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Futenma dominated Okinawa’s news in 2012 [News]
By Bill Charles The word Futenma reverberates across Okinawa, and then across the Pacific and even to the United States this year as everybo...Read More
Lithium batteries are Santa’s greetings … [News]
Christmas is coming early for people stationed overseas who want to have packages shipped to them that contain lithium batteries. In fact, e...Read More
Dalai Lama makes second Okinawa visit No… [News]
The venerable Dalai Lama will make a one day visit to Okinawa Sunday to deliver a lecture at the Budokan and to pray for the war dead at Mem...Read More
Fireflies show up at Kijoka [News]
Fireflies have appeared at the Kijyoka district of Ogimi Village marking the start of the rainy season in Okinawa. In the northern part of Okinawa, first fireflies were observed in...
Man kills acquaintance with concrete block [News]
Naha police arrested a man suspected of killing his acquaintance by throwing a concrete block that hit the man’s head in the evening of May 16. According to investigators, 52...
Two bodies found in ocean [News]
A man who had gone fishing from a breakwater at Naha New Port, called the police emergency number reporting something that looked like a human-shaped doll or mannequin floating off...
Heavy rainfall, lightning strike cause damage [News]
Okinawa main island experienced heavy rainfall and thunderstorm on May 15 that caused some damage and power outages in Naha and Urasoe areas. In Matsuo, Naha City, a part of retain...
Fire at Uruma kills one [News]
A concrete two-story house caught fire in Kanekadan in Uruma City, Saturday evening. Uruma City Fire Department sent four fire engines, and two ambulances to the scene after they r...
Japan Coast Guard enhances Okinawa operations [News]
Japan Coast Guard, formerly known as the Maritime Safety Agency, has now a new office in Naha tasked with providing security in the area west of Okinawa. Specifically, the new offi...
Futenma relocation timeline again slipping [News]
A senior U.S. Marine Corps officer has hinted that the site of an air base in Okinawa Prefecture may not be returned to Japan in fiscal 2022, the earliest possible time the United ...
Se-fa Utaki breaks visitor record during Golden Week [News]
One of the most important holy places of the Ryukyu Kingdom, “Se-fa Utaki” in Nanjo City, counted the highest number of visitors in one day on May 4 when 3,146 people visited the s...
Large hime habu captured in Kunigami [News]
Yasuhiro Makishi captured an unusually large Himehabu snake (Okinawa pit viper) on a forest road in the Sosu district of Kunigami Village around 2 a.m. on May 13. According to a pr...
Two bull sharks found in Asato River [News]
Two young bull sharks were discovered in Asato River in Naha, May 8. Toshihiro Nakanishi, an Urasoe City worker spotted the two sharks, one 70 cm and the other about one meter long...
Free shuttle bus to run in southern Okinawa during summer season [News]
Six resort hotels located in southern part of Okinawa, and a number of marine leisure companies have collaborated to set up a free shuttle bus called “Minami Kaza-Go” to run a rout...
Man arrested for hitting one-year-old boy [News]
A 49-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of hitting a one-year-old boy whom his female friend had left into the man’s care while she was away for work, on Yonaguni Island. Polic...
Rainy season has started [News]
Okinawa’s annual rainy season has officially started one day later than last year and five days later than average. The Okinawa Metrological Agency declared the start of the ...
Communist media suggests Okinawa belongs to China [News]
An article in a Communist Party newspaper suggesting China has a claim over the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa reflects Beijing’s intention to rattle Japanese Prime Minister ...
2013.05.16
Hashimoto wants U.S. military members to use sex industry [News]
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has made comments throwing support behind the “comfort women” prostitution system created for Japanese soldiers during the wartime. “An...
2013.05.10
Ospreys delivered to Marine presidential helicopter squadron [News]
The helicopter squadron responsible for carrying the President of the United States and his staff, Marine Helicopter Squadron One, has received its first of 12 MV-22 Ospreys to be ...
2013.05.09
Habu snake captured on Miyako Island [News]
A Sakishima habu snake has been captured on Miyako Island by a resident, sending officials worrying about how it got to the southern Okinawa island. This is the first time a Sakish...
Brief hailstorm hits Ishigaki for first time in seven years [News]
The sounds of something striking buildings on Ishigaki Island –including preschools, primary and junior high schools and some businesses—frightened residents as it turned out to be...
Number of children creeps lower, but Okinawa is top [News]
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced there are 16,490,000 children under 15 years old in Japan as of April 1, 2013, which is 150,000 less than a years ago....
Tourist dies in diving accident off Iheya Island [News]
Koichi Mizusawa, a visitor from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, died while he was diving off Iheya Island around 3 p.m., on May 4th. According to Nago Police investigating the incid...
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