Archive for May, 2019

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“NO Henoko”: Protesters rally across 32 prefectures, five thousand at Diet

“NO Henoko”: Protesters rally across 32 prefectures, five thousand at Diet

May 26, 2019 The Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 25, protesters rallied across the nation to stop the construction of the new base in Henoko, Nago City. While many cities in Japan recorded the hottest day of the year yet, protestors hit the streets, held gatherings and talks at 38 locations across 32 prefectures. According to organizers, a crowd of five thousand gathered near the Diet building in Tokyo, voicing their objection to the central government: “Defer to the will of the Okinawan people.”

This...

 

At Ainu memorial service in Okinawa, prayers for peace and friendship

At Ainu memorial service in Okinawa, prayers for peace and friendship

May 24, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

(Itoman) On May 17, the Uruma Association in Solidarity with the Ainu People (representative: Shinya Mayonaka) held an Ainu memorial service (“Icharupa”) in front of the Nanboku Tower in Maehira, Itoman to honor the souls of Ainu soldiers and Okinawans who perished...

After a lifelong separation by war, a woman orphaned in the Philippines “comes home” for the first time to her father’s village in Okinawa

After a lifelong separation by war, a woman orphaned in the Philippines “comes home” for the first time to her father’s village in Okinawa

May 26, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

After war separated her from her father her entire life, Zenaida Sumiko Fusato, 78, who was orphaned in the Philippines during the war, landed at Naha Airport May 25, and set foot in her father’s hometown in Okinawa for the first time. Sumiko, who was greeted and...

Okinawa prefectural survey finds Okinawans’ use of Shimakutuba apparently decreasing

Okinawa prefectural survey finds Okinawans’ use of Shimakutuba apparently decreasing

May 24, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 23 the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) announced the results of the 2018 Shimakutuba (Okinawan language) prefectural survey. In regard to Shimakutuba, those who answered that they “primarily use it,” “use it about as much as standard...

Four Okinawan people teach disaster prevention in Jamaica via reggae music and dance

Four Okinawan people teach disaster prevention in Jamaica via reggae music and dance

May 20, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Yoshiki Nagahama

Four people originally from Okinawa gathered in Portland parish in Jamaica and successfully carried out an educational class for disaster prevention via dance. Reggae dancer Ivan, originally from Ginowan, livened up more than 150 students...

Okinawa Vice Governor protests “bad weather” pretext for relocating parachute drop training

Okinawa Vice Governor protests “bad weather” pretext for relocating parachute drop training

May 23, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo online edition

On the morning of May 23 Okinawa Vice Governor Kiichiro Jahana called Ambassador in charge of Okinawan Affairs Hiroshi Kawamura and Director General of the Okinawa Defense Bureau Toshinori Tanaka to the Prefectural Office. Vice Governor Jahana submitted...

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki gives Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Kariyushi shirts, tells him ,”Now you can have ‘Cool Biz,’ even at the Diet.”

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki gives Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Kariyushi shirts, tells him ,”Now you can have ‘Cool Biz,’ even at the Diet.”

May 21, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

[Tokyo] With summer just about to kick off, Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki presented Okinawan Kariyushi attire to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi....

Photojournalist Bunyo Ishikawa reaches Okinawa after 10 months touring Japan on foot

Photojournalist Bunyo Ishikawa reaches Okinawa after 10 months touring Japan on foot

May 23, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

A photojournalist taking a walking tour along the Japanese islands, Bunyo Ishikawa, 81, arrived on Okinawa’s main island on May 22. In July 2018 Ishikawa started out from Cape Soya, Hokkaido, and it has taken him about 10 months to set foot on Okinawan soil....

Gov. Denny Tamaki on the “Okinawan Spirit”

Gov. Denny Tamaki on the “Okinawan Spirit”

May 18, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Gov. Denny Tamaki was asked about the “Okinawan spirit” during a regular press conference held on May 17, on account of the 47th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan from U.S. rule. The governor explained the Okinawan spirit is “appreciating the chimugukuru...

At external affairs symposium, former Kwansei Gakuin University professor Narahiko Toyoshita and others discuss Okinawa as cornerstone of disarmament

At external affairs symposium, former Kwansei Gakuin University professor Narahiko Toyoshita and others discuss Okinawa as cornerstone of disarmament

May 19, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 18, the Okinawa External Affairs Study Group held a 20th anniversary symposium titled “The Imaginative Power to Stop Henoko” at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum in Omoromachi, Naha. Former Kwansei Gakuin University professor Narahiko Toyoshita...

U.S. bases still expanding 47 years after Okinawa reversion, 2,000 rally in strong opposition

U.S. bases still expanding 47 years after Okinawa reversion, 2,000 rally in strong opposition

May 19, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo online edition

It has been 47 years since Okinawa was returned to Japanese sovereignty after its period of U.S. military occupation, post-war. On the afternoon of May 19 the 5/15 the Peace March Action Committee and the Okinawa Peace Movement Center organized a prefectural...