Satoko Ishimine (石嶺 聡子, Ishimine Satoko; born October 3, 1975) is a Japanese female singer-songwriter. She rose to fame…
Satoko Ishimine (石嶺 聡子, Ishimine Satoko; born October 3, 1975) is a Japanese female singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in 1992 when she won the grand prix of the 16th annual Nagasaki Singing Festival at the age of 16, which resulted in her receiving a recording contract with Toshiba EMI. After she graduated from high school, Ishimine traveled to Los Angeles, California, to receive voice training and dancing lessons. In November 1994, she released her first single Doyōbi to Pen to Udedokei (Saturday, Pen and Wristwatch). In March 1995, Ishimine won first prize at the 5th NHK's Newcomer Singing Contest. In May, she released a cover version of the renowned song Hana, originally recorded by Shoukichi Kina, for the film Himeyuri no Tō (The Tower of Himeyuri). This, her third single, sold over 500,000 copies. She was selected to participate in the 46th annual NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen with the song at the end of the year.
Famous Alumni of Shuri High School
Shuri High School: 10 people
Yasuo Higa (比嘉 康雄, Higa Yasuo; 1938-2000) was an Okinawan photographer, ethnologist and anthropologist. He served ten…
Yasuo Higa (比嘉 康雄, Higa Yasuo; 1938-2000) was an Okinawan photographer, ethnologist and anthropologist. He served ten years as a police officer near a US military base before becoming a photographer, with much of his early work centered on life in postwar Okinawa. Higa is most known for his research on ancient rituals and shamanesses from the Ryukyu Islands, mainland Japan, and Asia, conducted over the span of nearly 40 years. Through his photographs and extensive notes, Higa has preserved critical documentation on maternal rituals that have been effectively rendered extinct in areas such as Kudaka and Miyakojima. From the 1990s onwards, Higa was also active as an educator of folklore studies, having served as an affiliate lecturer at Meiji Gakuin University and the Research Institute of Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, and as a panelist at numerous symposiums.
Masahide Ōta (大田 昌秀, Ōta Masahide; 12 June 1925 – 12 June 2017) was a Japanese academic and politician who served as…
Masahide Ōta (大田 昌秀, Ōta Masahide; 12 June 1925 – 12 June 2017) was a Japanese academic and politician who served as the governor of Okinawa Prefecture from 1990 until 1998. After starting his career as a professor at the University of the Ryūkyūs, he wrote books in English and Japanese, mostly about the Battle of Okinawa and Japan–United States bilateral relations following World War II. After his retirement as professor he was elected as governor and was best known for his strong stand against occupation of prefectural lands by military bases of United States, going against the Japanese central government at the time.
Seiji Shimota (霜多正次, Shimota Seiji; September 5, 1913 – April 16, 2003) was a Japanese novelist. Born in Nakijin…
Seiji Shimota (霜多正次, Shimota Seiji; September 5, 1913 – April 16, 2003) was a Japanese novelist. Born in Nakijin, Okinawa, he attended local elementary and middle schools, but continued his high school education in Kumamoto, where he began writing novels and studied with Haruo Umezaki. He graduated from the School of English Literature, Literature Department of Tokyo Imperial University. In 1940, he was conscripted and sent to Bougainville Island. Towards the end of the war, in May 1945, he surrendered to Australian forces and was sent to a POW camp. After being released, he did not return to Okinawa (which at the time was occupied by the Americans), but went to Tokyo instead, where he wrote novels while working in the offices of Shin Nihon Bungakukai ("New Japan Literature Society"), a leftist writers' association. In 1950, he published Kiyama ittō-hei to senkyōshi ("Private Kiyama and the Missionary") in the magazine "Shin Nihon Bungaku" and established himself as a writer. In 1953, he returned for a visit for the first time after the war to Okinawa, and started using Okinawan themes in his writings. For the novel Okinawashima, which was published in installments in Shin Nihon Bungaku ("New Japanese Literature") in 1956, he was awarded the "Mainichi Publications Literary Award". In 1957, with fellow writers Tatsukichi Nishino, Kim Tal-su and Sei Kubota, he started the Riarizumu Kenkyukai ("Realism Research Association"). He was expelled from the New Japan Literature Society after relations between him and Teruo Takei, the de facto leader of the Society, were soured by ideological differences. At a conference in 1964, Shimota disagreed with other executives of the Society on numerous issues, such as in regard to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, in which he took the Japanese Communist Party's position on the issue. When the Nippon minshushugi bungaku domei ("Japanese Democratic Literary Alliance") was established in 1965, he was named vice-chairman. In 1971, he was awarded the Takiji-Yuriko Award for Akemodoro. He died of pneumonia in Musashino, Tokyo, on April 16, 2003.
Kyuichi Tokuda (徳田 球一, Tokuda Kyūichi; September 12, 1894 – October 14, 1953) was a Japanese politician and first…
Kyuichi Tokuda (徳田 球一, Tokuda Kyūichi; September 12, 1894 – October 14, 1953) was a Japanese politician and first chairman of the Japanese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1953.
Higashionna Kanjun (東恩納 寛惇) also Higaonna Kanjun (14 October 1882–24 January 1963) was an Okinawan scholar who…
Higashionna Kanjun (東恩納 寛惇) also Higaonna Kanjun (14 October 1882–24 January 1963) was an Okinawan scholar who specialized in the history of Okinawa. Alongside Iha Fuyū and Majikina Ankō, he is considered one of the pioneers of modern Okinawan studies. After reading Japanese history at Tokyo Imperial University, where he wrote his dissertation on the approach of the Shimazu clan towards the Ryūkyū Kingdom, his subsequent career included posts at Hosei University and Takushoku University and travels in Southeast Asia and India. His extensive body of writings, collected as Higashionna Kanjun zenshū (東恩納寬惇全集) in ten volumes, centre around Ryukyuan history and culture, personal and place names, and classics such as the Omoro Sōshi. His private collection of documents and historical materials, numbering some 3,384 items, is preserved as the Higashionna Kanjun Collection at Okinawa Prefectural Library.
Iha Fuyū (伊波 普猷; March 15, 1876 – August 13, 1947) is considered the father of Okinawaology and was a Japanese scholar…
Iha Fuyū (伊波 普猷; March 15, 1876 – August 13, 1947) is considered the father of Okinawaology and was a Japanese scholar who studied various aspects of Japanese and Okinawan culture, customs, linguistics, and folklore. He signed his name as Ifa Fuyu in English, because of the Okinawan pronunciation. Iha studied linguistics at the University of Tokyo and was devoted to the study of Okinawan linguistics, folklore, and history. His most well-known work, Ko Ryūkyū (Ancient Ryūkyū), was published in 1911 and remains one of the best works on Okinawan studies. He devoted much time to uncovering the origins of the Okinawan people to establish their history. He had considerable influence not only on the study of Okinawan folklore but also on Japanese folklore.
Majikina Ankō (真境名 安興; 20 May 1875 - 28 December 1933) was a Japanese scholar who specialized in the history of…
Majikina Ankō (真境名 安興; 20 May 1875 - 28 December 1933) was a Japanese scholar who specialized in the history of Okinawa. Alongside Iha Fuyū and Higashionna Kanjun, he was considered one of the pioneers of modern Okinawan studies.
Kentsū Yabu (屋部 憲通, Yabu Kentsū; September 23, 1866 - August 27, 1937) was a karate master in Okinawa, and was among…
Kentsū Yabu (屋部 憲通, Yabu Kentsū; September 23, 1866 - August 27, 1937) was a karate master in Okinawa, and was among the first people to demonstrate karate in Hawaii. Yabu learned Shuri-te from Matsumura Sōkon and Ankō Itosu and Tomari-te from Kōsaku Matsumora. He is often considered Itosu's top student.
Shino Shimoji (下地 紫野, Shimoji Shino; born June 4, 1993) is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Okinawa Prefecture…
Shino Shimoji (下地 紫野, Shimoji Shino; born June 4, 1993) is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Okinawa Prefecture, affiliated with Aoni Production. She debuted as a singer in 2016 by performing the opening theme song for Magic of Stella.