CURRENT ISSUE
Pick Up Stories
Obon is time for family gathering to rem… [CULTURE CURRENT ISSUE]
For three days starting on Tuesday, August 25th through Thursday, August 27th, many privately owned businesses on Okinawa will close their ...Read More
Day of Naha: Immerse Yourself in the Cap… [Community CURRENT ISSUE]
July 8th is Naha Day in Okinawa. This special occasion originated from the use of play-on-words or rather, a play-on-numbers. Naha’s two syl...Read More
June 23rd, Okinawa’s Peace Memorial Day [CURRENT ISSUE]
June 23rd is ‘Irei-no Hi’. This is Okinawa’s Peace Memorial Day. It is a prefectural holiday formally recognized in 1961. It is to memoriali...Read More
Kerama promotion office opens at Tomarin [News]
Tokashiki and Zamami Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Association opened a Kerama Archipelago Tourism Information Center in the Okinawa Tourist Service (OTS) office on...
Flight reservations for Okinawa Obon season surpass 520,000 [Business]
The five domestic airlines serving Okinawa announced that the combined number of reservations for airline tickets for the Okinawa Obon season from Aug. 9th through 17th has exceede...
Music Village museum to open in Ichibangai Mall [News]
Okinawa City has a proud and long heritage of being the epicenter of Okinawan music scene, and to honor that heritage Okinawa City has established a museum to display and maintain ...
Average monthly salary at Okinawa companies declines [News]
According to the Statistics Division of Okinawa Prefectural Government, the average monthly salary of all employees in May at local companies with five employees or more was ¥206,2...
Okinawa aims at over 10 million tourists by 2021 [News]
Governor Hirokazu Nakaima announced that the goal of the Okinawa Prefecture Tourism Office is to increase the number of visitors to the prefecture to more than 10 million per year ...
Okinawa World 9th most popular theme park in Japan [News]
TripAdvisor, one of world’s most popular travel websites announced the top ten most popular theme parks in Japan as voted by its customers, on Jul. 30th. On that list, Okinawa Worl...
Mikio Shimoji announces intent to run for governor [Politics]
The former president of a local Okinawan political party Souzou, 52-year- old Mikio Shimoji from Miyako Island announced, Jul. 31st, his intention to seek the seat of the Okinawa g...
Director of Board of Education arrested for sex with minor [News]
Naha Police arrested 59-year-old Executive Director of Nakagami Board of Education Office Shigeki Hamaguchi, Wednesday, on suspicion of having had a sexual relationship with a 14-y...
Woman dies in motorcycle accident in Itoman [News]
A 19-year-old woman riding on the back of a motorcycle driven by her brother died when the bike hit a curb and crashed in Ahagon, Itoman City, Monday evening. According to Itoman P...
Man crushed to death in work accident [News]
A man working on his own yard was killed when a 2-ton truck he was unloading turned over and fell on him in Chunjun, Kitanakagusuku, Tuesday afternoon. A neighbor who was passing b...
Woman robbed of ¥100,000 in Haebaru [News]
A 25-year-old woman waiting for a friend at the Southern Plex movie theater parking lot was robbed of her rucksack containing ¥100,000 in cash, about 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. Accord...
Floating bridge built off Camp Schwab as opponents try to interfere [News]
Okinawa Defense Bureau workers installed a floating bridge and a buoy off the shore of Camp Schwab, Monday, to prepare for the survey of the seabed prior to the start of the landfi...
Three people die in weekend water accidents [News]
Three people died in waters off Okinawa’s beaches, Sunday, in three separate accidents at three locations. An 85-year-old man drowned at Naminoue Beach in Naha, Sunday afternoon. A...
New Nago theme park still on USJ agenda [Business]
In an interview, Jul. 24, with Kyodo News, Universal Studios Japan CEO Glenn Gumpel restated his desire to construct a new large theme park in either the Kyushu-Okinawa region or e...
Takeshi Onaga sure to enter gubernatorial race [Politics]
Although he has not yet confirmed it officially, Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga is seriously leaning towards the possibility of running for the governor’s post in Okinawa gubernatorial e...
Miyakojima City Mayor’s pay cut 50% as punishment [News]
According to local press reports, Miyakojima City Mayor Toshihiko Shimoji and six staff members of his office were having a party drinking alcohol in his office on Jul. 7th during ...
Terrace Hotels to build its fifth luxury hotel to Uza [Business]
Yukinobu Kokuba, the president of Terrace Hotels Co., an Okinawa based chain of luxury hotels and resorts, announced, Jul. 24, a plan to construct the company’s fifth hotel on Okin...
Naha International Airport terminal to add two more ramps [Business]
The new Naha International Airport Terminal has been open only a few months but has already proven inadequate to handle the ever increasing number and frequency of international fl...
Coast Guard put pier off limits on Nagashima off Schwab [News]
Just before contractors for the Naha Defense Facilities Bureau started transporting buoys and construction materials to Camp Shcwab to prepare for the land reclamation for the new ...
Okinawa Zoo provides education, excitement for kids’ vacation [News]
Starting Jul. 19th and continuing throughout the local schools’ summer vacation through the end of Aug., Okinawa Zoo & Museum is keeping its gates open every Saturday until 9 p...
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