On May 21, while elementary and junior high schools in various regions of Okinawa held opening ceremonies and school entrance ceremonies, U.S. military aircraft successively took off from and landed at Futenma Air Station. On this day, noise measurements taken by University of the Ryukyus Associate Professor Takeshi Tokashiki recorded noise at 87.4 decibels at 11:16 a.m. and 84.8 decibels at 10:22 a.m. at Futenma Daini Elementary School. The Ginowan city government had appealed for the U.S. military to refrain from flights during school entrance ceremonies.
Just past 10:20 a.m., while Futenma Junior High School in Ginowan City was holding its school entrance ceremony, a CH-53 large transport helicopter took off heading north. It was confirmed that the helicopter flew around overhead in the vicinity of Futenma Junior High School and Futenma Daini Elementary School. After this, Osprey aircraft performed repeated takeoffs and landings.
Chairperson Tomoko Miyagi, 50, of “Team Midorigaoka 1207”, a group of people whose children live or commute to Futenma, said: “In the midst of falling objects incidents, why is it that the U.S. military can ignore (the local appeal). The Japanese government hears our voices and makes firm requests to the U.S. military, I want residents’ concerns to be changed to peace of mind.”
(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)
Kitanakagusuku—the non-profit organization Ryukyu America Historical Research Society (chaired by Shizuo Alex Kishaba) released 207 color photographs taken between 1952 and 1954 in a press release held at Ayakari no Mori on May 15. The pictures show what escaped the ravages of World War II—the beautiful scenery of Okinawa and the lively expressions on the children’s faces. The photographs were shot by a teacher who was employed at an elementary school located on base, and were donated to the non-profit by an American man. See below a few images from the collection.
Children selling flowers to American soldiers, photographed around 1952-1954 on the main island of Okinawa. (Photo credit: Ryukyu America Historical Research Society.)
Children smiling at the camera, photographed around 1952-1954 in Okuma, Kunigami-son. (Photo credit: Ryukyu America Historical Research Society.)
People washing their laundry in Kin, photographed around 1952-1954. (Photo credit: Ryukyu America Historical Research Society.)
A crowd of people in front of the Ernie Pyle Theater in Naha City, photographed around 1952-1954. (Photo credit: Ryukyu America Historical Research Society.)
Ryutan Lake in Shuri, photographed on the main island of Okinawa around 1952-1954. (Photo credit: Ryukyu America Historical Research Society.)
A row of pine trees still standing along the path leading to Futenma Shrine in Ginowan City, photographed around 1952-1954. (Photo credit: Ryukyu America Historical Research Society.)
March marked the second month in a row, following February, in which sounds appearing to be dugong calls were recorded by an underwater recording device installed in the ocean at the Henoko base construction site, where a base is being built as part of the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko, Nago. On May 15, the Okinawa Defense Bureau reported the dugong calls at a meeting of the “Environmental Monitoring Committee” expert commission. Further, it was also revealed that a new colony of Porites okinawensis, a type of coral that is registered on the Ministry of the Environment’s red list of endangered species, has been discovered in Oura Bay. The sounds appearing to be dugong calls were recorded at the same spot as in February. The sounds were confirmed nine times on March 6, once on March 9, six times on March 13, twice on March 25, and five times on March 29. Meanwhile, no dugongs were sighted, and no seaweed feeding trails were seen.
In April, the Okinawa prefectural government instructed the Defense Bureau to stop the construction and do a survey of dugong activity, but according to the Defense Bureau, there was no discussion of stopping the construction at the meeting on May 15. The Defense Bureau will expand the surveys they have been carrying out already and aim to confirm the habitation status of the dugong.
The newly discovered Porites okinawensis colony was found 5.5 meters below the ocean surface, and is 3.2 centimeters in diameter. The Defense Bureau stated that the coral has experienced bleaching overall, and that it plans to continue observation. Members of the committee advised the bureau to take are that the construction does not impact the coral.
The committee meeting was held by video call in order to avoid spread of infection of the novel coronavirus.
At Sunset Farm Okinawa in Gima, Yomitan, 50,000 sunflowers planted in artificially-lit chrysanthemum fields have blossomed, bringing new scenery to the farm. To make use of the farmland after the chrysanthemums have shipped, sunflower seeds were planted between the chrysanthemums. When the artificial lights are turned on at night, the rows of sunflowers can be seen. Kohei Ikehara, owner of IKEHARA, the company that runs the farm, said smiling, “Is this the first nighttime sunflower field in the world?”
Sunset Farm’s project was brought to the attention of sunflower farmers from Hokuryu in Hokkaido, a town famous for sunflowers, and they sent 100,000 sunflower seeds along with a suggestion to try planting them.
The seeds were planted at the end of March, and 45 days later the flowers bloomed. People are free to take home as many as they like, however due to the coronavirus entry into the farm is limited to one group every thirty minutes. The entrance fee for the farm is pay-what-you-want.
Reservations were only being taken through the 17th, however the farm has already purchased additional seeds from Hokuryu, and the farm is planning on another round of flowers for the summer.
The farm also offers a memory-making drone photography service for 2,000 yen, providing customers with the image data. Taken from above, the red lamps spell out “I Love You” over the field of yellow flowers.
Sunset Farm, which grows and ships around 4 million chrysanthemums each year, has been working on turning their farm into a tourist destination since last year.
The farm has been trying to gain fans by creating a place where growers and customers can interact, and has arranged the farm in a hip layout creating a tourist hot spot.
With activities such as making accessories in the unique atmosphere, and selling original T-shirts, the farm has been working to break out of the box of being just farmers, turning “Sunset Farm” into a brand of its own.
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)
It came to light on May 13 that the U.S. Marine Corps has started refurbishment work on a runway and airstrips on Iejima Auxiliary Airfield in Ie Village, Okinawa. Construction is scheduled for completion by late June. On a website the Marine Corps uses to disseminate information, the purpose of these furbishments is described as being to maximize the island’s operational capabilities, indicating a policy of strengthening base functionality. After construction is completed there is a possibility that U.S. military aircraft training drills will increase and the military base burden, such as aircraft noise, will also increase. Ie Village, including the Ie Village Assembly, received an explanation about the refurbishment work, but the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) was not informed.
Knowledgeable persons have pointed out that the refurbishment may be linked to vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as MV-22 transport Osprey and state-of-the-art fighter aircraft F-35.
The Okinawa Defense Bureau explained, as information from the United States, that this refurbishment is repair work to mend the runway and airstrips that have been damaged or have deteriorated. According to the explanation from the ODB and U.S. military, aside from flaking and repaving the surface of the runway (about 1,600 meters), multiple airstrips on the west side of the airfield are being repositioned, and a square landing zone having 183-meter sides is being built.
Photographs contributed to the Marine Corps’ public information website show the status of construction, which is underway using heavy machinery such as bulldozers. According to an explanatory note, the construction on this site started on February 19.
In February, the Defense Bureau provided information to Ie Village about the refurbishment. On May 8, leaders of the village and Defense Bureau, as well as the village assembly members, entered the site and received an explanation from the U.S. military. A U.S. military spokesperson said that the length and width of the runway would not change.
The OPG received inquiries from this newspaper and posed the questions to the Defense Bureau which in turn conveyed details about the construction to the OPG.
Since the landing zone that simulates the deck of an amphibious assault ship on Iejima was expanded at the end of 2018, vertical takeoff and landing F-35Bs are being flown and having effects such as the noise damage becoming tempestuous.
Okinawa – The Okinawa Zento Eisa Matsuri executive committee announced May 14 that they would be canceling the 65th Okinawa Zento Eisa Matsuri (hosted by the executive committee: Okinawa City, Ryukyu Shimpo Co. Ltd., Okinawa Television, the Okinawa Tourism and Industry Promotion Association, and the Okinawa City Youth Council), originally scheduled for September 11-13, due to concerns over the coronavirus.
According to the executive committee, this is the first time the festival has been cancelled. In order to stop the spread of the virus, committee meetings for the festival have not been held. Instead, the committee gathered written opinions from the parties involved with the festival, and have been considering whether or not to host the festival through May 12.
Okinawa City Mayor Sachio Kuwae, who also heads the executive committee, commented, “It will be very difficult for all of the groups involved to practice and do all of the work needed to host the event. Thinking of the health and safety of both the participants and guests, hosting the festival would be difficult to say the least. We will work to ensure that everyone can come to the next one without worry.”
The festival takes place at Okinawa City Stadium, and is a lively event that attract many visitors. Last year, the event attracted an all-time high of 350,000 visitors. The event features Eisa performances by groups from Okinawa City and elsewhere, and the majestic performances bring excitement to summer in Okinawa.
On May 14, a day before the 48th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, Governor Denny Tamaki issued a statement in which he pledged to: “Continue addressing the challenges facing Okinawa, such as economic disparity with the rest of Japan, childhood poverty, and our U.S. military burden.”
The governor also remarked on Okinawa’s development since its reversion to Japan: “We’ve made solid progress on public infrastructure development. The various policies we’ve adopted in pursuit of economic independence is working.” He also said, “Okinawa still faces many challenges that need to be resolved, including the excessive burden of U.S. military base hosting and the land reclamation work that was recently forced through in Henoko to build a new military base.”
The governor also commented on the events that have unfolded since last year—the Shuri Castle fire, the swine fever outbreak, and the ongoing novel coronavirus spread—and said, “As we are just two years away from the 50th anniversary of the Okinawa Reversion, I have renewed my resolve to ensure that we overcome this difficult situation, with the help from each citizen of Okinawa.”
After a huge rainstorm the day before caused by a rainy season front, Okinawa Island was enclosed in an anticyclone and enjoyed a sunny break in the rain on May 13. Even Ishigaki Island, which experienced record rainfall, was mostly sunny. In Ishigaki City a high of 29.6 degrees Celsius was recorded.
At Shikiya Fishing Port in Chinen, Nanjo, people were out harvesting mozuku (edible brown algae) during the break in the rains. Heavily sun-tanned fishers used dedicated cranes to lift baskets full of mozuku off of the boats and bring them to shore.
In the early morning on May 12, the atmosphere became extremely unstable as a result of the onset of the rainy season, and torrential rain fell primarily around the Yaeyama region. As of 7:00 a.m., record-breaking rainfall of 125 mm/hr was observed in Tonoshiro, Ishigaki.
The Ishigaki Local Meteorological Observatory issued a heavy rain and flood warning for Ishigaki City and Taketomi Town, which was reduced to a precaution in both areas as of 10:00 a.m.
In addition to Ishigaki Island, torrential rainfall of roughly 120 mm of analyzed precipitation was observed in Taketomi Island, and the Japan Meteorological Agency published “record-breaking short-term heavy rainfall information”.
According to the Okinawa Electric Power Company, 1,850 households in Ishigaki City were experiencing power outages as of 8:00 a.m. on May 12. As of 8:30 a.m., multiple roads had been flooded, but no human injury had been confirmed.
Extremely heavy rain is expected to fall on some parts of Okinawa Island as well. The Okinawa Local Meteorological Observatory is calling on people to be careful of thunder and lightning, sudden gusts of wind, and sudden heavy rainfall under advancing cumulonimbus clouds.
An incident in which two Chinese coast guard ships entered the waters near the Senkaku Islands to approach a Japanese fishing boat belonging to the Yonaguni Fishing Cooperative operating about 12 kilometers west-southwest from Uotsuri Island was reported by the fishing cooperated May 11. Shigenori Takenishi, head of the cooperative, commented to reporters for this paper, “The Japanese Coast Guard is doing all they can to deal with the issue, but the Senkaku dispute is a problem between both countries.”
According to a representative from the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, this is the 4th time a Chinese state-owned ship has approached a Japanese fishing ship since August of 2014. Takenishi said that the Chinese ship came within about a kilometer of the Japanese fishing vessel, and saying, “On the water, a kilometer is right in your face. It was only by a stroke of luck that there was not an accident or any injuries, and I hope that measures are put in place to ensure it does not happen again.”
Yonaguni town council adopts a resolution calling for increased vigilance
Yonaguni – After an incident where a Chinese Coast Guard ship entered the waters around the Senkaku Islands to approach and tail a Japanese fishing vessel belonging to the Yonaguni Fishing Cooperative, the Yonaguni town council (Takezo Maenishihara, chairman) held an emergency council meeting where they unanimously adopted written opinion calling for increasingly vigilant surveillance of the ocean around the Senkaku Islands. The statement was addressed to the governor of Okinawa and the Prime Minister.
The statement protested the Chinese government, and demanded that increased surveillance and an environment in which fishing boats could operate safely be immediately established.
On May 11, the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory announced that Okinawa appeared to have entered the rainy season. Okinawa is the second regional area of Japan to enter the wet season, following the Amami area which entered its rainy season on May 10. The rainy season arrived in Okinawa two days later than the average year and five days earlier than last year. The Meteorological Observatory forecasts cloudy days for the next week, due to the rainy seasonal front and humid air moving into the region.
Photograph 1: Nishihara City covered in a thick fog at around 8:30 a.m. on May 11.
Photograph 2: The Nirai Kanai Bridge in Chinen, Nanjo City, shrouded in a fog at around 7 a.m. on May 11.
Photograph 3: People crossing the street with umbrellas in hand near the prefectural office in Naha City, around 8 a.m. on May 11.
Photograph 4: A hibiscus flower covered in rain drops after an early dawn shower. Photographed in Ginowan City around 9 a.m. on May 11.
Photograph 5: A fog settles over Ginowan City on the morning of May 11.
Photograph 6: A cat taking shelter from the rain under a playground slide. Photographed at Urasoe Athletic Park at 8:11 a.m. on May 11.
Webcam(Kokusai Street)
