August 6, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
On August 5, the first hearing in a new lawsuit brought by the Japanese government against Okinawa Prefecture was held at the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court. The lawsuit is an “action for the declaration of illegality of inaction;” the government wants the court to rule that Governor Takeshi Onaga’s nullification of the permit authorizing the reclamation of land in Henoko, Nago, and his refusal to comply with an order to undo the nullification,...
August 4, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
On August 3, the Okinawa Prefectural Government submitted written statements to the Fukuoka High Court from Governor of Okinawa Takeshi Onaga and Mayor of Nago City Susumu Inamine. The statements relate to a case the central government brought against the prefectural...
August 1, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
[Tokyo] On the morning of August 1, Yoichi Iha, who was recently elected to represent Okinawa in the House of Councillors, attended his first Diet session. With a look of determination on his face, Iha said, “It is a heavy responsibility to become a Diet member...
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...
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,...
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...
July 26, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
On July 25, as part of a project it will embark on with the objective of drawing foreign tourists to Japan’s regional areas, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) determined a policy to brand Zamami and Tokashiki Villages in the Kerama Islands as a national park,...
July 26, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
On July 25, the Governors’ Association for Military Facilities in Japan (chaired by Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture Yuji Kuroiwa) comprised of fifteen prefectures of Japan where the U.S. has military bases, paid a visit to Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani at the...
July 21, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
At the regular meeting on July 21, ruling parties in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a position document by majority vote requesting the cancellation of helipad construction in the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area (NTA) in Takae, Higashi Village....
July 22, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo online edition
On July 22 at about 6 a.m., the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) announced that new helipad construction work at the Northern Training Area, which is located in Higashi Village and Kunigami Village, had begun. Materials and vehicles to be used to start...
July 14, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
On July 14, Deputy chief cabinet secretary Kazuhiro Sugita visited Okinawa to attend a working group meeting between Okinawa and Japan concerning Okinawa’s revocation of its approval of land reclamation for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air...
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