Tag - okinawa

 
 

OKINAWA

Kubura fishing port and Kubura district on the island of Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2023
Frontier islanders decry lack of plan to aid fleeing Taiwanese
Concerned about the potential for a China-Taiwan conflict, Japan has embarked on its biggest defense buildup since World War II.
U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2023
Henoko base relocation project enters new phase in Okinawa
The project to relocate a U.S. military base to the Henoko coastal area is entering a new phase five years after land reclamation began there.
Construction work is conducted in the Henoko coastal area in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023
Okinawa promotion spending to fall to ¥267.8 billion in fiscal 2024
The outlay would stand below ¥300 billion for the third successive year, according to a government estimate.
Cinema at Sea film festival entry “God Is a Woman,” directed by Andres Peyrot, examines the complex feelings the Kuna, indigenous people living on Panama’s San Blas Islands, have about an unreleased documentary made about them in 1975.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 9, 2023
Cinema at Sea festival highlights diversity and unheard voices
The inaugural event for the film festival in Naha, Okinawa, boasted a strong lineup of features from places and peoples underrepresented in world cinema.
A Japan Coast Guard ship and helicopter search the area on Thursday where a U.S. military Osprey aircraft crashed off Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture a day earlier.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2023
Japan asks U.S. to suspend Osprey flights until safety is confirmed
The U.S. air station in Futenma continued its operation of Osprey aircraft after Wednesday’s incident, causing local residents to voice their concern.
A U.S. military Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft takes off from U.S. military port facilities in Naha in March.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 29, 2023
Man found dead after U.S. military Osprey crashes into sea
According to the coast guard, six people were on board the aircraft.
A rendering of the new Junglia theme park scheduled to open in Okinawa in 2025
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2023
Nature-focused theme park to open in Okinawa in 2025
The park aims to take advantage of the outstanding forests of northern Okinawa Prefecture, which have been designated a World Heritage site.
Cabs not in operation are parked at a taxi company in Naha in October. Finding a taxi in parts of Okinawa Prefecture is becoming increasingly difficult because of a shortage of drivers.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 27, 2023
Getting a taxi in Okinawa harder than ever amid driver shortage
The number of cab drivers working in the prefecture peaked at 10,041 in 2009 and declined to 5,246 in 2021.
A U.S. service member passes in front of an MQ-9 Reaper drone in 2018. The U.S. military in Japan has relocated its reconnaissance drone operations unit to Okinawa, despite local objection.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 25, 2023
U.S. spy drones relocated to Okinawa despite local objection
The shift is part of moves to strengthen surveillance of Chinese activities in nearby waters following a temporary deployment to the Kyushu region.
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 / OUR PLANET
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.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces