Top News

Naha Airport breaks records with 18.54 million visitors

July 29, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Wu Li Jun

The main entrance to Okinawa, Naha Airport, recorded 18.54 million visitors over the past year. The number increased by 5.8 percent on the previous year, breaking a new record. The airport has broken its visitation record for four consecutive years. The number of users of the international airport has quadrupled over the past four years, with 2.5 million people using the airport in the past year. The number of people coming to Okinawa on domestic...

 

MOD personnel dispatched as crime-prevention patrols actually on guard duty in Takae

MOD personnel dispatched as crime-prevention patrols actually on guard duty in Takae

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...

Okinawa at its warmest in postwar period

August 2, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

According to the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory, average temperatures in the Okinawa region for July were higher than usual by 0.9 degree Celsius, equal to the highest temperature recorded since statistics started in 1946. The monthly average sea surface temperature...

Rare scene in Japan: US servicemen carrying guns walk along road in Takae

Rare scene in Japan: US servicemen carrying guns walk along road in Takae

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,...

Swedish emigrant to Kumejima turns Okinawan old house into North European restaurant

Swedish emigrant to Kumejima turns Okinawan old house into North European restaurant

July 22, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

A Swedish restaurant named “SMAKAKA (Småkaka)” opened in Kadekaru, Kume-jima this April, providing a space for the community to socialize. The owner is 53-year old Anna Edberg who moved to the island from Sweden. Local women provide assistance at the restaurant...

Takae, a village ward of 140: “Not a single person is in favor” of helipad construction

Takae, a village ward of 140: “Not a single person is in favor” of helipad construction

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...

Ministry designation will help Kerama become an important tourist destination, attract tourists from abroad

Ministry designation will help Kerama become an important tourist destination, attract tourists from abroad

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,...

Governors’ Organization makes special requests to Minister of Defense concerning the SOFA

Governors’ Organization makes special requests to Minister of Defense concerning the SOFA

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...

“Never give up” Takae protesters getting nationwide support

July 25, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Japanese government has resumed helipad construction in the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area (NTA), which expands from Higashi Village to Kunigami Village. Citizens protesting against the construction have long received supplies such as food from various...

Protest rally against helipad construction in Takae attracts 1,600

Protest rally against helipad construction in Takae attracts 1,600

July 22, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Japanese government is trying to resume helipad construction in the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area (NTA). On July 21, a protest rally against the resumed construction was held in front of the N1 zone gate to the NTA. According to the organizer, about...

Ruling parties in Okinawa assembly pass position document asking for halt to US military’s helipad construction

Ruling parties in Okinawa assembly pass position document asking for halt to US military's helipad construction

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....