Commentary / Japan Apr 19, 2019
An Okinawa conference, 50 years later
by Robert D. Eldridge.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki's effort to seize the initiative by calling for a new Okinawa conference should be embraced, or at least tried.
NEWSWORTHY
National / Politics Apr 9, 2019
LDP battling pro-merger and anti-base headwinds in Osaka and Okinawa by-election campaigns
Official campaigning began Tuesday for key Lower House by-elections in Osaka and Okinawa prefectures in what is seen as a prelude to the Upper House election this summer. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is competing with opposition candidates seeking to streamline administrations ...
National Apr 5, 2019
Japan's land minister voids Okinawa's move to halt construction of U.S. base at Henoko
Land minister Keiichi Ishii said Friday that he has decided to nullify a move by the Okinawa Prefectural Government aimed at halting reclamation work for a planned U.S. base off the Henoko district in Nago. Last August, the prefectural government canceled the landfill approval made ...
National / Politics Mar 25, 2019
Land reclamation in Okinawa enters next stage at Henoko relocation site for U.S. Futenma base
The government began to perform the next stage of land reclamation work in Okinawa Prefecture on Monday, as part of a project to build a replacement facility for a contentious U.S. air base in the prefecture despite local opposition. The work to pour soil and ...
National Mar 22, 2019
by Reiji Yoshida
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya rejected on Friday a request by Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki for a one-month suspension of land reclamation work in the Henoko district of northern Okinawa Prefecture, further deepening tensions over the controversial project to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station ...
National Mar 19, 2019
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki requests month of talks with Abe in bid to halt U.S. base transfer
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to engage in a one-month dialogue in his latest bid to halt the ongoing construction work to build a replacement facility for a key U.S. air base within the prefecture. Tamaki made the ...
National / Politics Mar 16, 2019
Thousands rally in Okinawa to urge Tokyo and Washington to scrap base relocation plan
A rally attended by thousands of Okinawa residents on Saturday urged the Japanese and U.S. governments to scrap a plan to relocate a controversial U.S. air base within the prefecture. In the wake of last months local referendum that showed a majority of the island ...
National / Politics Mar 13, 2019
Reinforcing soft seabed at Henoko in Okinawa could delay U.S. Futenma base move by years
Completion of the Futenma replacement base in the Henoko coastal area could be pushed beyond the fiscal 2022 target due to the additional work needed.
National / Politics Mar 1, 2019
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki requests three-way talks with Tokyo and U.S. after Futenma 'no' vote
Following up on the decisive Okinawa referendum, the governor asks Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to launch trilateral talks with Washington to review the contentious relocation plan for Futenma air base.
Commentary / Japan Feb 28, 2019
Vote highlights problems with Henoko plan
by Robert D. Eldridge.
The vitally important Futenma replacement facility shouldn't be built on a pack of lies.
Commentary / Japan Feb 27, 2019
A rocky way forward for Henoko base
by Temo Dias and Hina Murayama
New U.S. base faces a double blow: a referendum defeat and an uphill construction battle.
National Feb 26, 2019
Outside Japan consulate in New York, protesters slam Abe's disregard for Okinawa 'no' vote on Henoko
Opponents of a controversial plan to relocate a U.S. air base within Okinawa held a rally in New York on Monday following a weekend prefectural referendum that showed more than 70 percent of voters oppose the move. The rally outside the Japanese Consulate in New ...