Ryukyu Shimpo reported on Monday that a 22-year-old U.S. service member belonging to Torii Station was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol at about 6:05 a.m. in Urasoe, Okinawa, on Sunday. The suspect is reportedly refusing to comment on the charges. The paper said alcohol was detected on the suspect’s breath at twice the legal limit.….Read more

TOKYO – Chinese vessels traveling close to the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea have begun reissuing data on their locations and routes when in and close to Japanese waters, a source close to the Japan Coast Guard said Saturday.   The change in Chinese vessels’ approach appears to be intended to emphasize their administrative right to the….Read more

By Hiroyuki Kawase   Masako Ganaha made a sensational debut at a citizen’s rally in Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture in February 2013. The rally called for the relocation of the United States Marines’ Futenma airbase from Ginowan City to Henoko in Nago City.   During that time, there was strong opposition to the relocation of US military bases in Okinawa.….Read more

Ryukyu Shimpo reported that the Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that the Japan-U.S. Joint Meeting approved earlier in the day a plan for Okinawa Electric Power to jointly use part of the land of the Northern Training Area. The utility will use the land for the relocation of utility poles. In addition, the committee approved a plan for Kin Town….Read more

On May 19, Okinawa Governor Tamaki Denny visited the Sedakenohama beach facing Oura Bay in the Henoko district of Nago City after meeting with the heads of three Kube districts to inspect the construction site of a new base. Tamaki commented on the fact that the prefecture hosts about 70% of all U.S. military facilities in Japan by saying, “There….Read more

On May 22, the Naha District Court (presiding judge: Kato Takashi) handed down a prison sentence of one-year and eight months suspended for three-years (prosecutors had asked for a sentence of one-year and eight months) to a 21-year-old Marine corporal affiliated with the U.S. military’s Camp Foster. The corporal had been charged with negligent driving resulting in death after his….Read more

Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Times reported that a month has elapsed since the Defense Ministry deployed PAC-3 missiles on the Okinawa islands of Miyako, Ishigaki, and Yonaguni to prepare for a possible launch of a DPRK rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, which was initially anticipated to take place as early as late April. As there are no clear signs….Read more

Miyagi Akino, a 44-year-old lepidopterist who was arrested on suspicion of obstructing official duties in front of the U.S. Consulate in Naha in Urasoe City, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 15, was released on May 17. She is currently on trial for forcible obstruction of business. A detention request filed by the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office was not approved. The….Read more

Okinawa Times reported that an academic taskforce charged with providing the Okinawa Defense bureau with scientific advice in constructing the FRF off Camp Schwab called on Tuesday for the bureau to look into the prefectural government’s research conclusion that the feces discovered in waters around Oura Bay adjacent to the U.S. installation in July 2022 came from dugongs. Some members….Read more

Okinawa Prefecture on May 15 marked the 51st anniversary of its return to Japanese sovereignty, fearful it could again become the frontline in a war.   Half a century on, Okinawa is still forced to shoulder an excessively heavy burden for the nation’s security under a structure that has remained unchanged for decades. Residents of the southernmost prefecture harbor anxieties….Read more