Yoronjima, also known as Yoron, is one of the Amami Islands. The island, 20.8 km2 (8 sq. mi.) in area, has a population of approximately 6,000 people, and is administered as the town of Yoron, Kagoshima. Much of the island is within the borders of the Amami Guntō National Park. Yoronjima is the southernmost of the Amami Islands and is located approximately north of Hedo Point, the northernmost point of Okinawa Island, and south of the southern tip of Kyushu. The island is an elevated coralline island with a highest point above sea level.
Iriomote Islandis the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself. The island has an area of and a 2005 population of 2,347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors—over 390,000 in 2006—arrive from Ishigaki by ferry, a ride to Uwahara Port on Iriomote's northeast coast or Ōhara Port on the southeast coast. Administratively, the island belongs to Taketomi Town, Okinawa Prefecture. Its infrastructure is limited to a single coastal road connecting the hamlets on the northern and eastern shores.
Gōjū-ryū, Japanese for "hard-soft style", is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bubishi (). Gō, which means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks; jū, which means soft, refers to open hand techniques and circular movements.
Chūzanwas one of three kingdoms which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century. Okinawa, previously controlled by a number of local chieftains or lords, loosely bound by a paramount chieftain or king of the entire island, split into these three more solidly defined kingdoms within a few years after 1314; the Sanzan period thus began, and would end roughly one hundred years later, when Chūzan's King Shō Hashi conquered Hokuzan in 1419 and Nanzan in 1429.
Shuri Castlewas a Ryukyuan gusuku castle in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed. After the war, the castle was re-purposed as a university campus. Beginning in 1992, the central citadel and walls were largely reconstructed on the original site based on historical records, photographs, and memory.
Jōmon potteryThe Jōmon pottery is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" (縄文) means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay. The pottery vessels crafted in Ancient Japan during the Jōmon period are generally accepted to be the oldest pottery in Japan and among the oldest in the world. Odai Yamamoto I site in Aomori Prefecture currently has the oldest pottery in Japan.
