Archive for June, 2016

Recent News

200 protesters surround Ishigaki City Hall to oppose SDF deployment

200 protesters surround Ishigaki City Hall to oppose SDF deployment

June 14, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 13, a residents’ group dedicated to preventing the deployment of Japan Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops on Ishigaki Island surrounded Ishigaki City Hall to protest the plan. The Ishigaki city council is in the middle of its June regular session, and people are anxious to see how it will respond to appeals both in favor of and opposed to the plan. Around 200 people joined the protest to demand cautions deliberation and oppose the plan.

The city...

 

Rainy season ends one week earlier than usual in Okinawa

Rainy season ends one week earlier than usual in Okinawa

June 17, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 16, the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory announced the rainy season had ended in Okinawa. The rainy season usually ends around June 23. This year it ended one week earlier than usual and earlier than last year, when the rainy season ended on June 8. This...

65,000 people in rally mourn and demand withdrawal of Marines from Okinawa

65,000 people in rally  mourn and demand withdrawal of Marines from Okinawa

June 19, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo Digital Edition

At 2 p.m. on June 19 at Naha’s Ounoyama Athletic Park, a rally was held to protest in the wake of the rape and murder of a woman by a U.S. military contractor. The official title of the rally was, “Denounce the cruel act of brutality by a former...

Nishimura wins Itoman Hare on Yukkanuhi

Nishimura wins Itoman Hare on Yukkanuhi

June 8, 2016 Ryuykyu Shimpo

On June 8, which was May 4 in the Lunar Calendar, the Itoman Hare boat race was held at Itoman Harbor Central Area in Itoman City to usher in the fishing season with prayers for a safe voyage and a big catch. At Nashiro of Itoman City and Ou Island in Nanjo City,...

Praying for life-saving cave and peace at Shiohira Gongen Festival

Praying for life-saving cave and peace at Shiohira Gongen Festival

June 10, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

A ceremony to give thanks for the natural cave that saved more than 500 evacuees during the Battle of Okinawa was held on June 9. The ceremony, Shiohira Gongen Festival, took place in front of the cave known as “Shiohira Gongen cave” located in between Shiohira...

Yomitan sets up executive committee for rally against suspected slaying of Okinawan woman by ex-US marine

Yomitan sets up executive committee for rally against suspected slaying of Okinawan woman by ex-US marine

June 10, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Following the recent arrest of a U.S. military employee on suspicion of murdering a woman, a protest rally will be held at Onoyama Athletic Park in Naha on June 19. More than 20 organizations in Yomitan Village set up an executive committee, in which all the villagers...

VFP’s members announce statement: “We feel shame and deep regret,” on US military violence against women in Okinawa

VFP's members announce statement:

June 9, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Veterans For Peace (VFP)’s members, including Douglas Lummis, Daniel Broudy and Ann Wright released a statement regarding the May, 2016 crime committed against an Okinawan Woman allegedly by a former U.S. Marine in Uruma City, at a press conference held at the...

Protest gathering to body-dumping incident calls for withdrawal of all US bases from Okinawa

Protest gathering to body-dumping incident calls for withdrawal of all US bases from Okinawa

June 9, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

‘No More US Military Bases in Okinawa,’ a gathering of mourning and protest to the incident of a base employee dumping the dead body of a young Okinawan woman, and to address structural violence of the U.S.
military in Okinawa, took place on June 8 in Furujima,...

Long-standing resort in Okinawa turns to Sheraton after 24 Years

Long-standing resort in Okinawa turns to Sheraton after 24 Years

June 2, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Sunmarina Hotel, a long-established resort hotel in Fuchaku, Onna Village, re-opened as globally known hotel brand “Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina” on June 1. There will be 46 new rooms and a Wellness Center equipped with an indoor pool opening in the property later...

Trapped sea turtle saved on Tonaki Island beach

Trapped sea turtle saved on Tonaki Island beach

June 7, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Nana Sasahara

On May 30, at Yubukuhama beach on Tonaki Island, a local resident found a green sea turtle unable to move in the sand and notified the village office.

The turtle was 130 cm in length. It seemed that the turtle was trapped in a hole, which...

US military contractor re-arrested on suspicion of murder and rape

June 9, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo Digital Edition

Regarding the discovery of a woman’s body in the central part of Okinawa Island, on the afternoon of June 9, the Okinawa prefectural police re-arrested former U.S. Marine and current U.S. military employee Kenneth Franklin Shinzato (formerly Gadson),...