Archive for June, 2019

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MCAS Futenma helicopter’s blade tape falls on Uranishi Junior High, raising concerns about Marine Corps aircraft maintenance

MCAS Futenma helicopter’s blade tape falls on Uranishi Junior High, raising concerns about Marine Corps aircraft maintenance

June 6, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Around 3:30 p.m. on June 4 an object that appears to be a piece from a U.S. military aircraft fell onto the tennis court of Uranishi Junior High School in Toyama, Urasoe City. On June 5 the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa assessed the object had fallen off of a CH-53E helicopter from Futenma Air Station. The object is a piece of blade tape, which can be applied to Marine Corps helicopter blades. A Marine Corps official assessed that judging by the object’s...

 

Editorial: UN special rapporteur indicates freedom of expression in Japan in danger; infringing on freedom of expression is inexcusable

June 7, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Freedom of expression is in a crisis in Japan.

In a new report released by David Kaye, the United Nation’s special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, is demanding that the Japanese government respect...

Close call: students found playing with unexploded hand grenade

Close call: students found playing with unexploded hand grenade

June 6, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 5, it was discovered that several male elementary and junior high school students were found playing with an unexploded hand grenade on May 30 in Ginowan, Okinawa. The students had been throwing it around and bicycling around with it in their bicycle baskets....

“It could have been me”–participants of memorial and protest wear black, shed tears for woman killed by U.S. soldier

“It could have been me”--participants of memorial and protest wear black, shed tears for woman killed by U.S. soldier

June 3, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

(Chatan) “It could have been me…” At an emergency memorial and protest held June 2 to remember the murder of a woman by a serviceman in the U.S. Marine Corps in Chatan, Okinawa in April, participants prayed for the victim to rest in peace and confirmed...

Photographer Mao Ishikawa wins Lifetime Achievement Award

Photographer Mao Ishikawa wins Lifetime Achievement Award

June 3, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Photographic Society of Japan held an awards ceremony on Jun 3, at the Sasakawa Hall in Tokyo, where Mao Ishikawa was awarded the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award. Ishikawa was presented a certificate and a trophy. She pledged to “Continue to create ‘made in...

Prefectural protest of 700 people gathers by Camp Schwab calling for FRF construction to stop

Prefectural protest of 700 people gathers by Camp Schwab calling for FRF construction to stop

June 2, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 1 there was a large prefectural protest against construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF) in Henoko, Nago City, which met in front of the gate to Camp Schwab. About 700 people attended, affirming their solidarity in calling for base construction...

Expert discovers JSDF training materials that claim missiles to be stored near residential areas in Miyakojima and Ishigaki have “2 minutes until explosion” in the event of a fire, making evacuation for residents almost impossible

Expert discovers JSDF training materials that claim missiles to be stored near residential areas in Miyakojima and Ishigaki have “2 minutes until explosion” in the event of a fire, making evacuation for residents almost impossible

June 4, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Manato Akira

It was learned on June 2 that in a Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) training materials, there is a section that says that when a surface-to-ship guided missile is surrounded by flames, the time it takes for it to explode is about two minutes,...

Beautiful coral spawning confirmed at Tokashiki Island in Okinawa

Beautiful coral spawning confirmed at Tokashiki Island in Okinawa

May 30, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Hideaki Yoneda

Takashi Matsuda, 46, of the diving shop Relax Island in Aharen, Tokashiki Village confirmed that the coral of Aharen Beach spawned on the nights of May 22 and 23.

Only once a year, in May or June during the flood tide around the full...

Okinawa governor’s initial correspondence to U.S. government requests MCAS Futenma closure

Okinawa governor’s initial correspondence to U.S. government requests MCAS Futenma closure

May 28, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Recently Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki sent his first correspondence to the U.S. government, requesting the prompt suspension of operations on Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma. The Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) is once more appealing for an immediate...

Angered over continued scandals involving the United States Air Force, three municipalities around Kadena Air Base plan protest

Angered over continued scandals involving the United States Air Force, three municipalities around Kadena Air Base plan protest

May 30, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

The “Kadena Air Base Tri-City Intercommunication Committee,” which is comprised of representative from Okinawa City, Kadena, and Chatan and chaired by Kadena mayor Hiroshi Toyama, visited Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) chief Toshinori Tanaka May 29 to protest repeated...

Association of mothers submits petition to eliminate harmful substances in water to OPG

Association of mothers submits petition to eliminate harmful substances in water to OPG

May 30, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

Following the discovery of hazardous substance in tap water, filtration plants, and water sources, a group of women alarmed by the situation established the “Association of Mothers Requesting Safe Water.” The source of the pollution is suspected to be the U.S....