Tag - okinawa

 
 

OKINAWA

A child welfare center in Naha in May 1966
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 14, 2025
In Okinawa, war trauma carried by orphans still lingers
“War orphans were pushed to the margins of society after the war," says one academic.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki may participate in a joint patrol in the prefecture by Japanese and U.S. officials, an official in the area said.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2025
Japan and U.S. to hold joint patrol after Okinawa sexual assaults
The one-off joint operation through busy areas until the early hours of the next day was proposed by the U.S. side.
A MQ-4C Triton drone taxis at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2025
U.S. to send long-range surveillance drones to Japan amid Taiwan tensions
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said that the drones will be sent to the U.S. air base in Kadena, on Okinawa Prefecture’s main island, in the coming weeks.
Some 100 people on Saturday mourned those who died in a mass suicide at the Chibichiri Gama cave in the village of Yomitan in Okinawa Prefecture 80 years ago in the final stages of World War II.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2025
Victims of WWII mass suicide mourned in Okinawa
The mass suicide occurred in April 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa, the largest ground battle in Japan during the war.
Unexploded U.S. military ordnance found in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 24
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2025
Unexploded ordnance still haunts Okinawa 80 years after WWII battle
Despite decades of clearance efforts, roughly 1,900 metric tons of deadly remnants are estimated to remain buried beneath the land.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 28, 2025
Japan unveils evacuation plan for Taiwan contingency
Under the plan, Fukuoka Prefecture will host the most evacuees, with 47,400 people.
Residents of Zamami, Okinawa Prefecture, attend a memorial ceremony on Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the U.S. military's landing on the Kerama Islands during World War II.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2025
Victims of Okinawa battle remembered on 80th anniversary of U.S. landing
Over 200,000 people, including civilians, were killed in ground battles on islands in Okinawa.
Rieko Tamaki (left) tells her story about the Battle of Okinawa to university student Hinata Kinjo at a park in Yaese, Okinawa Prefecture, near the area where Tamaki’s brother was killed during the conflict.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 24, 2025
Battle of Okinawa survivor passes down memories of war
The 90-year-old woman still remembers the final moments of her then-14-year-old brother's life during the 1945 battle.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi addresses an opening ceremony on Sunday for a new medical center built in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2025
New medical center opens at former U.S. military site in Okinawa
The Faculty of Medicine of the University of the Ryukyus and its affiliated hospital have moved to the new medical center.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2025
Japanese authorities raise alarm over rise in fake police phone scams
Tokyo police rearrested a man suspected of being involved in multiple scams and released a voice recording in hopes of raising awareness.
Misako Yoshimura looks for a photograph of her father from among several kept in a closet at her home in the town of Yonabaru, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 24, 2025
Remembering a father who stopped smiling after the war
Misako Yoshimura hated her stern-faced father, but when she learned of what he lost during the Pacific War, the resentment disappeared.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule
The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
At the Naha branch of Fukuoka High Court, presiding Judge Takashi Miura said that the constituency map redrawn for the election was reasonable as it adopted the so-called Adams method, which is believed to reflect population ratios more accurately.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 18, 2025
Fukuoka High Court's Naha branch finds 2024 Lower House poll constitutional
It was the seventh ruling among the 16 lawsuits on the latest general election filed so far by two groups of lawyers at 14 high courts and high court branches.
China frequently shifts between warming and freezing relations with Japan, driven by its domestic issues, often using softer rhetoric while masking aggressive actions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2025
Are China-Japan relations truly 'warming,' or is this just fool’s gold again?
As the trade war between the U.S. and China heats up, Beijing is turning to its familiar playbook, using softer language to court American allies and partners while offering things like greater cooperation and more dialogue — part of its ongoing divide-and-conquer strategy.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 12, 2025
China removes buoy in Japan's EEZ near Senkakus amid warming ties
The buoy’s removal comes as Beijing looks to further improve relations with Tokyo — and drive a wedge between the U.S. and Japan.
The day care room for younger children at a multipurpose facility on Tonaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, has never been used since its establishment in 2019.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 3, 2025
The harsh reality of migration outflow on Okinawa’s least populated island
Since Tonaki Island established its only day care center in 2019, not a single child has set foot inside.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from right) at a press event in Tokyo on Junglia Okinawa, a new theme park that will open in northern Okinawa Prefecture in July
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2025
Junglia Okinawa theme park to open July 25
Junglia will have 22 attractions including "Dinosaur Safari," in which visitors can enjoy the thrill of being chased by a dinosaur.
A building in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, that houses the Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025
U.S. Marine not indicted in sexual assault case in Okinawa
After comprehensive consideration, the prosecutor's office determined that it is difficult to build a case against the marine.
A V-22 Osprey
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2025
U.S. Osprey accidentally drops cargo into sea in Okinawa
The Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau informed the Okinawa government that the cargo pallet fell into the sea due to an unexpected change in wind direction during training.
Yanaha Island in Okinawa Prefecture as seen from a ferry.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2025
Chinese buyer of Okinawa island to make visit in summer
The woman is reportedly preparing a trip to the island for employees of a company she runs in July or August.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.