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Japan formally asks Ishigaki Island to host JGSDF units

November 27, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Vice-Minister of Defense Kenji Wakamiya talked to Ishigaki mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama on November 26, and formally asked for the go-ahead to deploy units of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) to Ishigaki island. In the meeting, Wakamiya said the Japanese government selected Hiraeomata as the candidate area where JGSDF units will be deployed and the government is considering the deployment of 500 to 600 JGSDF members. Nakayama said, “I would like...

 

4,500 protesters gather in Tokyo to block construction of new US base at Henoko

4,500 protesters gather in Tokyo to block construction of new US base at Henoko

November 30, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On the afternoon of November 29, about 4,500 people gathered in the Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, demanding that the government of Japan cancel construction of a new U.S. base at Henoko, Nago. The rally was held by civic groups and...

Japanese government responds positively to appeal for Okinawa war damages to be included in nationwide report

Japanese government responds positively to appeal for Okinawa war damages to be included in nationwide report

November 26, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

When the Japanese government’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications compiled their “Report of Nationwide [WWII] War Damages” from 1997 to 2009, the report left out any mention of damage suffered by Okinawa Prefecture. On the morning of November...

Greenpeace requests halt to Henoko relocation project at the Ministry of Defense

Greenpeace requests halt to Henoko relocation project at the Ministry of Defense

November 25, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

At the Ministry of Defense on November 25, the international NGO Greenpeace Japan requested environmental protection in Henoko and Oura Bay, and a halt to construction of a relocation facility for U.S. Marine Corp Air Station Futenma. The NGO submitted 28,759...

Kijoka elementary school children find swan goose

Kijoka elementary school children find swan goose

November 17, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

A swan goose unexpectedly flew in and landed in Kijoka, Ogimi on November 13. The large swan-like goose is rarely seen in Japan.

Children at Kijoka Elementary School regularly conduct bird-watching activities, which the school has been doing for 27 years,...

Ryukyu dynasty-style added to list of Okinawa resort weddings

Ryukyu dynasty-style added to list of Okinawa resort weddings

November 25, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Companies from different industries have developed a Ryukyu dynasty-style wedding in a throne room as a new product for the Okinawa Resort Wedding Association. The firms showed the new product at the Bankoku Shinryokan resort, Nago on November 25.

Okinawan...

Okinawa authorities view earthenware found in Henoko as cultural assets

November 25, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 24, officials from the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) inspected objects, which appear to be clay pots and stone artifacts, found off the coast of Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago, the site for the planned relocation of Futenma Air Base. After inspecting...

Kenzaburo Oe says relocation to Henoko will resolve nothing

Kenzaburo Oe says relocation to Henoko will resolve nothing

November 24, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

In the afternoon on November 23, about 740 people gathered at Ryukyu Shimpo Hall in Naha to listen to Nobel Prize in Literature 1994 winner Kenzaburo Oe’s lecture titled “Peace from Okinawa: calling democracy into question.” While holding a dialogue with...

Largest US federation of trade unions pledges support in struggle against new US base

Largest US federation of trade unions pledges support in struggle against new US base

November 22, Ryukyu Shimpo
Sakae Toiyama reports from Washington, DC

On November 20, delegates from the All Okinawa Council, led by All Okinawa Council co-representative and Kanehide Group chairman Morimasa Goya, visited the Washington, DC headquarters of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation...

Editorial: The marvelously non-violent sit-in at Camp Schwab lasts 500 consecutive days

November 20, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

How on earth does one measure the gravity of a single wish, pursued by many people together? On November 18, the sit-in protest in front of the gate of Camp Schwab, Henoko, Nago, by citizens opposing construction of a new U.S. base reached its 500th consecutive...

OIST president wins physics prize

OIST president wins physics prize

November 12, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Jonathan Dorfan, president of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), along with David Hitlin, Stephen Olsen, and Fumihiko Takasaki, has been awarded the 2016 W.K.H. Panofsky Prize from the American Physical Society. The prize...