A girl trembles in fear at the sight of an American soldier—this girl appears in a video footage recorded by the U.S. troops, a clip often incorporated in films about the Battle of Okinawa. Sometime before June 22, Sueko Urasaki (nee Kakazu), 81, a resident of Oroku, Naha City, came forward as the mystery girl. Urasaki claims the footage was shot in Osato, Takamine Village (present-day Itoman City.) Urasaki said during this interview, “It was my first time seeing an American [soldier] with blue eyes. It was frightening.” For the first time in 74 years since the war, she returned to the very spot she encountered the soldier, and looked back on the horrendous experience in which she lost four of her family members.
Minoru Yamauchi, former part-time lecturer at Ryukyu University, and former editor for the nonprofit organization, Battle of Okinawa One Foot of Film Movement, said, “The video was likely shot in the southern area of Tomigusuku City at the end of the Battle of Okinawa. Based on [Urasaki’s] claims, it’s highly possible she is indeed the girl in the footage.”
Sueko Urasaki, who claims to be “the trembling girl.”
According to Urasaki, the footage was taken sometime in late June in 1945. She was on a farm road in Osato, Takamine Village, when a pair of U.S. soldiers pointed their camera at her. Urasaki was 7 years old at the time, and was seeking shelter with her 22-year-old sister.
Urasaki, her mother, sister, and younger brother, had been hiding inside the family’s turtle-back tomb in Yoza, Itoman City, until moments before the encounter. U.S. attacks were intensifying, and the family left the tomb upon learning that another tomb their neighbors were hiding in, was bombed.
The family decided to split; Her mother took her brother, and Urasaki went with her sister. When Urasaki crossed paths with the American soldiers, she was alone, waiting for her worried sister who went back to check on their mother and brother.
Urasaki recalled the moment and said, “It was my first time seeing an American. I was afraid of his blue eyes. I was shaking in fear.”
The horror of war remains; Tracing her footsteps 74 years later
June 17, Osato, Itoman City–for the first time in 74 years, Sueko Urasaki visits the location where the footage was shot.
“The trembling girl” provides a powerful image of the atrocities of the Battle of Okinawa. Sueko Urasaki, 81, now a resident of Oroku, Naha City, came forward as the mystery girl, 74 years after the war. Painful memories still haunt her to this day: fleeing battlefields and raining shells; anxiously hiding in the turtle-back tombs; and the frightening encounter with the American soldiers. On June 17, Urasaki and Minoru Yamauchi, former part-time lecturer at Ryukyu University, retraced her footsteps through Osato and Yoza, in Itoman City.
“Everybody died in that war.” Urasaki said in a hushed voice, standing on a sidewalk wet from the rain. Her gaze was fixed on the road she claims the footage was filmed. She had walked 700 meters from the tomb her family was hiding in, covered in mud, when she came across the soldiers. In the film, the girl places her lips on the canteen offered to her, and appears to take a sip. According to Urasaki, the soldier also handed her a biscuit, but she did not drink or eat what they handed her.
“We were told that anything the Americans offered us would be poisoned. The Japanese soldiers also handed out fliers saying so. I didn’t consume anything they gave me.”
An American soldier offers water to the girl shaking in fear (courtesy of Okinawa Prefectural Archives.)
In 2005, she saw the film footage on a television program commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. She thought the girl looked like her, but was uncertain.
Two years ago, a friend showed her a still image of the scene, which suddenly brought back vivid memories. She recognized the girl’s kimono–it was the kimono she was wearing that day.
Following the filmed encounter, Urasaki and her sister were detained in a camp located in Goeku (present-day Okinawa City). There, they were reunited with their mother and younger brother. However, it was not long before her brother died, from causes related to the teargas attack on the cave he was hiding out in. Urasaki lost her father and older brother, who were conscripted by the Japanese Defense Forces, and her sister, who died from an injury sustained during the war. Urasaki lowered her voice and remembered her younger brother: “He was on his deathbed groaning, ‘Oh, oh, oh.’ Wars are truly horrific. It must never happen again.”
While the Ministry of Defense (MOD) strengthens defense capabilities in southwest Japan, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF) is conducting island recovery drills in case of invasion. Defense facilities near the national border are equipped with radar and missile elements, as those are likely to be the first targets in case of an emergency. The Sakishima Islands including Miyako and Yaeyama, where Self-Defense Force (SDF) deployment is moving forward, are no exception. It remains to be seen what deploying SDF forces to this “[militarily] empty space” will bring about. If island recapture operations are implemented, it is not clear what will happen to the residents living there.
Some are concerned that Chinese military fighter planes could destroy SDF radar sites on Miyako Island and Yonaguni Island at some point in the future 2000s. At the same time, soldiers might come ashore on Yonaguni Island and Tarama Island from transport aircraft and military vessels, gaining control over the islands’ residents. In a live-action adapted movie of the original Kubo Ibuki manga, a military clash around Sakishima between Chinese and Japanese forces over possession of the Senkaku Islands unfolds. The movie depicts the Japanese government declaring its first defensive dispatch since World War II, an air battle between SDF F-35Bs and Chinese military fighter planes, and recapture operations of the occupied islands.
Will something of this nature really occur? Former SDF officials and intellectuals have various perspectives on this question.
Nozomu Yoshitomi, a former GSDF major general with over thirty years enlisted experience and a professor at Nihon University, spoke about a potential emergency: “There is also a ‘grey’ means of occupation, in which [soldiers] would come in a form that would not appear to be military. It is possible they would come on fishing boats or cruise ships.”
Professor Yoshitomi went on the explain the necessity of deterrence by means of GSDF deployment, saying, “The Senkaku Islands and Taiwan are neighbor to Sakishima, so not provisioning Sakishima would send the clear message, ‘We are uninterested in defending [that region],’ which invites invasion.”
However, military affairs commentator Tetsuo Maeda is doubtful about island recapture tactics. Maeda said: “If [the issue] of recapturing the Senkaku Islands or outlying islands is highlighted to the Japanese people, they will more readily accept deployment of the GSDF. It is difficult to imagine an actual attack on Ishigaki Island or Miyako Island.”
In regard to GSDF deployment, Maeda judged, “The aim of containing China is concealed under the name of recapturing outlying islands; when push comes to shove, [the deployment] is meant to demonstrate the ability to block the ocean area between Okinawa’s main island and the Sakishima Islands.”
There are about 100,000 people living on the Sakishima Islands, and numbers of tourists to the islands also increase year after year. If an island was to be targeted and become a battleground, it remains to be seen if the private citizens living there could be protected. Within the details of island recapture drills and publicly accessible MOD analytical data, there is emphasis on tactical information, yet perspectives on protecting residents appear to have been left out. This indicates that resident protection is of low priority. There are also people who have similiar opinions to one active-duty SDF official, who frankly stated, “Resident protection is primarily a duty of the municipality, not the SDF.”
When Professor Yoshitomi was asked if resident protection has become a secondary concern, he answered, “The SDF also feels strongly that there must never be a repetition of the Battle of Okinawa, yet the discussion of resident protection is not moving forward.”
Due to the Civil Protection Law established in 2004, municipalities must formulate a “Civil Protection Plan” in preparation for emergencies or other contingencies. Ishigaki and Miyako cities made such plans, yet places to take refuge on the small islands and the means to evacuate a population of 50,000 off the islands are limited and scarce.
Makoto Konishi is a journalist and former Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) member who opposed the GSDF deployment plan. He claims there is currently a “seamless” attitude that does not differentiate between conflict or war and peacetime emergencies, making citizen protection difficult. Konishi said, “Whether citizens are evacuated to a nearby island or accommodated somewhere on [their own] island, if a blockade is set up on the ocean, transport ships will not be able to pass, missile units will be moving about and engaging in combat, and the battlefield will stretch throughout the islands.”
Last year in November the National Diet addressed some MOD internal documents concerning recapture tactics in case of a battle on Ishigaki Island. Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya was asked about the lack of consideration to citizen protection, to which he answered, “While we give the greatest consideration to citizen protection, it is natural to consider recapture in case of an invasion.” Even though the resident safety debate is up in the air, the SDF deployment plan is progressing.
◇ Terminology
The Plan of Retaking Off-shore Islands is the strategy for recapturing islands in the case of an invasion. Supposing there is an attack on the island area, the MOD places the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces together to serve as one part of island defense. The MOD’s fundamental reasoning is to develop forces before an opponent invades, blocking such an invasion. Even so, if the situation worsens and there is an invasion prior to these developments, the MOD will implement the Plan of Retaking Off-shore Islands.
Last year in March the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade was established as a specialized force to shoulder such strategies, and is known as the Japanese version of the Marine Corps. The Brigade was strengthened in March this year, and is currently comprised of about 2,400 people. It is also implementing joint training with the U.S. military. In November last year internal MOD documents from 2012 were made public, in which Ishigaki Island was judged to be a site likely to be invaded and the MOD considered necessities such as military strength for island recapture attempts.
Tokyo – The Japan P.E.N Club (Shinobu Yoshioka, president), which is comprised of 1,500 Japanese authors, released a declaration titled, “On the day of Okinawa’s Irei no Hi, we demand that the government take back their words, and reconsider new base construction at Henoko.”
This is the first time that the Japan P.E.N Club has released a statement about the new base construction issue at Henoko in Nago. Based on the stance of the Japanese government, which has been stubbornly pushing through with construction against the wishes of the people of Okinawa, the declaration states, “The government in recent years, and in particular in the executive office, we are afraid that the importance of words, which is all the more important for the foundations of a democracy, is being lost,” and demanded that the government heed the will of the people of Okinawa and reconsider the new base construction.
The statement lists reasons such as “Prioritizing the military can lead to the calamity of war, are they even thinking of the mass killings and forced group suicides that occurred in Okinawa?” and “How long does the government plan to allow U.S. military aircraft to fly through the Okinawan air day and night, and race their cars through the streets as if they were their own?” The declaration also stated their misgivings, “The Japanese government as not once been up front in answering their citizens’ doubts.”
The writing also stated that the hardline stance the government has taken preluded World War 2, stressing, “We cannot repeat this part of our history.”
Timed alongside “Irei no Hi” (a day of remembrance for the dead) on June 23, the article restates their resolution as an organization, stating “There were many lives lost as victims in the Pacific War, and so as to not repeat this calamity again, we aspire to use the power of words and expression to the best of our ability for peace.”
On June 19 the global science publisher Springer Nature released its 2018 rankings of worldwide research institutions, ranking the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) which is located in Tancha, Onna Village, as first place in Japan and tenth place in the world. Springer Nature is affiliated with the scientific journal Nature, which has global influence.
According to an OIST representative, the ranking is normalized in that Springer Nature independently calculated the ratio of high quality of papers in accordance with the scope of the institution and the number of papers produced.
President of OIST Peter Gruss said, “This demonstrates that if the conditions are right, even a university that has not been long-established can deliver world-class research. It also serves to validate the great value of OIST researchers, and the fruits of instructors’ and staff members’ zealous work. After this [OIST] will strive to perform the world’s top-class scientific research.”
New Caledonia Correspondent Yumiko Yamada of Ryukyu Shimpo
New Caledonia, which is known as the “closest island to paradise,” is also one of the world’s leading nickel producers. Due to the nature of open cast mining, some of the red soil of the nickel mine mountains is exposed, making it seem like a terraced rice paddy field. There are many nickel mining towns in New Caledonia. But Wile, located 234 kilometers away from the capital Noumea, is particularly famous for being the leading mining town of the east coast and for being a key location for entering the east coast. The population is more than 4,000 people and more than 90 percent are Melanesian.
Stephanie Zenkoro is a 43-year-old 4th-generation Japanese descendant who works as the president of the association of people from Okinawa prefecture. She normally works as a firefighter for the town. Her great-grandfather was Zengorou Tamaki from Nago. Due to a mix-up when registering their name, her family’s last name accidentally became “Zenkorou.”
Stephanie grew up as a Melanesian. She was aware that her father’s side was of Japanese descent, but did not have any connection with Japan. She grew up in her Melanesian mother’s big family. But being the analytical person that she is, she always felt that something set her apart from the rest of the Melanesians.
Stephanie likes staying true to herself. At first, her father was against her taking the examination to become a firefighter after graduating high school in Noumea. Local Melanesian who were settled in the area were opposed to ideas such as attending school in Noumea or women working. Her father accepted her becoming a firefighter after seeing her ability to do the job and how it improved her way of life.
Stephanie said, “Out of the seven sisters, I was the only one that became a firefighter and was able to go to Okinawa because I earn an income. It was at that point when I realized that the reason why my personality is different from others is because I have roots in Okinawa. Next time, I’d like to take my kids to Okinawa because you won’t be able to feel that deep emotion when you find yourself unless you actually go there and experience it.” Her family members now look up to her.
The current total number of firefighters in the Wile District is 17, of which 10 are male and seven are female. According to Stephanie, there is not much gender difference with the job. As the Vice Chief of the Wile District Fire Station, Stephanie’s dream is to have a cultural exchange with an Okinawan Fire Station. Her firefighter uniform suits her well.
(English translation by T&CT and Chelsea Ashimine)
High concentrations of the chemicals PFOS and PFOA have been detected in rivers and springs in the vicinity of U.S. military bases in the central part of Okinawa Island. There is data to suggest that these chemicals could be carcinogenic. On June 18 the Ryukyu Shimpo discovered that the United States had confirmed contamination by these substances during water quality studies on the compound of Kadena Air Base, and that these results had been shared with the Japanese central government.
At a meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Security on June 18 Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Kono said that these results were shared with the Japanese government.
Concerning disclosure of these study results, which could lead to identification of the source of contamination near the bases, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) staff official only said, “Having acceptance from the United States is essential, so we hope to take appropriate action hereafter.”
There is widespread uneasiness and concern among Okinawans concerning contamination by chemicals like PFOS. Essentially, while the MOFA understood the results of the U.S. study that confirmed pollution by these substances on Kadena Air Base, it decided to conceal the facts.
Substances including PFOS in the water sources of Chatan Water Treatment Plant (located in Chatan Town) have been detected at high concentrations in surveys conducted by the Okinawa Prefectural Enterprise Bureau, and the existence of the U.S. military base has been indicated as the source of these substances. However, the U.S. military has not admitted to the base being the cause of these substances’ presence. The Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) has not yet been able to enter the U.S. base compound and conduct investigations, as it has been requesting for some time, even though it has been more than three years since the contamination was discovered.
On June 18 at this meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Security, Seiken Akamine (of the Japanese Communist Party) addressed a portion of the January 2019 report on a U.S. military investigation on Kadena Air Base, which detected of high concentrations of PFOS, asking, “Were these investigation results indeed shared with the Japanese government?” Minister Kono responded, “They were [shared].”
Regarding the matter of officially announcing these investigation results, Director-General Kazuhiro Suzuki of the MOFA’s North American Affairs Bureau repeated the explanation that the Japanese government requires agreement from the United States. Akamine criticized him, saying, “I don’t sense even a trace of a constructive attitude.”
After the 2016 incident in which an ex-Marine U.S. military base worker murdered a woman in Okinawa, the Japanese government created the “Okinawa Regional Safety Patrol” as a policy to prevent further incidents, which to-date has cost around 1.5 billion yen. It was recently announced that 75% of the incidents said patrol has dealt with were for drunkenness such as people asleep on the road, while reporting only 6 incidents related to the U.S. military, just 0.7% of the total 855 incidents in the past three years. The efficacy and cost-efficiency of the patrol, which was started in order to prevent incidents involving the U.S. military, is now being brought into question. The Okinawa General Bureau (OGB) explained, “They are not here just to deal with U.S. soldiers,” and said that there were results that point to crime deterrence that are not reflected in the statistics.
According to the OGB, from June 2016 through the end of 2018, the total number of incidents reported to the police by the safety patrol was 855. Incidents involving drunk people totaled 645, 75.4% of the total incidents. Additionally, there were 41 incidents involving juveniles, and 16 involving suspicious persons, none of which were related to U.S. soldiers or U.S. military base workers. The six incidents involving the U.S. military included three cases of people asleep on the road, two traffic stops, and one fight/argument.
Okinawa International University professor Hiroyuki Teruya (Public Administration) indicates, “This is a far departure from the nature of previous incidents and accidents involving the U.S. military. I think many people in Okinawa are also unaware of this.”
The budget spent on patrol activities has run a total of 2.68 billion yen in 2016 and 6.26 billion yen in 2017. The costs for 2018 are still being calculated by the government, but the forecast for the three-year total is around 1.5 billion yen. Cabinet data suggests that the patrol costs around 2 million yen per day.
In Okinawa, there were 23 crimes committed by people related to the U.S. military in 2016. In 2017, that number rose to 48, a five-year high. In 2018, the total number of crimes was 31.
The OGB Safety Policy Director, Yasushi Namihira, explained, “The patrols we are carrying out are not meant for just the U.S. military. There are also crime deterrents that do not appear in the statistics.” He further stressed, “If we only track success by the numbers, then the regional crime prevention patrol would be in the same boat, which is meaningless.”
The dilapidated Makishi Public Market in Naha City is getting a facelift—Jun 16 was its last day of business before renovating. The market was lively until the very end. The shops, patrons, and nearby residents were all tearful, but positive. The market is an integral part of their life memories, and they promised to “see each other at the temporary market on July 1.” Here we look back on the final day of the market in photographs.
At Uehara Fruiterer, owner Nobuyoshi Uehara prepares for the day around 7 a.m. on Jun 16. He arrives at the Makishi Public Market in Naha City every day at 5 a.m.
The market’s last day started rather quietly. Sometime before 7 a.m., Uehara Fruiterer owner, Nobuyoshi Uehara, 86, is the first shopkeeper to start setting up. He lined up his merchandise as usual. When Taiwanese tourists passed by, Uehara said in Taiwanese, “three apples for 500 yen.” He laughed out loud and said, “I’ve never been to Taiwan, but I learned it [from doing business].” Endearingly referred to as “Okinawa’s kitchen,” the market has been a prominent tourist destination since the 1990’s.
Visitors taking commemorative photos. On this day, many people at the market had cameras in their hands.
Typically, the market’s visitors are mostly tourists, but many locals and media reporters dropped in on its last day. At one point, the aisles were so crowded there was hardly any room to move.
The market started to come alive as other shops began opening for business. An 83-year-old woman selling pickles, drew hibiscus flowers on her merchandise. She moved to Naha City from her hometown of Motobu in 1955. In the beginning, she sold brown sugar candy and ice cream cake on the streets. She said, “I had to give my baby ice cream cake when my breast milk wouldn’t come in.” She opened her pickle shop at the public market in her late twenties. Her business survived through the 1960s and 1970s, in which issues of relocation arouse and a fire occurred. She said her seniors “instilled ‘grit’ in me. I pray for them today.” She plans on working at the temporary market with her grandchild, and said, “I want to see how the new market will turn out before I retire.”
A former customer re-visiting her old favorite store.
Visitors stopping by to greet the shopkeepers.
The crowd singing along with Okinawan band BEGIN’s vocalist, Masaru Shimabukuro, performing the hit song “Shimanchu nu Takara.”
At 2:30 p.m. a concert took place on the second floor of the market to commemorate the last day. Singer Yu Shimabukuro, who said the elderly shopkeepers of the market gives him energy, performed “Shimanchu nu Takara” (Okinawan Treasure) and said to the crowd, “Our true treasure is our Oji and Oba”—Okinawan terms of endearment for “grandpa” and “grandma”, respectively.
Many customers enjoying their drinks at the market cafeteria.
Sawami Uehara, manager of Dotonbori, dancing along to the live music
Junko Ohama, 76, will be retiring her gift shop Ohama Mingei, with the old market. Ohama had very few words to offer, as she looked around at the empty shop and said, “I will miss it. I’ll get to relax; the younger generation can take over the new market.”
Yuko Onaga is retiring with this renovation. The entire family helped close the store, and is presenting her with a bouquet of flowers. Onaga says “it was a good life, thanks to the shop.”
The shops located on the first floor of the Makishi Public Market closing around 5:30 p.m., after the eat-in service ended at 4 p.m.
The market closing after 6 p.m. on its last day. Intercom announcements instruct reluctant customers to exit the market.
City Mayor Mikiko Shiroma visiting each shop, after the customers have left.
The after-hours relocation ceremony held in front of the market was brimming with local patrons and residents. The shopkeepers and the city’s mayor Mikiko Shiroma vowed deeply to the crowd, showing gratitude for their patronship over the years. The crowd whistled and shouted their thanks as the entrance was shuttered for the last time.
Employees of the market and the city thanking the crowd together during the relocation ceremony.
The crowd taking pictures of the Makishi Public Market closing its shutters in Matsuo, Naha City at 7:25 p.m.
Eisa performers dancing the kachashi with the crowd for the finale.
Okinawa International University’s eisa club, the Ryukyu Fusha, put on a performance, to which the crowd joined in and danced the kachashi. The eisa performers raised their flags high towards the market’s symbolic arched roof. The shopkeepers of the machigwa, or market, bowed deeply to the building after the ceremony.
Yukiko Abe, a Naha City resident who has been a patron of the market for over 20 years, said: “The market offers the best medicine—food and smiling faces. The merchandise might change, but I hope the heart of the market remains unchanged.”
Natsu Teruya gives flowers and tearful hugs to her long-time “next store neighbors”, specifically owners of the stores across from, and next to hers. Many shopkeepers who decided to retire their businesses received flowers while the crowd danced the kachashi.
On the morning of June 18 the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly opened its June plenary session. At the meeting the Assembly unanimously adopted a protest resolution and written statement in protest of the incident in which a piece of blade tape fell onto Uranishi Junior High School in Urasoe City off of a CH-53E helicopter from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Some contents of the resolution and written statement mentioned, “One wrong step could lead to a serious incident affecting human life, and we have been reminded of the dangers of Futenma Air Station,” and “We absolutely do not condone the U.S. military’s stance on the recurrence of incidents.” These documents also outlined requests including: (1) a thorough inspection of the cause of the incident and circumstances surrounding the incident, (2) a halt to U.S. military aircraft flights and training in the sky over private property, (3) the immediate closure of Futenma Air Station, and (4) a drastic revision of the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement.
By the end of this week the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly plans to submit the resolution and written statement directly to the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa, the U.S. Consulate General in Okinawa, the Okinawa Defense Bureau, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Okinawa Liaison Office, among others. The Assembly will also mail these documents to relevant agencies outside Okinawa.
There are 32 proposed measures to be addressed during the Assembly’s June plenary session. These include a proposed supplementary budget of 6,895,000 yen for bringing a new lawsuit against the central government concerning construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility in Henoko, and a petition to establish a prefectural support center for victims of sexual violence. The lawsuit that the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) plans to bring against the central government is to request a decision to cancel the Land Minister’s annullment of the OPG’s land reclamation permit revocation. The OPG plans to file the lawsuit if the supplementary budget is adopted.
The Assembly’s June plenary session will last 24 days, ending on July 11. It will question representatives concerning proposed measures on June 25 and 26.
On June 14, the Himeyuri Peace Memorial Foundation (director: Masanori Nakahodo) held a celebration in Naha for the 30th anniversary of the Himeyuri Peace Museum in Itoman, which will enter its 30th year on June 23. Around 80 people, including former Himeyuri students and supporters who have backed the museum since its opening, gathered to celebrate the museum’s success.
Speaking for the organizers, director Nakahodo gave a greeting, saying, “The younger generation are doing their best as educators working at the museum, carrying on the spirit of the survivors, but we still need all of your support.” Former Himeyuri student and former museum director Tsuru Motomura, age 94, agreed, saying, “A lot has happened over the past 30 years, but I feel the time passed like a dream. Fifteen people of the next generation are doing their best as museum staffers to carry on the message of peace.”
A viewing of photos from over the years was also held at the celebration. The former Himeyuri students looked a bit bashful at seeing their young selves in the photos. Former Shiraume Student Corps member Kiku Nakayama, age 90, who was invited to the celebration, said, “I want to see Okinawa’s wisdom that ‘life is a treasure’ and ‘peace is paramount’ be passed down through the generations eternally.”
Looking to the upcoming “Tourism Expo Japan 2020,” (hosted by the expo’s executive committee) the world’s largest travel industry conference, which will be hosted in Okinawa in October of 2020, a venue coordination committee and hosting support team were launched June 17. Hiromi Tagawa, the head of the expo’s executive committee as well as the president of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), also announced that alongside the summit, Okinawa would also host a summit of tourism ministers from the governments of a number of countries.
Tourism Expo will run for four days from October 20, 2020 through November 1, and will take place at the Okinawa Convention Center in Ginowan as well as surrounding facilities. The expo will have a wide range of activity, including international conferences for the travel industry, exhibitions, and meetings.
The event will welcome around 1,000 people from the tourism industry and media, and about 35,000 attendees. There will be about 600 booths from all exhibiting companies combined, and the meetings plan to attract around 100 foreign buyers, as well as an additional 100 buyers from domestic companies and companies visiting Japan.
The first meeting in preparation for the event was held at the Okinawa Convention Center in Ginowan, where the protocols and executive structure was established for the venue coordination committee and the hosting support team.
Chokei Taira from the Okinawa Convention Bureau (OCB) was selected as chair of the venue coordination committee, and he opened the meeting by saying, “This is an ideal chance to advertise to the world the tourism and resort-filled Okinawa, and we can expect it to bring about an economic boost. I hope to have the cooperation of everyone involved.”
Webcam(Kokusai Street)
