On July 28 at the Prefectural Municipality Community Association Hall in Naha City, members of the Universal Shinryo Council exchanged ideas for the progression and expansion of an Uchinanchu network overseas.
July 29, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
A panel of experts called the Universal Shinryo Council on Overseas Networks has been established to listen to the public opinion of Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki’s ongoing management of the Okinawa prefectural administration. The first meeting of this Council was held on July 28 at the Prefectural Municipality Community Association Hall in Naha City.
The OPG reported that the plan to hold the 7th World Uchinanchu Festival which had been docketed for October 28-31, 2021 no longer has a set period due to the influence of the novel coronavirus, and that once the action committee for the festival has launched it will discuss a timeframe.
The Council discussed resolving problems and assessing prefectural policies for the progression and expansion of an Uchinanchu Network throughout the world, and consolidated a FY2020 proposal document for Governor Tamaki.
There are six members of the Council: Sumiko Ogawa, professor of human health science at Meio University; Makoto Arakaki, head of the humanities department at Okinawa Christian University; Minami Asato, founder and director of the World Youth Uchinanchu Association; Junko Arakaki, representative director of Arakaki Tsusho Corporation and president of the Okinawa Prefecture Foreign Trade Association; Hidehiko Arakaki, director of Kanehide Group and former supervising secretary of public relations interaction for the Office of the Governor; and Keiko Sano, Okinawa office chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Ogawa was elected head of the Council. Future meetings of the Council will be held in September and November this year, and in February in 2021.
(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)
