Tag - okinawa

 
 

OKINAWA

A North Korean rocket carrying a military spy satellite is launched in this undated photo released Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 22, 2023
North Korea calls spy satellite launch a success, but questions linger
A rocket carrying the payload passed over the Japanese archipelago late Tuesday, but Tokyo said it had not confirmed the veracity of Pyongyang's claims.
U.S. President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office of the White House in June 1972
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2023
Nixon's 1953 trip to Okinawa and its lasting impact
Nixon’s trip to Okinawa 70 years ago this month planted seeds for his agreeing to its reversion when he became the U.S. president.
Members of the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment attend a ceremony at Camp Hansen in Okinawa Prefecture on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 16, 2023
U.S. Marines forms coastal unit in Okinawa for island defense
The existing 12th Marine Regiment based in Okinawa Prefecture was reorganized to form the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment from Wednesday.
Japan's Self-Defense Force on Sunday conducted a tsunami evacuation drill in Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island, in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023
Japanese island holds disaster drill in shadow of Taiwan threat
Yonaguni is only 110 km from Taiwan. In August last year, China fired missiles into nearby waters in response to a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi.
U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023
U.S. spy drone unit leaves Kagoshima for move to Okinawa
The U.S. drones are set to be used to strengthen surveillance of Chinese military ships in the East China Sea.
EF Polymer CEO Narayan Lal Gurjar (right) and COO Kunihiro Shimoji at the company in Onna, Okinawa Prefecture, in August
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 30, 2023
Organic polymer brings water to drought-hit farmlands
The India-born, Okinawa-nurtured product seeks to replace petroleum-derived polymers to promote sustainability.
An Osprey tilt-rotor plane from the Ground Self-Defense Force in Okinawa Prefecture's Ishigaki Island on Thursday
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2023
GSDF Osprey arrives in Okinawa for first time
The arrival of the aircraft came despite an Okinawa Prefectural Government request to the Defense Ministry not to use the airport on Ishigaki Island.
The Iriomote cat, native to the island of the same name in Okinawa Prefecture, is remarkable for its resilience: It occupies the smallest habitat of any wildcat on Earth.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 15, 2023
The last of Japan's wildcats
Only about 100 animals of each species survive today, putting both on the brink of extinction along with more than 3,700 other species nationwide.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 12, 2023
Okinawa governor refuses to approve design change for Henoko base
The central government has claimed that the governor's disapproval "seriously harms the public interest."
Yonaguni is Japan's westernmost inhabited island, and lies around 110 kilometers from Taiwan.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2023
Man's body retrieved from cave in Okinawa
The police believe the body belongs to the 41-year-old man who lost contact with his wife and their guide on Tuesday.
Photo shows the Air Self-Defense Force's Nyutabaru base in Miyazaki Prefecture, where six F-35B fighters are expected to be deployed next fiscal year, with a temporary squadron to be established.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 8, 2023
Japan boosting SDF presence in southwestern area of Kyushu
The region will see new SDF units from next April, including an F-35B stealth fighter squadron and a surface-to-ship missile unit.
A U.S. military MQ-9 Reaper unmanned reconnaissance drone at a Maritime Self-Defense Force air base in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, in November last year
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2023
U.S. spy drones may be relocated from Kagoshima to Okinawa
The move is part of efforts to strengthen surveillance around the Nansei island chain.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks to reporters in Naha on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2023
Land minister sues Okinawa governor over U.S. base landfill plan
The central government and Okinawa Prefecture have long been at odds over relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Okinawa rejects central government order on U.S. base work
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 4, 2023
Okinawa rejects central government order on U.S. base work
The central government and Okinawa Prefecture have long been at odds over relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Aoi Suzuki and her two sons head back down to a barbecue after watching the sun set.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 28, 2023
Traveling Okinawa with a broken heart
Writer and photographer Lance Henderstein reads us his article on traveling Okinawa during the rainy season.
A woman with HTLV-1 from Okinawa Prefecture talks about her experience of being turned away at a clinic outside the prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Sep 25, 2023
Website aims to shed light on little-known blood cancer virus
Awareness of HTLV-1, a virus that causes adult T-cell leukemia and other diseases, is low in Japan. A website called Hot Lives aims to change that.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks at a news conference in Naha on Sept. 4. Tamaki has raised issue with Japan's ongoing military building and its effect on Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2023
Rapid military buildup a worry for Okinawans, governor says
"We must never allow people in Okinawa to go through the same horrible experience that we went through" in World War Two, said Denny Tamaki.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks at a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2023
Okinawa governor tells U.N. that U.S. military base threatens peace
Gov. Denny Tamaki's stance was immediately questioned by a Japanese government official at the venue for the U.N. session in Geneva.
A group of Chinese tourists arrive at Haneda Airport in Tokyo in August.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 6, 2023
Japan takes steps toward establishing overtourism countermeasures
The Japan Tourism Agency did not specify when the new countermeasures will be finalized. However, the goal is to have them compiled by the fall.
Japan players wave to the crowd after qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics following a win over Cape Verde in a FIBA Basketball World Cup match at Okinawa Arena in Okinawa Prefecture on Saturday.
BASKETBALL / Basketball
Sep 6, 2023
World Cup puts bounce in Japan basketball's step ahead of Olympics
The co-host's qualification for the Paris Games has left many people buzzing.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on