3000 practitioners, with spirit and enthusiasm, dye Kokusai Street white with their uniforms in an impressive karate martial arts demonstration, with even Okinawa Governor Denny joining their strike cries of “eitsu”!

Splendor of Okinawa:  Zephyranthes Citrina,  roadside Uruma, 26oc25


The 20th Annual Karate Day Martial Arts Demonstration Festival was held on Kokusai Street in Naha on 26 October.


Leading with Okinawa Karate as the centerpiece, 3,100 aficionados, including Governor Denny Tamaki,  gathered from all over the world. Decked out in their white  uniforms, the karate practitioners dyed Kokusai Street white, exciting bystanders with their impressive martial cries and fervor.


Governor Tamaki, holder of a black belt himself and glistening with sweat in his karate uniform, remarked, “Seeing so many engaged in martial arts stirs my heart! Whether adults or minors, all are in unison, and later as well, I’d like them to transmit to the world from Okinawa our ‘peaceful martial art’!”


A man from India, whose family has a 45 year history of karate involvement, stated, “We’ve been coming to Okinawa again and again. Because of karate, we’re all one family here. Here we feel the charm of Okinawa’s traditions, culture, and spirit of peace.”


Another from the US said with a smile, “I brought my students along. We’ve run into a lot of friends. Our circle of friends just gets wider!”


Original Japanese article: Ryukyu Shimpo, published Monday 27 October 2025 at 08:44.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8faebbd20143afd1f197342d26eed28dd4e9843d


Denny in the News:

Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 


This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 


Any suggestion on improving the translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.


Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.

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