''Feebaru''滝原康盛 ''Takihara Yasumori''. 沖縄語会話集日本語・沖縄語・ローマ字付き ''Okinawago Kaiwashū: Nihongo, Okinawago, Rōmaji-tsuki.'' (''Okinawan Conversation Collection: Japanese, Okinawan, Romaji.'') 那覇:沖縄芸能出版 ''Naha: Okinawa Geinō Shuppan''. Heisei 6 (1994). p. 108. is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in

Shimajiri District is a district located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Modern translation of Shimajiri means "Butt of the island" which may refer to its southerly position on the island of Okinawa. Compare this to Kunigami District, Okinawa. However, there are ...

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. As of 2016, the town has an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 37,874 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 3,500 persons per km². The total area is 10.72 km². It is one of the only landlocked towns in Okinawa, but its central location ensures traffic and business remain healthy. Haebaru is located in the south of

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

directly southeast of the prefectural capital of

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...

. Haebaru is home to several

pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of low-stakes, low-st ...

parlors, as well as a skate and BMX ramp under the

Okinawa Expressway The is an expressway on Okinawa Island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The expressway has a length of . The West Nippon Expressway Company is the owner and operator of this expressway. It is signed E58 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of E ...

. There is a large

ÆON , commonly written AEON Co., Ltd., is a Japanese multinational holding company of ÆON Group. It has its headquarters in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture.hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...

. Haebaru is the birthplace of

Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...

, a fictional television character that grows to a giant size and wrestles with giant monsters. The town is also home to a traditional Ryukyuan craft producing woven fabric or

kasuri is the Japanese term for fabric that has been woven with fibers dyed specifically to create patterns and images in the fabric, typically referring to fabrics produced within Japan using this technique. It is a form of ikat dyeing, traditionally ...

. It is produced at workshops in Haebaru. In June 2007 dugout

bunkers A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

used as

military hospitals A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

during the 1945

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

were opened to the public for tours. In spring 2011, local junior high students began training as peace tour guides in a work experience program aiming to guide members of the public around the caves.

Culture

Haebaru Town Museum

The Haebaru Town Museum is located in the Kiyan district of Haebaru directly west of the site of the Haebaru Japanese Army Hospital. The museum features a reproduction of the facilities of the dugout bunkers that were used for the army hospital. In addition to other wartime artifacts, the museum has exhibits on traditional pre-war Okinawan life and overseas emigrants from the town.

Okinawa Prefectural Archives

Haebaru is home to the Okinawa Prefectural Archives (OPA). OPA was established on April 1, 1995 as a result of the Japanese Public Archives Act of 1988. The archive seeks to collect and preserve the official documents and historical records of Okinawa Prefecture. OPA collects historical materials and records of the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

, the Government of the Ryukyu Islands, the

United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands The was the civil administration government in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan (centered on Okinawa Island), replacing the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands (itself created at the conclusion of World War II) in 1950, and functio ...

(USCAR), and the present-day Okinawa Prefectural Government. In 2011 OPA had 12,595 visitors annually.

Education

Municipal junior high schools: * Haebaru Junior High School ( 南風原中学校) * Nansei Junior High School ( 南星中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Haebaru Elementary School (南風原小学校) * Kitaoka Elementary School (北丘小学校) * Shonan Elementary School (翔南小学校) * Tsukazan Elementary School (津嘉山小学校)

Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education The Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education (沖縄県教育委員会) is the prefectural education agency of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. The board oversees municipal school districts in Okinawa and directly operates many high schools. Schools di ...

operates area high schools.

Notable people

Yuken Teruya Yuken Teruya ( jap. 照屋勇賢, ''Teruya Yūken;'' born 1973 in Haebaru, Okinawa) is an artist based in New York City and Berlin. Biography Teruya was born and raised in Okinawa. He received his BFA at Tama Art University in 1996, his Post ...

, artist

References

---- *

External links

Haebaru
Towns in Okinawa Prefecture {{Okinawa-geo-stub