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Pick Up Stories
‘Year of the Dragon’ begins in Okinawan … [CULTURE CURRENT ISSUE]
Legend has it that Buddha asked all animals to meet him on the Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one, and an...Read More
Pro-Baseball Spring Training 2024 [Family Sports]
Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture in Japan, and that means it’s the warmest place in the country in the wintertime. Because of that, ma...Read More
Okinawa Expressway Renewal Work Starts J… [CURRENT ISSUE]
NEXCO, the company operating the Okinawa Expressway announces that Expressway renewal works start from January 9th in 2024 to late April in ...Read More
Last ‘Elephant Cage’ antennas being abandoned at Misawa AB [News]
Five years after the Elephant Cage antennas array at Yomitan in Okinawa were shut down and destroyed, plans after been announced to scrap its twin at Misawa Air Base in northern Ja...
JAL now extending its Japan-China flight cuts [Business News]
Temporary flight cuts now in effect between Japan and China by Japan Air Lines will be extended. Japan Air Lines says it will extend the cuts in service because it’s seeing no uptu...
Golden Kings start season on very winning note [Ryukyu Golden Kings]
Anthony McHenry and David Palmer picked up where they left off last season, although now in opposing teams, as the defending Basketball Japan League champion scored a pair of seaso...
This week’s winner [Weekly Winners]
Juli Gosler won a pair of tickets to the Chatan Sunset Luau in this week’s JU raffle. The Luau that is organized by Chatan Chamber of Commerce, is happening this weekend at Chatan’...
Last three Ospreys arrive at Futenma [Military News]
The first squadron of twelve MV-22 Osprey are now all in their home base of MCAS Futenma as the last three flew in from Iwakuni on Saturday. The aircraft landed at the Okinawa base...
Japan wants to use PR in Senkakus brouhaha [News]
With both China and Taiwan angry with Japan over its claiming sovereignty over the Senkaku islands, Japan’s turning to public relations in seeking international support. Foreign Mi...
Club Thyme opens October with Blackout Invasion Party [CURRENT ISSUE]
Hiphop, Reggae, dance and more are on tap October 6th as Club Thyme hosts The Black Out Invasion Party. Sponsored by promoters Real Entertainment and 3States Entertainment, music i...
Okinawa Assembly demands Osprey pullout [News Politics]
The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the pullout of the controversial MV-22 Osprey aircraft now deployed at Futenma Marine Corps Air Sta...
Futenma Osprey deployment could upset China [Military Politics]
Experts say the deployment of the U.S. Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey aircraft to Okinawa could upset China as the plane will make it possible for the Marines to send troops quic...
Remaining three Ospreys to come to Okinawa within weeks [Military News]
The U.S. Marine Corps says that the three MV-22 Osprey aircraft still in Iwakuni will move to MCAS Futenma, their permanent home in Okinawa, over the next few weeks. The first six ...
40,000 ANA China Route reservations canceled [Business]
All Nippon Airways says that more than 40,000 seat reservations have been canceled on its Japan-China flights for the three months to November, as tensions mount between China and...
Naha Terrace Hotel wins Green IT Award [Business]
The Terrace Hotel in Naha City is the recipient of a Green IT Award 2012 in ceremonies in Tokyo. The hotel, along with Yokogawa Electrical Machinery of Tokyo, was recognized for gr...
Specialty hotel to open in Izumizaki [Business]
Specialty hotel to open in Izumizaki A new low cost hotel catering to women and long stay groups on Okinawa will open in Naha City’s Izumizaki district next summer. Hotel operating...
Noda chooses Makiko Tanaka in his Cabinet reshuffle [News]
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has opted for a Beijing-friendly woman in his Cabinet as he shuffles people around in hopes of buoying his shaky public persona. Although he picked an...
Osprey foes block MCAS Futenma gates [News]
Okinawa residents wasted no time mobilizing supporters to oppose the arrival of the MV-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft, mounting a series of blockades around all three gates to Futen...
Golden Kings lose typhoon-shortened series with Korea [Ryukyu Golden Kings]
The Ryukyu Golden Kings only had one shot at Korea’s championship basketball squad, thanks to Typhoon Jelawat’s pounding Okinawa Saturday, and that opportunity didn’t go the home t...
Season’s strongest typhoon bashes Okinawa [CURRENT ISSUE News]
Typhoon Jelawat did last weekend what Samba and Bolaven couldn’t; it slammed into Okinawa Prefecture from one end to the other, leaving one man dead, dozens injured and damages in ...
3 more Osprey planes deployed to Okinawa [News]
Three more MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport planes have arrived at the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station on Okinawa. The three, which flew in from the Marines’ Iwakuni base i...
This week’s winner [Weekly Winners]
Melissa A. Duncan is this week’s lucky winner of the Japan Update weekly raffle. She won a free one-night stay for two at the Best Western Naha Inn, a business hotel located within...
MV-22B Ospreys arrive at MCAS Futenma [News]
Six MV-22B Osprey aircraft flew from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and arrived at MCAS Futenma on Monday, the first element of two squadrons to be based on Okinawa. Squadron air...