIN SCHALK For me, moving to Okinawa has been, for a variety of reasons, both a wonderful opportunity as well as a tremendous challenge. I have studied and loved art for many years and left behind a support group of fellow artists in the states. “Art doesn’t happen in a [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY LAURA COSTA Joy Balloon Birthday Joy Company provides balloon decorations and so much more. My favorite thing about Joy Company is not just the quality of their work, which is great, but it is the kind and loving owners. Islaine and Maulo, also known as Alex, make the company so great. They love [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY ERIN SCHALK rakuten purchasesII As holiday season approaches, time, patience, and energy are all beginning to run short, while social commitments and gift lists increase with each passing day. For those of you who have already completed your holiday purchases, congratulations! Obviously you are very good at planning ahead, or you secretly harbor [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FILLMAN My husband and I are new to Okinawa and really want to dive into some of the unique cultural experiences that are offered here (there are so many.) A great resource is the Schilling Community Center on Kadena. They offer a ton of great classes, excursions, ticket and travel information, big [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES Adan Boy A little swish of the brush here, a little swish there, and maybe a slight smile looking thing on the page. Whenever I watch my students practicing writing kanji and hiragana, pure amazement comes over me, making me want to teach myself whatever they’re doing. A year ago, I [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY STEVE SINGER Like FIRE?  If you're going to Nago, enjoy nature, or just want to get off the radar, you may want to check out a wood-fire ceramic kiln firing in Nago. INTENSE is the only way to describe it.  The workshop is owned by an ex-Navy corpsman, Nicholas Centala, who originally built [...]

Read the full story

UPDATE: This storefront is now closed, but lives on in its online form at www.thefabricgirl.com. See the comments below. CONTRIBUTED BY AMANDA WEBB Most people know about House of 66 as the go to place for fabric and notions. But what they lack is that colorful fun and modern feel American designer fabrics have. While [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED SARRA MCMILLAN Shortly after my arrival in Okinawa in December 2009, a new-found friend pulled me towards the flashing lights and screaming sounds of teenagers playing arcade games. “Have you ever done purikura?” she asked.The word was as unknown to me at that time as arigatou and irasshaimase, so I just looked at her [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY KARA LESPERANCE After seeing the posts on Rainbow House and the Hand Craft Shop that reference the House of 66 Cents, I wanted to write up a post on them.  I could spend hours wandering fabric stores and picking out fabrics and the House of 66 Cents has pretty much any fabric you could [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY MARY RICHARDSON Next time you’re looking for a fun activity for your family over the weekend, why not consider a visit to the Gala Sea Salt Factory in Yomitan?  I know you’re thinking, what’s so fun about salt? That’s what I thought too, but let me tell you, a visit to Gala is [...]

Read the full story