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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
Okinawa marks 54th anniversary of revers… [Politics]
May 15th marked the 54th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to the Japanese administration in 1972. According to published figures, the Japa...Read More
Expressway construction to affect Yaka IC & Kin IC [News]
Traffic jams are a distinct possibility on a northern stretch of the Okinawa Expressway between January and March as construction is taking place on the Yakadaiichi Elevated Bridge...
2013.01.01
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 everybody wants to do something with the contro...
2013.01.01
Whale watching season 2013 has arrived [News]
With the Zamami Village Whale Watching Association confirming the spotting of a humpback whale about 5 km off north northwest of Zamami Island at noon on Dec. 29th. The spotting s...
New Year weather forecasted to be less than perfect [News]
A cold front passing through is predicted to make this New Year less than perfect as far as the weather is concerned. Sunday probably was the worst as rain and strong winds prevai...
2012.12.31
Ishigaki’s new airport to open in March [News]
It’s a project that has taken decades to accomplish, but the new Ishigaki Airport will open for business on March 7th. The new airport, first planned in 1976 and after conservation...
New Year store hours not much different than everyday [News]
A sign of the changing times is that holidays are a time to stay away from work, unless you work for a store, in which case you’re still working while everyone else comes to visit....
Marine arrested for driving drunk [News]
Naha Police arrested a 24-year-old Marine on suspicion of drunk driving Saturday afternoon. Naha Police say they arrested LCpl. Eric Lopez, who is stationed on Camp Kinser, after h...
U.S. Marine arrested for home intrusion in Naha [News]
A U.S. Marine Corps corporal stationed at Camp Hansen in Okinawa was arrested Friday by local police on suspicion of trespassing onto a fourth floor apartment veranda in Naha. Okin...
Chinese ships continue to sail disputed Senkaku waters [News]
Political observers who thought China would back off on sending its ships into Japanese territorial waters after the Liberal Democratic Party won the Lower House elections almost t...
Anti-Osprey march draws 3,000 protesters [News]
A crowd of nearly 3,000 unruly protesters marched through Okinawa streets Sunday, continuing their long-running opposition to assignment of MV-22 Osprey aircraft to the island. Whi...
2012.12.27
Abe’s Cabinet to hold few surprises [Politics]
Japan got a new Prime Minister yesterday, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is putting together a Cabinet that looks like old home week, with few outsiders and a number of close allies...
2012.12.27
And this week’s winner is… [Weekly Winners]
The lucky winner of this week’s JU raffle is Naim Qazi. He won a free one-night stay at the Best Western Naha Inn. Naim is from Virginia in the U.S. and calls Vienna, VA, as his ho...
Two houses burn to ground, arson suspected [News]
A private house in the Makabe district of Itoman City burned down and was completely destroyed in a fire that broke out in the early hours of Christmas Eve. A call from a resident ...
Food poisoning kills raw chicken from pub menu [News]
Okinawa Prefecture Environment and Living Division announced Dec. 21 that two men of a group of three men in their 20’s who ate dishes at restaurant Ashidori in Izumizaki, Naha Cit...
Kokusai Street introduces regular Sunday entertainment [News]
The opening event of “Kokusai Street Performer Event” that is planned to become a regular part of Sunday programs on Kokusai Street by an organization of street performers, was hel...
Mini car fatally hit pedestrian sitting on street [News]
A 19-year-old male college student driving a mini car hit 66-yearr-old Satoru Arakaki who had fallen down and was sitting on the road on Kokutai Street in Kamisedo, Chatan, in the ...
Okinawa City firefighter nabbed for DUI [News]
Okinawa Prefectural Police nabbed a firefighter from Okinawa City Fire Department Headquarters on charges of DUI on Dec. 10. The incident came to light during a city assembly meeti...
Kite surfing tourist dies [News]
A 59-year-old company employee from Chiba Prefecture, Mikio Suzuki was kite surfing off Hateno-Hama Beach in Kumejima Town, when a sudden strong gust of wind flipped him pver, and ...
TV cameraman nabbed for DUI [News]
Naha Police arrested a cameraman who works at Ryukyu Asahi TV station (QAB) as a temporary employee, 29-yea-old Yoshinobu Shimoji, on a charge of violating the Road Traffic Law on ...
2012.12.26
Tourism to rebound and break records in ‘13 [Business]
A record number of visitors are expected in Japan next year, as the nation’s tourism programs recover from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters of March 2011. A major trav...
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