How You Can Save the Environment by Eating Uni  If you are a fan of sushi, then you have probably eaten sea urchin or “Uni” —and probably noticed how expensive the delicacy can be. You might think that Uni is a rarity, and in some places (and some species), that is actually true. But on the west coast of North America, the opposite is true—and that is becoming a major problem. Uni normally lives solitary lives, but lately, there has been an increase in the population of the purple urchins that populate the coast that stretches between Vancouver Island and California, and it is having a hugely detrimental effect on the ocean’s ecosystem. The urchins are thriving due to red tide algae and a virus that has decimated the starfish population, which means that there are now no natural predators to keep the urchins at bay. Urchins can eat just about anything and are opportunistic feeders, so as their population has grown, they have started munching on kelp—a sea plant that is essential to the aquatic environment. Kelp helps to sustain the bottom layer of the food chain along the West Coast, but with entire forests of kelp being obliterated...

THE BLUE ZONE IN OKINAWA  David Kelly | Owner, Hawaiian South Shore      Most of us have heard of “blue corduroy” (the wave lines that stack up on the horizon during major swell events), but not as many have heard of blue zones. Blue zones are specific areas around the world that have been identified as places where people live much longer than average. According to research by Dan Buettner, blue zones have been identified in several places around the world and includes Loma Linda, California, Icaria, Greece, Sardinia, Italy and Okinawa. Having grown up in Okinawa, I found it interesting to learn that my childhood home had one of the longest-living populations in the world. In fact, with the area’s propensity for natural disasters (Okinawa is getting hammered by two major typhoons this week), you’d think that the population would actually live shorter-than average lives, not longer! But it turns out, there are measurable reasons why people live so long in the islands of southern Japan and a lot of it has to do with diet. The men in Okinawa tend to live to an average age of 84, while the women live 90 years on average. This...

Many of you know that I grew up in Okinawa, and that I often visit Japan for work and leisure. Whenever we are there, my wife and I always make it a point to visit someplace different.  On our last trip to Japan, we went to Akita, which is a prefecture in the northeastern part of the country. It is a really convenient place to visit because there are a lot of options to travel in and out of Akita.  Akita is well known for a few different types of foods, such as Hinai-Jidori (chicken) and Inaniwa udon (which is my favorite type of udon). Inaniwa udon is only made in the Akita region, and is thinner than other types of udon. Making the noodles is a long, labor-intensive process that includes kneading the wheat dough by hand numerous times, stretching it by hand, drying it, then kneading it again. This constant kneading is the secret behind the noodles, as it allows them to adsorb lots of air bubbles, which makes them tender and able to last for hours before being cooked. The effort is definitely worth it, as Inaniwa udon is one of the tastiest noodle dishes in the...

CHANGING DIRECTION IN 1970'S OKINAWA Over the years, we all get the opportunity to witness societal changes—some that are major shifts in consciousness, and others that are smaller, almost imperceptible cultural evolutions. These are the changes that shape who we become as a community and years later, define us as a people. One change that I had a chance to observe was somewhere between a tiny change and a major shift—a change that happened in Okinawa in the 1970’s. In 1978, the Okinawan government had to change the side of the road that people drove on. Okinawa actually drove on the left-hand side of the road, the same as the rest of Japan. When it went under the control of the United States on June 24, 1945, it was made to drive on the right. Even after Okinawa returned to Japanese control in 1972, it still had its traffic driving on the right for six years due to delays in the handover to Japan. In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic that restricts each country to have only one traffic direction, all the traffic in Okinawa was changed back to driving on the left on July 30, 1978....