Okinawa and Shinshu showcase their mutual traditional culture in Nagano Prefecture at the Tourism Thanksgiving Gathering to promote their appeal. (20de25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Scarlet Jungleflame, roadside Futenma, 15de25


On 19 December, at a hotel in Nagano City, the Okinawa Tourism Thanksgiving Gathering 2025 was held to strengthen the network of tourism related entities in both Okinawa and Nagano Prefectures, with the Okinawa and Nagano governors and others promoting Okinawa’s attractions. 


After arriving in the prefecture by a plane connecting Okinawa’s Naha Airport and Nagano Prefecture’s Matsumoto Airport, Governor Denny Tamaki and others in the Okinawan group exhibited such attractions as Ryukyu dance.


Moreover, cultural understanding was deepened in the mutual introduction of the traditional culture of both Nagano and Okinawa, such as in a performance of  Kiso Bushi and  Dance (a folk dance with song from Nagano) by the Kiso Dance Preservation Committee. About 20 from Okinawa and around 120 from Nagano Prefectures gathered to join in the Kiso performance. 


Individuals related to tourism and tourist accommodation deepened exchanges with the governors of both prefectures and their administration officials. Both Nagano and Okinawa Prefectures have been bound in a cooperative relationship of mutual exchanges since March of 2023. 


Okinawa Prefecture has held the same sort of gatherings in Tokyo and Osaka. However, this was the first time for the Prefecture to hold its First Nagano Gathering.


In his greeting to the Gathering, Governor Tamaki spoke of flying into Matsumoto Airport on this visit, extolling the splendor of the Chushin Region’s scenery, gushing, “The scenery below me, unlike anything in Okinawa, was impressive with the majestic mountains of the Northern Alps. I felt, oh, how I’d love to show this to my people in Okinawa!”


Governor Tamaki further stressed the convenience of the airport, observing, “I’d like to see the creation of a grand plan for a route to transport Okinawa’s foreign tourists through Nagano Prefecture.”


Original Japanese article: Shimin (citizen)Times: published Saturday 20 December 2025 at 09:11.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c376a3d293a46e6452cc49cf7676ec5c89185c08


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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