July 14, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Hiroe Nakagawa
After fleeing his native Vietnam, Masakazu Minami 50, (Vietnamese name: John Tai Tuan Vin), was rescued off the coast of Ho Chi Minh City by Okinawa Suisan (fishery) High School’s training vessel, the Shonan-maru. It was August 8, 1983. On July 13, 2019—36 years later, Minami arrived in Okinawa to reunite with the former captain of the Shonan-maru, Gensho Miyagi (75, formerly Gensho Shimoji), and his crew. “Thank you,” Minami expressed...
July 16, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Hiroki Ohashi
Okinawa’s finger-whistling music can be heard cheering on the teams at high school baseball games and at Eisa performances. On July 7, Finger-Whistling Day, a “Summer Vacation Finger-Whistling Concert 2019” was held at the JICA Okinawa...
July 9, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
In June, a plan by the NPO Ichiman-nin Idobata Kaigi, which runs the Hantagawa Community Center in Naha, Okinawa, to build community centers in Egypt was adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as a “project for promoting...
July 6, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
On July 6 about 350 people gathered in front of a Camp Schwab gate, demonstrating their opposition to the construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF) in Henoko, Nago City, for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (MCAS Futenma).
This...
July 9, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Toyko – The Japanese government decided July 9 not to appeal a ruling by the Kumamoto District Court that recognized that as part of the government’s quarantine policy for those afflicted with Hansen’s disease, not only the afflicted but also the families suffered...
July 3, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
The Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) has decided to propose to the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly an ordinance to protect scarce prefectural wildlife, due to the poaching and exploitation of Okinawa’s wildlife.
Because there are many rare forms of wildlife...
July 4, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Local residents who oppose Northern Training Area (NTA) helipads have set up tents, tent furnishings, simple toilets and other items as part of their opposition in front of the NTA’s N1 zone gate.
On July 2 the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa removed these...
July 2, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
The Makishi Public Market has re-opened on July 1, at its temporary location in Matsuo, Naha City, at a town square formerly known as the Nigiwai Hiroba. The temporary market houses 84 shops inside a two-story prefabricated building situated on a 1970-square-meter...
June 30, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo online edition
June 30 marked the 60th anniversary of the 1959 crash of a U.S. military jet from Kadena Air Base onto Miyamori Elementary School and the residential district of Ishikawa, Uruma City (Ishikawa City at the time), which killed 18 elementary school pupils....
June 24, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
The Himeyuri Peace Museum (Itoman) marked their 30th anniversary June 23, and around 350 of the former students and their descendants held a memorial service at the Himeyuri tower. The members of the student corps that survived the Battle of Okinawa are now in their...
June 26, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Yukiyo Zaha
Kaiya Yonamine, a second-generation Okinawan-American high school student living in Portland, Oregon, completed a documentary titled “Our Island’s Treasure”. Her intent is to communicate the issues surrounding construction of the Futenma...
Webcam(Kokusai Street)