OKINAWA PREFECTURAL GOVERNMENT
PERFORMING ARTS SCHOLARSHIP

Mina Tamashiro - 2007 Winner

Mina Tamashiro, Okinawa Prefectural Government scholarship recipient , left Hawaii in April to attend the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts  (Geidai) in Okinawa.  She is busy with her lessons in Dance, Taiko, and Sanshin and lives in an apartment near school.  For the first time, Mina lives away from her family but so far she enjoys her life in Okinawa.

 Mina was born in 1983 and is the daughter of Tetsushi and Kinuko Tamashiro in Honolulu. Both parents are from Haneji. A graduate of University of Hawaii with a major in Japanese, Mina speaks Japanese fluently which enables her to communicate and learn more quickly. She has been studying Okinawan Dance under Frances Nakachi sensei in Tamagusuku Ryu Senjukai for 5 years. According to Sensei, Mina will take a test of shinjinsho or first certificate in Okinawan Dance in this summer.