Archive for the Editorial Category

Recent News

[Editorial]Treaties show that Japan’s annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom was an unjustified act

July 12, 2014 Ryukyu shimpo

Three treaties, which were signed between the Ryukyu Kingdom and other countries about 160 years ago have provided a new perspective on the current state of Okinawa, its modern history and the hardships experienced by Okinawan people.

These treaties will serve as a great stepping-stone to the future when the Okinawan people will assert the right to self-determination.

In 1854, a Treaty of Amity between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the United States was...

 

[Editorial]The Supreme Court’s decision on Takae lawsuit is unjustifiable

June 19, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Defense Bureau filed a lawsuit against local residents who protested against the construction of U.S. military helipads in Takae, Higashi. The helipads are a condition of a partial return of the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area. The bureau...

[Editorial]Mr. President: Do not smother democracy in Okinawa!


President Obama,...

[Editorial]Dear US ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy: We want the US government to change its Futenma replacement policy and cancel Henoko landfill

Dear US ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy

We sincerely welcome you to visit Okinawa. Japan and the United States have faced many challenges in negotiating on the areas of foreign, security, defense and economic policy. However, we hope that you as the US ambassador to Japan will exert your...

[Editorial]Anti-US base mayor re-elected: Japan and US should abandon Henoko plan

January 20, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

In the Nago mayoral election, the incumbent Susumu Inamine, who rejects moving U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko, Nago, won a landslide victory in his second term against Bunshin Suematsu, a former Okinawa prefectural assembly member who backs the...

[Editorial]Okinawa Governor Nakaima should resign for betraying the Okinawan people by approving the Henoko landfill

December 28, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima has approved land reclamation work in the Henoko district of Nago in preparation for moving U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. With this he has effectively reneged on his pledge to move the base outside Okinawa.

This...

[Editorial]Nago mayor’s written opinion reveals injustices of Henoko landfill

November 21, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Mayor of Nago has completed his draft statement of opinion on the government plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in Nago. In many as 23 pages of densely formatted text, one by one, the mayor carefully points out the irrational...

[Editorial] Testimonies prove “comfort women” recruited by force

October 9, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

Newly disclosed National Archives documents expose the details of hideous acts by the Imperial Japanese Army in trampling on the human rights of women. The documents include the judicial records of nine Japanese military officers and civilians convicted by a provisional...

[Editorial] U.S. and Japan should remove Osprey from Okinawa

October 4, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

With the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense and Japan’s Ministers for Foreign Affairs and of Defense in attendance, the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee, otherwise known as the “two-plus-two” security meeting, has convened in Tokyo. Japan...

[Editorial] Defense Bureau keeps information on dugongs from the public

September 24, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Defense Bureau has confirmed that in 2012, for the first time in three years, dugongs came to feed in the sea off Henoko in Nago. This area is the site of the planned reclamation for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Records...

[Editorial] U.S. military’s shameful cover up of Osprey crash in Nevada

August 31, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

How long will the U.S. military continue to hide information? The latest example is the accident in which an MV-22 Osprey failed when landing in Nevada. The U.S. military provided few answers to questions from the Ryukyu Shimpo. They went no further than saying...