Archive for August, 2016

Recent News

World record-holding free diver impressed with Oura Bay speaks up against land reclamation

World record-holding free diver impressed with Oura Bay speaks up against land reclamation

August 2, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 1, Sayuri Kinoshita, a 27-year-old world record-holding free diver from Nagasaki, went free diving in Oura Bay, Henoko. Her diving took her into underwater caves and similar places at Ino, Henoko, and two other locations. Although she has been diving in oceans all around the world, in regard to Oura Bay she said, “[It has] many living creatures and small fish in calm and gentle waters.”

Kinoshita has been diving in oceans throughout the...

 

Naha Airport breaks records with 18.54 million visitors

July 29, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Wu Li Jun

The main entrance to Okinawa, Naha Airport, recorded 18.54 million visitors over the past year. The number increased by 5.8 percent on the previous year, breaking a new record. The airport has broken its visitation record for four consecutive years....

MOD personnel dispatched as crime-prevention patrols actually on guard duty in Takae

MOD personnel dispatched as crime-prevention patrols actually on guard duty in Takae

July 27, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 26, news covered that the Ministry of Defense (MOD) dispatched 60 officers to Okinawa to help as crime prevention patrols in response to the incident of a woman assaulted and killed by a U.S. base employee, but that the officers are instead on-duty as guards...

Okinawa at its warmest in postwar period

August 2, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

According to the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory, average temperatures in the Okinawa region for July were higher than usual by 0.9 degree Celsius, equal to the highest temperature recorded since statistics started in 1946. The monthly average sea surface temperature...

Rare scene in Japan: US servicemen carrying guns walk along road in Takae

Rare scene in Japan: US servicemen carrying guns walk along road in Takae

July 27, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

In Takae, Higashi around 7:15 a.m., about 10 armed U.S. military personnel made their way north on Okinawa Prefectural road 70. According to local eyewitnesses, the solders traveled north from the intersection at Arakawa Dam, carrying guns. A woman who saw the soldiers,...

Swedish emigrant to Kumejima turns Okinawan old house into North European restaurant

Swedish emigrant to Kumejima turns Okinawan old house into North European restaurant

July 22, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

A Swedish restaurant named “SMAKAKA (Småkaka)” opened in Kadekaru, Kume-jima this April, providing a space for the community to socialize. The owner is 53-year old Anna Edberg who moved to the island from Sweden. Local women provide assistance at the restaurant...

Takae, a village ward of 140: “Not a single person is in favor” of helipad construction

Takae, a village ward of 140: “Not a single person is in favor” of helipad construction

July 25, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Ayako Sakaguchi

As sit-in protests continue daily in opposition to the construction of new helipads in the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area, people from outside the village can be heard making comments such as, “Almost none of the locals are actually...