Tag - okinawa

 
 

OKINAWA

Toyama Gov. Hachiro Nitta speaks during an interview in Beijing last week.
JAPAN
May 21, 2024
Amid chilled national ties, regional Japan and China exchanges continue
According to a Japanese source based in China, about 60 governors and mayors from Japan visited China in the previous fiscal year, which ended in March.
Coffee trees in the Izumi district of Motobu, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
May 20, 2024
New study finds Japan’s coffee cultivation has roots in Okinawa
Farmers in Okinawa hope the discovery will serve as a catalyst for boosting coffee production in the prefecture.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel meets with members of the Self-Defense Forces stationed on Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 17, 2024
U.S. envoy to Japan makes landmark visit to front-line island near Taiwan
Rahm Emanuel is the first U.S. ambassador to travel to the far-flung Japanese island, which is home to a Ground Self-Defense Force base and is just 160 km from Taipei.
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 5, 2024
As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly
A record tourism boom has raised concerns over the enormous stress visitors put on the environment.
An <i>awamori</i> distillery in Okinawa Prefecture. Shipments of the rice spirit in 2023 dropped more than 50% from their peak in 2004.
JAPAN
May 3, 2024
Okinawa's rice spirit industry seeks rebrand amid falling shipments
Producers are seeking to devise new marketing strategies to make awamori appealing to both young consumers and international markets.
Artist Mitsuo Miyagi talks about the plan to make a giant shiisā statue in Okinawa Prefecture using damaged tiles from the fire-ravaged Shuri Castle.
JAPAN
May 2, 2024
10-meter lion statue to be built in Okinawa with burned Shuri Castle tiles
The project aims to foster remembrance of the castle, which suffered significant damage in a fire in October 2019, using the prefecture's mythical symbol.
The mercury hit 25 degrees Celsius in Tokyo on April 25.
JAPAN
May 2, 2024
Climate change, El Nino factor into Japan’s warmest April in 130 years
The weather agency said the average temperature for April was 2.76 degrees Celsius higher than the average year, making it the hottest April nationwide.
Hikaru Sasaki enters the Metropolitan Police Department's Osaki police station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Monday after being arrested over suspected involvement in the torching of the two bodies found in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 30, 2024
Another possible suspect emerges in case of torched Tochigi bodies
Police are investigating whether another figure gave orders to the man to dispose of the bodies.
Hikaru Sasaki enters the Metropolitan Police Department's Osaki police station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Monday after being arrested on suspicion of disposing of two bodies found in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 29, 2024
Man, 28, arrested in Okinawa over burned bodies found in Tochigi
The man is an acquaintance of the construction worker who earlier turned himself to the police over his possible involvement in the case.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails near one of the disputed East China Sea islands that Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls Diaoyu, in August 2013.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2024
China confronts Japanese politicians visiting near disputed East China Sea islets
The Japanese group, including former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, was on an inspection mission organized by the city of Ishigaki, in Okinawa Prefecture.
The city government of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, has conducted its third marine survey around the Senkaku Islands.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2024
Okinawa's Ishigaki uses drone for first time during marine survey around Senkakus
During the survey, China Coast Guard vessels entered Japanese waters around the islands and attempted to interfere with the city's ship.
A portrait of the 13th Ryukyu King Sho Kei, which was returned to the Okinawa Prefectural Government from the United States
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 22, 2024
Artifacts missing after Battle of Okinawa returned from U.S.
Items that include portraits of kings from the Ryukyu Kingdom have returned after going missing in 1945.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 21, 2024
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
From Okinawa to Australia, “passive acoustic monitoring” projects are feeding scientists with data about changes to ecosystems and biodiversity.
Residents of Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, hold a rally in the city on March 20 to oppose the construction of a Ground Self-Defense Force training ground.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2024
Japan scraps plan for new GSDF training ground in Okinawa
Locals were opposing the plan because the site is close to a residential area.
People ride motorcycles near the site where a building collapsed, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 4, 2024
Taiwan's strongest quake in 25 years kills at least nine, injures over 1,000
Scores of emergency workers were trying to shore up damaged buildings and demolish those deemed impossible to save.
Children are evacuated from a preschool in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, following tsunami warnings after a powerful earthquake struck off Taiwan on Wednesday morning.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2024
Japan lifts tsunami advisory after strong quake hits Taiwan
Tsunami measuring at least 30 centimeters were observed at Yonaguni and Miyako islands, while waves as high as 20 cm also reached Ishigaki Island.
Taiwanese military personnel aide in rescue and relief efforts by searching for survivors in a damaged building in Hualien, Taiwan, after a major earthquake struck off the island's eastern coast.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 3, 2024
Taiwan rocked by most powerful earthquake in 25 years
At least nine people were killed and more than 900 injured Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that prompted tsunami warnings.
As of December 2022, the village of Zamami, Okinawa Prefecture, had in its stockpile six of the nine items listed in a survey as necessary for women and 10 of the 11 items listed as necessary for babies and infants, doing much better than other municipalities in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 1, 2024
Municipalities push gender-inclusive disaster risk management
Some areas in Okinawa involve more women in decision-making and make an effort at stockpiling relevant items.
Commercial and residential buildings are seen on Ishigaki Island, in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2024
Japan to set up new shelters on southwestern islands
The central government has picked five municipalities on the Sakishima southwestern islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
A U.S. military Osprey aircraft flies over the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the center of the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, in August 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2024
Japan designates U.S. bases in Okinawa as security-linked sites
The government has designated 184 sites in 28 of the country's 47 prefectures as critical to national security in the fourth round of such designations.

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