Tag - okinawa

 
 

OKINAWA

JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2014
Recent votes suggest local dissatisfaction with LDP growing
The conservative Liberal Democratic Party seems unassailable at the national level, but leader Shinzo Abe's actions are causing a backlash that could hurt the LDP in local elections.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2014
Agent Orange ingredients found at Okinawa military dumpsite
Rusting barrels unearthed on former U.S. military land in the city of Okinawa are confirmed as containing chemical precursors to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2014
Prefectural and local authorities warn government over Constitution
Over the past few weeks, swaths of prefectural and local governments have condemned Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's moves to reinterpret the Constitution, citing either disagreement with the aim or opposition to how it was carried out.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 21, 2014
Kokusai Dori: Getting bitten by Okinawan Culture
Kokusai Dori is the name of a 2 km stretch of shops, hotels, bars and restaurants which cuts through the heart of downtown Naha, the largest city in Okinawa. The street's name in English is International Road, supposedly named after the Ernie Pyle's now-closed International Theater, which was a popular...
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 21, 2014
Abe hijacks democracy, undermines Constitution
By short-circuiting the democratic process, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is abusing the trust put in him by the people. His initiative to reinterpret Article 9 of the Constitution to lift constraints on the Japanese military and permit collective self-defense is the most recent example of how Abe is trampling...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jun 18, 2014
Still dreaming of a Japan with juries — and without U.S. bases
At 84, Chihiro Isa hopes to see two things in his lifetime: the jury system reinstated in Japan and U.S. forces gone from Okinawa.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2014
Naha mayor, foe of Futenma plan, to run for governor
In a move that could further complicate efforts by the central government to move the U.S. Futenma base from Ginowan to Henoko in northern Okinawa, Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga, 63, has suggested he will run for run for governor in November.
JAPAN / Politics
May 22, 2014
Okinawa mayor invokes red tape, dugong deaths to stop U.S. base
Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine acknowledges his failure so far to prevent the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to ecologically sensitive land in his city.
JAPAN
May 13, 2014
Inamine to lead anti-base group to Washington
Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine will lead a delegation of Okinawa residents and politicians to Washington on Thursday, as tensions rise between the mayor and the central government over the plan to build a U.S. military replacement base in the city's Henoko district.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
May 5, 2014
Caroline Kennedy, dive with me in Okinawa and it'll change your mind
I entreat you, Ambassador Kennedy, to help protect the marvelous coral reef ecosystem at Oura Bay in northeast Okinawa from certain destruction under the U.S.-Japan plan for military expansion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 3, 2014
Japan inked: Should the country reclaim its tattoo culture?
Tattooing is the most misunderstood form of art in contemporary Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 26, 2014
Aloha gozaimasu: Japan's influence on Hawaiian culture
In 1868, the first year of the Meiji Era, 148 Japanese men, mainly from the Kanto area, set sail from Yokohama on the British ship Scrito, bound for Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE PERSISTENT VEGETARIAN
Apr 22, 2014
In search of the fruits of Okinawa's oceans
Seven years ago, I bit into a delicate variety of seaweed called umi-budō, or "sea grapes." I remember sampling a few dishes at Unjami, an Okinawan-style izakaya off Nakano Broadway in Tokyo (5-55-1 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo; 03-5345-5836), but the umi-budō stood out as something special. These tiny,...
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2014
Military risks China's wrath with first step west in 40 years
Japan on Saturday began its first military expansion at the western end of its island chain in more than 40 years, breaking ground on a radar station on a tropical island off Taiwan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 19, 2014
Koza: the carbonized city
My first glimpse of Koza was a burned out car on a monochrome print I picked up at a recycle shop in Naha. I would see the image again when I visited the history section of the Okinawa City Hall, where there was a prominent display on the Koza Riot of 1970.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2014
GSDF to militarize remote Yonaguni
The government is sending 100 Ground Self-Defense Force members and radar to its western-most outpost, a tropical island off Taiwan, in a deployment that risks angering China with ties between Asia's biggest economies already hurt by a dispute over nearby islets they both claim.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 18, 2014
SDF should utilize Shimoji airport
A political professor assserts that Japan's air power would have a better chance of survival against possible Chinese salvos of ballistic and cruise missiles if Shimoji airport in Okinawa Prefecture were transformed into a military or dual-use facility.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 31, 2014
War memorials as varied as public's views
The controversial Yasukuni Shrine, a source of perennial tension between Japan and its East Asian neighbors, and the Peace Parks of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are well-known in and out of Japan as the country's representative war memorials, drawing millions of visitors each year.
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2014
Education ministry's heavy hand
Two weeks before school starts, Japan's education minister tells the town of Taketomi, Okinawa Prefecture, that it may not use the junior high school civics textbook it adopted in place of the 'conservative' textbook selected by an area-wide council.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 17, 2014
U.S. military report suggests cover-up over toxic pollution in Okinawa
Perhaps the most serious concern raised in the internal U.S. military report is the fear that PCB contamination at Kadena — if made public — would prompt demands for widespread tests on other U.S. bases.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji