Okinawan culture has long been closely intertwined with the tradition of publishing obituaries in daily newspapers. In fact, one of the earliest such obituaries was written by Yabu Kentsū in honor of Itosu Ankō (1831–1915).
Together with my wife, I took the time and care to track down the obituary that Iraha Chōkō wrote for Kyoda Jūhatsu in the Ryūkyū Shinpō and then translate it.
However, this translation proved to be quite challenging. The first copy we made was extremely difficult to read in many places. For that reason, this year I searched for a clearer version of the newspaper, which I relied on whenever the characters were hard to decipher.
All in all, the project took several weeks, and I’m very pleased to finally present the completed obituary — one that holds quite a few hidden secrets.
Karate Kenkyū Shitsu 