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Naha Airport runway closed due to damaged JASDF F-15 fighter jet, civilian flights delayed and canceled

Naha Airport runway closed due to damaged JASDF F-15 fighter jet, civilian flights delayed and canceled

July 27, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

At around 9:17 a.m. on July 26, the landing light glass of an F-15 fighter jet belonging to the Naha Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) was damaged when it took off from Naha Airport.

According to the Naha Airport Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the runway was closed for 47 minutes from 9:44 a.m. to 10:31 a.m. so that broken glass could be collected.

Twenty-six flights, including 11 arrival flights and...

 

A list of Okinawan POWs in Hawaii was discovered in Okinawa Prefectural Archives

A list of Okinawan POWs in Hawaii was discovered in Okinawa Prefectural Archives

July 21, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 20, a list of Okinawans who were captured during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 and taken to a prison camp in Hawaii was found in the Okinawa Prefectural Archives. In February, Kaori Akiyama, who researches the compulsory detention of Japanese people in Hawaii...

2000 people form human chain in front of Camp Schwab in Henoko to demand cancellation of construction of new U.S. base

2000 people form human chain in front of Camp Schwab in Henoko to demand cancellation of construction of new U.S. base

July 22, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

At 2:00 p.m. on July 22, in front of the gates of Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago, citizen groups formed a ‘human chain’ to protest the construction of the new U.S. base that is part of the replacement of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan....

U.S. military parachute training in Tsuken Island becoming a regular occurrence

U.S. military parachute training in Tsuken Island becoming a regular occurrence

July 20, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

At 7:20 p.m. on July 19, the U.S. Air Force conducted parachute training over the water in the Tsuken Jima Training Area in Uruma City. At two separate times, a total of six parachutes were seen descending from special mission aircraft Lockheed MC-130. Parachute...

Japan’s largest coral reef has not recovered from previous years’ wide-scale bleaching

Japan’s largest coral reef has not recovered from previous years’ wide-scale bleaching

July 21, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Ministry of the Environment’s Naha Environment Bureau announced on July 20 the results of a June survey of 35 locations in the Sekisei shoko coral reef, Japan’s largest reef, located between Ishigaki and Iriomote islands in Okinawa. The results showed an...

Construction companies and prefectural police form council to eliminate organized crime from Schwab construction

Construction companies and prefectural police form council to eliminate organized crime from Schwab construction

July 19, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

(Nago) On July 19, with the aim of eliminating organized crime groups from the new base construction work at U.S. Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago, representatives from Taisei Corporation, Penta-Ocean Construction Co. Ltd. and other construction companies contracted...

Palestinian doctor who visited Henoko says Okinawa is under occupation

Palestinian doctor who visited Henoko says Okinawa is under occupation

July 15, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 14, about 26 citizens gathered in front of the gate of the U.S. Marine Corp’s Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago, where there is ongoing construction work towards a new base that is part of replacement base for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

A...

Hiroji Yamashiro reports back following June UN Human Rights Council statement

Hiroji Yamashiro reports back following June UN Human Rights Council statement

July 16, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 15, Chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center Hiroji Yamashiro and others reported back about the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland in June, where Yamashiro delivered a statement. The All Okinawa Council for Human Rights hosted a debriefing...

Opposition to Henoko Soil Hauling advises extending scope of invasive species prevention

Opposition to Henoko Soil Hauling advises extending scope of invasive species prevention

July 13, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 13, the nationwide liaison council Opposition to Henoko Soil Hauling held a study meeting from the point of view of environmental conservation at the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly building in Naha City, where about 15 people were in attendance.

Advisor...

Fourth year since first sit-in, renewing efforts to prevent new base construction

Fourth year since first sit-in, renewing efforts to prevent new base construction

July 7, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

July 7 marked the fourth year since Okinawan citizens began sit-in protests in front of the U.S. military Camp Schwab. The sit-ins are to protests the new base construction, or the relocation of the U.S. military Futenma Air Station to Henoko, Nago City. Early morning...

Sit-in protestors claim fight against Takae construction is ongoing

Sit-in protestors claim fight against Takae construction is ongoing

July 7, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

On the morning of July 7, ten citizens waged a sit-in at the front of the N1 Gate to the Northern Training Area (NTA) in Takae, Higashi Village to protest the construction of entry roads leading to helipads. Protestors stated that, “The fight Isn’t over yet.”

Sit-in...