Archive for August, 2015

Recent News

Okinawa City’s population reaches 140,000 people

Okinawa City's population reaches 140,000 people

August 4, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa City (former Koza City) hung a banner on August 4 marking the milestone of the city’s population growing to 140,000.

The city is located near U.S. Kadena Air Base. In 1974, two years after Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, Koza City and Misato Village merged to form Okinawa City. In 1970, the total population of the two municipalities was 82,781(Koza City was 58,000 and Misato Village 24, 123).

On July 27, six newborn babies were registered...

 

US military parachute drop training: Ie Mayor requests Defense Bureau to take stricter safety measure

US military parachute drop training: Ie Mayor requests Defense Bureau to take stricter safety measure

August 10, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

A U.S. soldier landed on a field outside a fence around the military facility on Ie Island during a parachute drop training on August 5.

Ie Village Mayor Hideyuki Shimabukuro and the Village Assembly Chairman Yoshinori Shimabukuro met with Deputy Director...

Two JSDF’s member injured after US military helicopter crashes off coast of Okinawa

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Kenzaburo Oe sends heartfelt support for fight in Henoko

Kenzaburo Oe sends heartfelt support for fight in Henoko

August 7, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Recently, Kenzaburo Oe, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, sent to the Ryukyu Shimpo a letter about his engagement with Okinawa over many years and about the new military base being built to replace MCAS Futenma. Regarding the situation in Henoko, Nago City,...

US and Japan allow Okinawa to carry out environmental survey after 5 months of requests

August 11, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 10, the governments of Japan and the United States held a joint committee and decided to allow the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) to carry out a survey in the temporary restricted area in the shallow waters off Camp Schwab. The OPG had been requesting...

Futami residents demand government stop new US base construction and respect letter from UN Environment Programme

Futami residents demand government stop new US base construction and respect letter from UN Environment Programme

July 30, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 30, residents of Teima, Nago and the Association of Residents of the Districts North of Futami demanded the Ministries of Environment, Foreign Affairs and Defense stop construction of a new U.S. base in Henoko, Nago. They sent a letter highlighting that the...

Nago Mayor says people’s protest led to suspension of construction of new US base

Nago Mayor says people’s protest led to suspension of construction of new US base

August 4, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Government has announced it will halt construction work of a new U.S. base in Henoko, Nago, which is part of the replacement of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, and begin an intensive consultation with the Okinawa Prefectural Government. The...

[Extra] Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga announces one-month suspension of Henoko relocation work

August 4, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

At a press conference on August 4, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced the government will suspend all work relating to the planned relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko for one month, from August 10 to September 9. During this period,...

Churashima Foundation confirms a new type of wrasse fish, never before collected for study in Japan

Churashima Foundation confirms a new type of wrasse fish, never before collected for study in Japan

July 31, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

An Okinawa Churashima Foundation research group, including Kei Miyamoto, confirmed that a species of fish found near Sesoko Island in Motobu Town is a new type of wrasse. Other reports of this type of wrasse have been made in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan....

OTS Supports Interpreter Guide from Abroad

July 31, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

The OTS Partners Network, which consists of about 200 businesses including tourism facilities and restaurants in Okinawa under contracts with the Okinawa Tourist Service (OTS), will invite 20 people studying Japanese language to Okinawa late August. The OTS, which...

US documentary filmmaker Regis Tremblay conveys harm caused by military bases

US documentary filmmaker Regis Tremblay conveys harm caused by military bases

July 29, 2015 Rykyu Shimpo

On July 27, Regis Tremblay, 70, a documentary filmmaker from Maine, United States, visited Henoko, Nago for the first time. There, he went out on a boat with citizens protesting against the construction of a new base and observed the construction work being carried...