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August 25, 2025
 

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OKINAWA

Members of the Coastal Surveillance Unit participate in a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the Self-Defense Forces' Yonaguni Garrison in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2017.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025
Okinawa locals wary as SDF presence grows amid China threat
The SDF buildup has spurred concerns across the political spectrum in Okinawa, and many residents remain deeply worried over its growing presence.
Yoshiko Goya speaks of her wartime experience during an interview in Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 23.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 23, 2025
Battle of Okinawa 1945: Memories of fire, flight and loss
As an 8-year-old, Yoshiko Goya fled her birthplace with six other family members and relatives. In the end, only three survived.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a ceremony in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / History
Jun 23, 2025
Okinawa marks 80th anniversary of end of ferocious ground battle
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke of the horrific ground war involving Okinawan residents, noting that 200,000 lives were lost, or about one in four Okinawans.
Former boy soldier Yoshimitsu Zukeyama speaks of his wartime experience during an interview in May in Ogimi, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2025
Battle of Okinawa turned child into a 'ghost soldier' still haunted by memories
Emotionally and physically depleted, the boy began to unravel after the war ended, with locals calling him a “ghost soldier.”
Takeshi Yamaguchi, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa Prefecture, speaks during an online interview on June 3.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025
Okinawa remains at mercy of armed forces, says expert
The prefecture hosts many U.S. military bases, following its occupation by U.S. armed forces after Japan's defeat in the Battle of Okinawa in the closing days of World War II.
A U.S. military plane takes off at the Kadena U.S. Air Force Base in Okinawa Prefecture in August 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025
Okinawa marks 80 years since 'Typhoon of Steel,' with U.S. presence still a burden
On June 23, Japan’s southernmost prefecture commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa, among the bloodiest ground battles of World War II.
The city of Naha in Okinawa Prefecture. The Naha District Court is scheduled to hand down a ruling on June 24 for a sexual assault case involving a U.S. Marine.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 9, 2025
Ten-year sentence sought for U.S. marine in Okinawa for sexual assault
The court is scheduled to hand down a ruling on June 24.
The Kadena U.S. Air Force Base in Okinawa Prefecture. An emergency call was made at around 11:15 a.m. reporting that a small-scale explosion occurred at a storage depot for unexploded shells.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2025
Explosion at U.S. air base in Okinawa injures four
Four Ground Self-Defense Force members were injured in the incident, but none of them are in critical condition.
Junglia Okinawa, a theme park, is scheduled to open July 25 near Nakijin, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2025
Junglia Okinawa theme park shown to press
Covering about 60 hectares, the park sits between the city of Nago and the village of Nakijin and was designed around the concept of blending nature with luxury.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, meet with survivors of the war as they visit the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum in Itoman on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2025
Imperial family mourns WWII victims in two-day visit to Okinawa
The visit was Princess Aiko's first to Okinawa, which reflected the imperial couple's wish that memories of the war be passed onto the next generation.
The government plans to develop a shelter strategy for foreign armed attacks by the end of fiscal 2025, according to sources.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
Japan to decide plans for shelters from armed attacks within fiscal 2025
The government will also compile basic guidelines for evacuating residents in Okinawa Prefecture's Sakishima Islands, apparently with a possible Taiwan contingency in mind.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, depart from Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Wednesday for Okinawa to mourn those killed in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II 80 years ago.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025
Emperor's family arrives in Okinawa
On Thursday, the family will offer flowers at a monument in Naha for the victims of the Tsushima Maru evacuation ship.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki (center) takes part in a joint patrol by the U.S. military and the Okinawa Prefectural Police in the city of Okinawa in April in response to a series of sexual assault and other incidents involving U.S. service personnel.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 2, 2025
U.S. Marine in Okinawa pleads not guilty to sexual assault
Okinawa has seen a series of sexual assault and other incidents involving U.S. military personnel since last year.
The entrance to a cave on Okinawa’s main island where a former Japanese soldier confessed to having killed a mother and child during World War II
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 2, 2025
How the scars of war in Okinawa are being healed by a psychologist
A clinical psychologist has formed grief care groups for survivors of war across Okinawa to help try to heal their emotional scars.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks during an event held on Ie Island in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday to read aloud the names of people killed in fierce battles in the prefecture during World War II.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025
Event to read aloud names of victims of Okinawa battles begins
"I sincerely hope that Okinawa's wish for peace will spread" through the event, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said in an opening speech.
Remains taken by researchers from Kyoto Imperial University, which is now Kyoto University, from a tomb in Okinawa Prefecture in the early 20th century have been returned, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025
Okinawan remains looted in early Showa Era returned by Kyoto University
The remains had been taken from a tomb built in the middle ages in the Okinawan village of Nakijin.
Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture. China has removed its last buoy from Japanese economic waters near the island.
JAPAN
May 29, 2025
Tokyo says China has removed its last buoy from Japan's economic waters
Japanese media said this could signal an intention by Beijing to improve strained ties with Tokyo.
The beach on Aka Island, Okinawa Prefecture, where U.S. forces first landed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
May 26, 2025
How a remote island escaped mass suicide in Battle of Okinawa
Residents had been told that, if captured, women would be assaulted and men mutilated by U.S. soldiers.
Members of the Okinawa Prefectural Police and the U.S. military conduct a joint patrol in the city of Okinawa in April. Prefectural police arrested a U.S. Marine for an alleged hit-and-run case on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 26, 2025
U.S. Marine arrested for Okinawa hit-and-run that injured four
Lance Cpl. Ivan Garcia-Martinez’s breathalyzer test showed an alcohol level approximately twice the legal limit, police said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, apologized on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office to Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki over LDP member Shoji Nishida's inappropriate remark about war-related exhibits in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 20, 2025
Ishiba apologizes over LDP member's remark on World War II exhibits
LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida called descriptions on a monument commemorating the Himeyuri corps of female students who died in the Battle of Okinawa "a revision of history."
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Japan to boost support for joint ride-hailing services
Tatsuaki Igarashi, mayor of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, exits a ride-sharing vehicle at Tsukuba Station in January.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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