When the young women of Yap’s remote outer islands leave home to seek a college education, better work opportunities or medical care on the U.S. mainland, the risk of leaving their cultural traditions behind is very real.
In 1945, 722 U.S. Navy ships were anchored in the atoll of Ulithi, 100 miles east of the main island of Yap. This number is even larger than at Pearl Harbor.
The long, low sound of the conch shell announces the beginning of Yap Day, an annual holiday set aside to celebrate the unique culture of this remote island, one of the best-preserved in the entire Pacific region.
Yap? Where’s that? In Micronesia. Oh, you’re moving to Indonesia. No, Micro….Micronesia…in the far western Pacific Ocean just above the equator. Blank stare.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Clayton Barrus, a pilot assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan, smiles at Staff Sgt. Adrian Pinnock, a flying crew chief assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan, before taking off in a KC-135 Stratotanker during Exercise Cope North 20 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam,...
As you see more and more shopping malls and super markets open on Okinawa these days, the word Depachika seems a little outdated, especially to those who are more used to casually shopping at shopping malls.
You know, I love a good pizza. I also love my sushi. In fact, I love it a lot. Unlike pizza, though, whose in-your-face flavours hide weak ingredients, sushi is not much more than a topping and some rice.
Most of my foreign friends tell me they didn’t know how much Japanese love curry until they came to Japan. Well, not only do we love it, but we actually have a very deep-rooted curry culture.
As far as cooking is concerned, I am all for cutting corners. But, when I learned that pasta could be cooked in the microwave, I had to take it with a grain of salt.
Sancocho is a one-pot stew with chunks of tender beef (meat of your choice or no meat at all) and root vegetables. It is typically served with a side of white rice and a piece of ripe avocado.
