The Okinawa International Movie Festival has never been just about movies — or even Okinawa. Held from April 18 to 22, the 11th edition was a showcase for the talents of sponsor Yoshimoto Kogyo — an Osaka-based agency that supplies Japanese TV with many of its comedians and emcees.
But another festival mission was to raise the profile of Okinawa as a tourist destination and an entertainment industry hub, while offering Okinawans a variety of ways to participate — from free classes (yoga, anyone?) to the big open-air concert on closing night.
The festival-sponsored tour for the foreign press on Day 2 was emblematic of this diverse (or if you will, scattershot) approach. We first visited CGCG Studio outside Naha for a demonstration of motion-capture technology, during which I fired a mock bazooka at avuncular CGCG Executive Officer Takeshi Yamazoe in a motion capture suit. We then toured the Plaza House Shopping Center, which began in 1954 catering to the U.S. military community. Black-and-white photos from its early days greeted visitors in every nook and cranny.