CURRENT ISSUE
Pick Up Stories
Okinawa Expressway Renewal Work Starts J… [CURRENT ISSUE LIFE Living]
NEXCO, the company operating the Okinawa Expressway announces that Expressway renewal works start from January 6th to April 28th in 2026 bet...Read More
Itoman Tug-of-War marks end of summer [CULTURE CURRENT ISSUE ENTERTAINMENT]
Many Okinawan farmers and fishermen, in some form or fashion, pay tribute to the Gods, seeking their blessing and favor for a great harvest ...Read More
Awamori "Ku-su" Day [CURRENT ISSUE LIFE]
September 4th is the “Ku-su Day”, with September = ‘9’ which is pronounced ‘kyu’ or ‘ku’ in Japanese, and ‘4’ being pronounced ‘...Read More
Purse-snatchings reported in Naha, Yonabaru [News]
Okinawa Prefectural Police said they had received reports of a two purse snatchings targeting elderly women that occurred in Nahs and Yonabaru, Wednesday. In Naha, a 82-year-old wo...
2014.01.09
Futenma base foes gird for battle [Politics]
Opponents of the plan for relocating Futenma Marine Corps Air Station from Ginowan City to the Henoko district of northern Okinawa’s Nago City are angry with the governor’s decisi...
2014.01.09
Private vessels, reservists could assist in crisis [Politics]
Continuing tensions between China and Japan over remote islands have the government creating contingency plans for recapturing such islands as the Senkakus, using privately owned s...
Governor’s landfill permit approval riles Naha City [Politics]
The Naha City Assembly has adopted a written protest against Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima’s approval of reclamation work needed to build a substitute facility for the Fu...
Spring is close, Nago cherry-blossoms start to bloom [News]
The winter in Okinawa has hardly started, but the first sign of the approaching spring is already here as the Hikanzakura in the Nago Castle Park in Nago City have begun to blossom...
Quarter of shoplifters are senior citizens [News]
According to National Police Agency statistics, the number of shoplifters aged 65 or older caught in the nation by November was the highest on the record totaling 256, which is 25....
Over 120,000 rode Yui-rail during New Year holiday [News]
The number of passengers riding on the monorail during the New Year holiday Jan 1st through 3rd set a new record of 126,000. That is 3.8% increase from a year ago. On Jan. 1st in t...
Tuesday marked Nanakusa-no-sekku [News]
Tuesday, January 7th, marked the well-known Festival of Seven Herbs (nanakusa no sekku). This is a Japanese custom when people eat a variety of rice porridge made with seven herbs....
Okinawa Prefecture homepage gets facelift [News]
Okinawa Prefecture introduced its renewed homepage on Jan. 5. The new re-designed homepage features more pictures and videos than the old simple homepage. It incorporates five chan...
First fruit and vegetable auction of 2014 held [News]
The Okinawa Wholesale Market in Inanse, Urasoe City, held its first fruit and vegetable auction of 2014, Jan. 5. Due to slow growth caused by bad weather, the quantity of vegetable...
Okinawa City second to establish AED network [News]
Starting from January, a network of AED (automated external defibrillator) devices will be installed in 43 convenience stores throughout Okinawa City. Okinawa city Mayor Mitsuko To...
2014.01.07
Golden Kings begin new year with sweep [Ryukyu Golden Kings]
Proving that a late December loss that shattered a long running win streak was a fluke, the Ryukyu Golden Kings kicked off the new year on home turf with a sweep of the Saitama Bro...
Sightseeing helicopter crashes off Kouri Island [News]
A helicopter carrying a pilot and a couple on a sightseeing trip crashed into shallow waters off Kouri Island in Nakijin, Village, Monday. According to Nago Police, the small Robin...
Dollar gaining strength as yen weakens [Business]
The dollar was solid above 105 yen in Tokyo trading on Monday, the final market day of 2013, aided by Tokyo stock price gains and speculation of wider interest rate differentials b...
2013.12.31
Futenma, Senkakus provide most memorable moments of 2013 [News]
By Bill Charles If Futenma Marine Corps Air Station didn’t exist, and if China didn’t have its eye on the Senkaku Islands in southwestern Okinawa, 2013 would have been a rather ho-...
ANA to add more cargo flights through Naha [Business]
All Nippon Airways announced a plan to increase international cargo flights routed through the Naha Airport that earlier this year became the hub for ANA cargo routes between Japan...
Woman dies in freak car accident in Omoromachi [News]
A woman in her 60’s died when a car driven by a man in his 70’s ran over her in Omoromachi, Naha City, Sunday evening. According to Naha Police, the man was exiting from a parking ...
Bus lanes on Highway 58 to be extended [News]
Okinawa Prefecture and Okinawa Prefectural Police are getting ready to extend the current bus lanes on Hwy 58 to eventually all the way from Naha to Okinawa City. According to pref...
Bank employee found abusing customers’ credit cards [News]
The Bank of Okinawa announced on Dec. 26 that one of their employees was caught using customers’ credits cards for unauthorized cash loans. He was dismissed on disciplinary grounds...
Nakaima approves land reclamation at Oura Bay [News]
Okinawa’s governor has ended 17 years of stalemate over relocating Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to a location in the sparsely populated Henoko district of Nago City, signing a ...
RYUKYU PRESS