Archive for May, 2019

Recent News

Editorial: Revised drone law is bad legislation that infringes on the right to information

May 18, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

A terrible law which conceals the reality of the U.S. bases in Okinawa has been passed. An amendment to a drone regulation law that prohibits small unmanned drones from flying over U.S. military bases in Japan and Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF) facilities was recently passed in the House of Councillors by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-led coalition.

The law restricts drone flights within a roughly 300 meter perimeter of facilities and land designated...

 

Kyoto University professors detect PFOS concentration of 4 times national average in Ginowan residents’ blood

Kyoto University professors detect PFOS concentration of 4 times national average in Ginowan residents’ blood

May 17, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Ryota Shimabukuro

In April Professor Emeritus Akio Koizumi and Associate Professor Koji Harada, medical faculty members of Kyoto University, conducted a study concerning perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which is suspected to be carcinogenic. Specifically,...

Over six times the normal level of hexavalent chromium detected at arena construction site in Okinawa City

Over six times the normal level of hexavalent chromium detected at arena construction site in Okinawa City

May 17, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa City – Over six times the standard level of hexavalent chromium was detected at the construction site where Okinawa City is planning to build a 10,000 person-capacity multi-purpose arena on May 16. Hexavalent chromium is sometimes found in the ground at...

Eldest Battle of Okinawa storyteller, Toshie Asato, retires after 40 years sharing her experiences

Eldest Battle of Okinawa storyteller, Toshie Asato, retires after 40 years sharing her experiences

May 17, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Wakana Arakaki

Toshie Asato is the eldest professional Battle of Okinawa storyteller in Okinawa, upon whom the movie Gama: Getto no Hana was modeled. At the age of 98, she has decided to stop storytelling due to poor physical health. On May 16, she held her...

Thai Festival to be hosted in Okinawa for the first time this fall

Thai Festival to be hosted in Okinawa for the first time this fall

May 17, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

For the first time ever, the Thai Festival hosted by the Embassy of Thailand in Japan is to take place as early as this fall in Okinawa. The festival is being advertised on the Embassy of Thailand’s homepage. The festival is known for being hosted around the world...

Okinawa Defense Bureau suspends construction as crested serpent eagle spotted building nest in area of planned JSDF deployment

Okinawa Defense Bureau suspends construction as crested serpent eagle spotted building nest in area of planned JSDF deployment

May 10, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Ishigaki – The Okinawa Defense Bureau announced May 9 that during an environmental monitoring survey conducted at the end of April in Hirae, Ishigaki, where the JSDF plans to deploy, the found a crested serpent eagle, a national special natural monument, building...

Drone restrictions reform could inhibit press freedom and citizens’ access to information

Drone restrictions reform could inhibit press freedom and citizens’ access to information

May 12, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Saki Yoshida

The Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) is advancing construction, such as building seawalls and depositing soil, to entrench the “outer moats” of the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF). Photographs taken from drones have become a precious...

Revealed: why the U.S. military built civilian internment camps during the Battle of Okinawa

Revealed: why the U.S. military built civilian internment camps during the Battle of Okinawa

May 8, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture published an anthology on the city’s history titled “The U.S. Military Operations and Civilian Internment Districts 1945-1946 – Centered in Yambaru, Nago.” It contains translations of records by U.S. military officers and photographs...

Photo Gallery: Once in 50-year deluge hammers Yonaguni Island

Photo Gallery: Once in 50-year deluge hammers Yonaguni Island

May 13, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

A record rainfall of a magnitude expected once every 50 years hit Yonaguni Island on May 13, which lost its intensity by afternoon, turning into a light shower. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) is urging people to stay alert of mudslides triggered by the heavy...

260 demonstrators march through Shinjuku to protest discrimination against Okinawa in the form of U.S. bases, question Okinawa’s reversion to Japan

260 demonstrators march through Shinjuku to protest discrimination against Okinawa in the form of U.S. bases, question Okinawa’s reversion to Japan

May 13, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

(Tokyo) On May 12, the Okinawa One-Tsubo Anti-War Landholders Association, Kanto Bloc held a protest near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to re-think “May 15,” as this year marks 140 years since the 1879 Ryukyu annexation (the “Ryukyu Disposition”) and 47 years...

Editorial: Prime Minister Abe’s stance on constitutional amendments dangerously belittles the constitution

May 8, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

In a video message released by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo May 3, he announced his intention to revise Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, including an explicit reference to the Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF), and stated that he was sticking to the goal of carrying...