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Director of US peace organization visits Okinawa

Director of US peace organization visits Okinawa

August 12, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On the afternoon of August 11, Paul Martin, the policy director of Peace Action, one of the United States’ largest peace organizations, visited the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly. Martin exchanged opinions on the U.S. military base issues in Okinawa with assembly members of the ruling party. Receiving a request from the Okinawa Peace Movement Center, Martin visited Okinawa to learn about the current situation concerning base issues.

His plan was...

 

People gather at 11th anniversary of US helicopter crash on Okinawa International University

People gather at 11th anniversary of US helicopter crash on Okinawa International University

August 13, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Eleven years ago, a CH-53D Stallion helicopter from the Futenma Air Station crashed onto Okinawa International University on August 13. A gathering was held at the university on August 13 at around 2 p.m., the same time the accident occurred, to reflect on Okinawa...

Nago Mayor at odds with defense minister; says distance between them has not narrowed on Henoko relocation.

Nago Mayor at odds with defense minister; says distance between them has not narrowed on Henoko relocation.

August 16, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On the morning of August 16, at a hotel in Nago City, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine held a meeting for the first time on the plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to Henoko. After the meeting, Nakatani and...

Gov. Onaga criticizes Japanese officials for viewing Okinawa only in strategic terms

Gov. Onaga criticizes Japanese officials for viewing Okinawa only in strategic terms

August 17, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 16, at the prefectural government office, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani met with Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga to gain his understanding on the plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to Henoko, Nago.

At the meeting,...

Okinawa governor questions Suga on the logic of base expansion

Okinawa governor questions Suga on the logic of base expansion

August 13, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On August 12, officials from the Japanese government and the Okinawa Prefectural Government met at the Okinawa Prefectural Building to conduct the first in a series of intensive discussions to be held during a one-month period in which construction related to the...

Naha Airport to install enclosed pedestrian bridge between terminals

August 7, 2015 Ayako Sakaguchi of Ryukyu Shimpo

Naha Airport Building Co. Ltd. (NABCO) and Okinawa Prefecture will build a covered pedestrian bridge to connect the Domestic Terminal and the International Terminal. They aim for it to be open by June 2016. Currently, there is no sheltered access...

Peace prayers for Tsushima Maru Victims at Memorial Service on the Ocean

Peace prayers for Tsushima Maru Victims at Memorial Service on the Ocean

August 6, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Kiyoshi Uehara, an 81-years old survivor from the Tsushima Maru ship that was sunk in 1944 by the US military while carrying school children evacuating the expected battle, conducted a memorial service on the ocean. The ceremony was conducted around the offshore...

Performers and audience come together to enjoy kachashi dance contest

Performers and audience come together to enjoy kachashi dance contest

August 10, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

The 27th Tobinsu Haninsu Kachashi Contest was held on August 9 at Ginowan Seaside Park in Ginowan.

Forty-nine individuals and 23 groups took part in the contest, with people of all ages participating, from children to the elderly. The performers and the...

Okinawa City’s population reaches 140,000 people

Okinawa City's population reaches 140,000 people

August 4, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

Okinawa City (former Koza City) hung a banner on August 4 marking the milestone of the city’s population growing to 140,000.

The city is located near U.S. Kadena Air Base. In 1974, two years after Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, Koza City and Misato...

US military parachute drop training: Ie Mayor requests Defense Bureau to take stricter safety measure

US military parachute drop training: Ie Mayor requests Defense Bureau to take stricter safety measure

August 10, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

A U.S. soldier landed on a field outside a fence around the military facility on Ie Island during a parachute drop training on August 5.

Ie Village Mayor Hideyuki Shimabukuro and the Village Assembly Chairman Yoshinori Shimabukuro met with Deputy Director...

Two JSDF’s member injured after US military helicopter crashes off coast of Okinawa

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