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The name "Wonder Okinawa" is meant to suggest and sum up the ambitions and objectives of the Okinawa Digital Archives Project completed by Okinawa Prefecture in 2002, both in terms of the project's contents and its content presentation.

The archives' content features the digitization of the whole range of Okinawa's cultural resources in images and photographs, speech and text. Content presentation utilizes the Internet, and also presentations via high-definition large-scale films and static images.

Originally, the term "archives" meant a place for the collection and storage of printed documents and records. Wonder Okinawa goes far beyond that original conception. There are records and documents aplenty but the archives also features content on Okinawa's nature and climate, on entertainment and nightlife, and much more. It aims not only to provide information on Okinawa's past, rich as it is, but also on the "new" Okinawa of today, and it will be a valuable source of tourism information.

Thus, with the name Wonder Okinawa, this archives announces its intention to step away a bit from the traditional archives image as a repository of history and culture. Instead we want people to get excited while enjoying the myriad attractions of Okinawa that it presents.

To be sure, one important aim of the Okinawa Digital Archives Project is to collect and store Okinawa's cultural properties from all areas of life as a treasure house of information for the generations to come.

Another major objective has been to promote information-related industries and enterprises in Okinawa. To this end, the newest content representation formats and state of the art content production technology have been utilized in order to expose IT personnel in Okinawa to the cutting edge of their industry. In addition, local companies have collaborated in the project with companies from mainland Japan as part of the technology transmission process.

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