Although the annual UrumaFestival has been known for itsbullfighting tournament in thepast, this year organizers have

decided to expand the program to a widervariety of entertainment to mark the 10thanniversary of the festival.

The bullfighting at the Ishikawa Multi-purpose Dome still remains the center ofthe Okinawan bullfighting, and the festivalfeatures a tournament that is free for peopleto watch, but programs on the main stage atthe Gushikawa General Athletic Park havebeen increased significantly.

The events include live music per-formances by local musicians, ‘3 on 3’sports event, taiko drum show, pro-wrestling performance and more. One ofthe highlights is a special collaboration per-formance of Kimutaka-no-Amawari andRyujin-no-Utage.

Both are popular local shows related toUruma City. The Kimutaka-no-Amawari isa story centering around the history of

Continues on page 2

Oct. 08, 2015 - Oct. 14, 2015

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Uruma Festival

Rocktoberfest invites for long weekend of rock’n rollThe Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation is sponsoring a

three-day Rocktoberfest this weekend on Torii Beach.Although the name implies the world famous Music beer fes-tival, the event in Okinawa has a healthy dose of local flavor

added with some of the best rock bands Okinawa has to offer. Ofcourse, cold beer will be flowing, too.

Justin K. Evers of Torii MWR says “This is a great opportunityfor Okinawans and Americans to get together for a festival on thebeach, as everyone has a three-day weekend. The Americans have theColumbus Day and the local people have the Sports Day, so everyoneis off on Monday and can have a rest after the party.” He adds that“We have six bands each day playing the best rock on the island.”

In addition to plenty of rock’n roll and cold beer, there are carContinues on page 2

Roctoberfest serves a diet of three solid evenings of rock’n roll by the best of local artists. The festival is free and open to all.

Uruma Festival presents collaboration of old and new

Ryujin-no-Utage spectacle Kimutaka-no-Amawari musical

Fantastic Okinawa

2Japan Update Classifieds Oct. 08, 2015 - Oct. 14, 2015

Promise Keepers’ Happiness Concert aims to bring joy to needy

Anon-profit organizationcalled ‘ PromiseKeepers’ is behind anannual charity concert,

now organized for the 10th timethat will take place at the CellularStadium in Onoyama Park, Naha

City, on Friday and Saturday,Oct. 16th and 17th.

Promise Keepers is an organ-ization dedicated for helping andtaking care of the homeless. TheHappiness Concert is for the ben-efit of people who are desperate

in their life, poor, suffering,depressed and everyone else whois in need. The concert will helpthem to come out and enjoy freeof charge.

This year organizers expectsome 4,000 people to attend theconcert.

The festival, called “BlueSea, Blue Sky FriendshipFestival,” features live perform-ances from noon to 8 p.m. on bothdays. The program consists ofmusic of various genres, comedy,action performances and more. DJon both days is a popularOkinawan comedian who goes bythe stage name ‘ KawamitsuSyensyei’.

On Friday, the performersinclude Yoriko Ganeko, KanakoHoriuchi, Gloria, Cure, MisaKamiyama, Wild Lilys, SSCompany, Naoko Gushiken, KenIzumi, Gushiken Family, SaintMathew’ s Kindergarten.Kachimba 1551. Also includedare Pastor Arthur Holland, PastorPaul Takaesu, Ryujin Mabuyar,and SALUKI. Comedians includeSlim Club, Plus Minus, HatsukoiCromagnon, Urizun Sakura,. Themain performance featuresTokiko Kato with Taiyofu

Orchestra.Saturday sees on stage

Lagoon Blue, Ryukyu ChimudonOrchestra, R3, His Gener8Tion,Sayaka Seragaki, Tehira &Precious, and the Ryukyu CollegeModern Jazz Orchestra. Alsoincluded are Pastor Syuji Hiraoka,Pastor Mitsuo Hosoda, TreasureHunt, Okinawa Love Junks, EisaCrew Crown, and the WorldMission Christian School DrumLine. The main performance isDiamantes with a surprise guest.

In addition to live stage per-formance on the stadium, there aretraditional Asian shops sellingJapanese goods, Asian food delica-cies and a variety of Asian noodles.

Organizers are also seekingvolunteers to help with task relat-ed to the concert, such as fooddonations and 40 volunteer togive out food at the event, helpfor loading and unloading equip-ment, setting up the stage andlighting, decorations, and morestarting Oct. 14th, For more infor-mation contact kiyoko.somei.ja@usmc.mil

As there are no legal parkingin the area, visitors are advised touse public transportation to andfrom the event. The concert has aTwitter account @siawasecon-cert. Their email is siawasecon-cert@gmail.com and telephonenumber 098-988-4781.

RocktoberfestContinued from page 1burnouts, second stage performances,good food and, of course, the beach.

Gates open at 5 p.m. on all threedays, and the shows begin at 6 p.m.Friday bands include Essex, Ask MeAnother, Valve Fiction, Saturday CasualJam, Infinity Star World and 9 LongLives.

On Saturday, Transient, Run It ToGround, Stinky, AS Alliance, Illuminatiand Jigokuguruma are on stage.

Keiji By Zero, Pryzm. Bloom,

Crystal Hearts, Murasaki and MotleyCrüe Cover Band round up the Sunday’sline-up.

Organizers say that the band line-upcould change for unforeseen reasons.

They also remind guests that noglass containers, pets, outside food orbeverages or BBQs are allowed on ToriiBeach. The festival is open to allJapanese national and I.D. card holders.Designated drivers are strongly recom-mended, although taxi and daiko serviceswill be available to get everyone homesafely.

In case of inclement weather, theevent will be moved to Oct. 23, 24 & 25.

Starting five years ago at CampFoster Community Center as alibrary event for those enthusiasticabout manga and comics, the annu-

al MCCS Comic Con has grown into oneof the biggest, most successful and popularevents of its kind on the island.

So much so that this year the eventhas mushroomed over to Foster FieldHouse Gym and the Ocean Breeze Clubwith some events still taking place at theCommunity Center.

Comic Con takes place on Saturday,Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. followed by

a masquerade ball at 8 p.m. The day’sactivities include various tournaments andcontests for both kids and adults, movieviewings, panel discussions and seminars,workshops and autograph sessions. Foodvendors are also stand-by in case all theday’s activities require extra energy.

The 5th Comic Con is open to U.S. IDcard-holders and Japanese nationals.Admission to the event is free. This is agathering of those daring to go where fewmen and women have gone before, offer-ing a fantasy fortress to examine all thingsrelating to science fiction and fantasycomic books, manga and movies.

MCCS Comic Con invitesnerds of the world to unite

Uruma FestContinued from page 1Katsuren Castle in Uruma City. The tradi-tional story based on a well-knownKumiodori has been arranged into a modernversion featuring modern music and dance,making it a sort of Okinawan musical.

Ryujin-no-Utage is an entertainmentshow that mixes traditional Ryukyu per-forming arts, modern ballet dance and Eisaperformance centering around a God rein-carnated as a dragon. The show is usuallyperformed in the Ishikawa Multi-purposeDome, better known for its frequent bull-fights.

Another highlight on Sunday is ‘Hi-Pu’s Okinawa Niibichi Performance KingContest final’. ‘Niibichi’ means weddingparty in Okinawan dialect. In Okinawa,

friends, co-workers and relatives of brideand groom perform something like a danceor play music at a wedding party. Peopleusually practice several weeks, and someof these amateur performances are veryfun to watch and almost on professionallevel. They are used to perform in front ofseveral hundred guests and they know howto warm up a party. So, performers select-ed from all over Okinawa will compete fora Performance King bragging rights.

Uruma Festival takes place Saturdayand Sunday, Oct. 17th and 18th atGushikawa General Athletic Park andIshikawa Multi-purpose Dome (bullfight-ing). Admission to all events is free.

Free temporary parking is available atvarious locations throughout the city. Freeshuttle buses connect the festival groundsand more distant parking lots betweennoon and 10 p.m.

You never know who you run into atMCCS Comic Con event.

Debates over super weapons are given.(Photos courtesy of MCCS)

Although a Christian organization is behind the event, the entertain-ment is mostly secular.

Entertainment goes on two days. About 4,000 people are expected.