CURRENT ISSUE
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
Tokyo sends team to study Senkaku islands [News]
Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which along with the national government wants to buy the disputed Senkaku Islands in southwestern Okinawa Prefecture, has had a team drifting in wat...
Recycling plant worker busted [News]
A 26-year-old man working at a car recycling plant in Urasoe City has been arrested by Ginowan Police for violating the stimulants Control Law. Police are investigating where Hayat...
And this week’s winner is… [Weekly Winners]
Dave Pope is the lucky winner of this week’s JU raffle. He won a ¥3,000 gift card that can be used for a fine meal in any Red Lobster restaurant on the island. Claiming to be “real...
Golden Kings eye 2nd straight championship [Ryukyu Golden Kings]
The Ryukyu Golden Kings are still nearly two weeks away from putting a basketball on the hardwood to defend their Basketball Japan League championship, but already they’re doing th...
And this week’s winner is… [Weekly Winners]
Julie C. Valladolid is the winner of this week’s Japan Update raffle. Her win gives her a ticket to Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum’s on-going exhibition on things that p...
Typhoon Bolaven gets Okinawa excited, fizzles [News]
As Typhoon Bolaven lumbered across the western Pacific toward Okinawa, warnings were being issued that it could be the worst typhoon to strike the island in 13 years, or more, and ...
San-A to open new supermarket [News]
It’s not coming to shoppers in the very near future, but when land now part of the Kadena Ammunition Storage Area is returned to Japanese control, San-A is ready. The supermarket g...
AEON says it will stick with its operating hours [News]
AEON Okinawa, operators of AEON department stores and MaxValu supermarkets on the island, says it’s going to stick with earlier opening times first adopted this year as an energy c...
LDP eyes holding presidential election in late September [News]
The Liberal Democratic Party, the conservative opposition party in Japan, is considering its party presidential election in late September, with campaigning to begin within a coupl...
Japan to offer ¥2 billion to purchase Senkaku Isles [News]
Japan’s central government is getting ready to offer ¥2 billion to the owner of the disputed Senkaku Islands, wanting to settle the conflict and bring the islands under state contr...
Japan, U.S. agree: Osprey crash ‘human error’ [News]
Japanese experts are agreeing with the United States that the fatal crash of a MV-22 Osprey in April was caused by human error. The MV-22 that crashed in Morocco killed servicemen,...
Itoman sets 2-day Kyan Eisa for end of August [CURRENT ISSUE]
The 48th Itoman Kyan Eisa is ready to roll, using its special paranku drum with plenty of hand movements and a low dance style. The Kyan Eisa is performed in front of the Kyan Agri...
Okinawan Athletes to Compete at London Paralympics [Sports]
The great London Paralympics begins next Wednesday, and two athletes from Okinawa are set to compete. Shin Nakazato of Urasoe City will be heading to his third Paralympics for bout...
And this week’s winner is… [Weekly Winners]
Mother and daughter Heather and Isabella Zook were the winner of this week’s Japan Update raffle, and they will have a free one-night stay at Okinawa Pacific Hotel in Naha, courtes...
13 motorcycles torched, car burned in Urasoe incident [News]
Urasoe City Police and Fire Department investigators are studying what happened at a parking facility in the city’s Gusukuma district at 10:15 a.m. August 15th, when a report came ...
Marines release official report on Osprey incident [News]
The U.S. Marine Corps says the MV-22 Osprey that crashed in April in Morocco did not have mechanical problems, adding in the official report there would be modifications to simulat...
Okinawa’s other Miyazato captures Safeway Classic [News]
She’s the hottest name in women’s golf, and Mika Miyazato proved it Sunday with a dominating victory in the Ladies Professional Golf Tour Safeway Classic. Miyazato, who tied for th...
And this week’s winner is… [Weekly Winners]
This week’s JU raffle winners are Benjamin and Brenda Murphy, who won a one-night stay at the Best Western Naha Inn, a comfortable business-class hotel located right next to Naha’s...
Retired U.S. Marine wins chemical exposure claim [CURRENT ISSUE]
A retired Marine who insisted that he suffered health damage because of exposure to defoliants containing dioxin while stationed on Okinawa between 1972 and 1973 during the Vietnam...
Miyako construction leads to red soil runoff to sea [News]
Miyakojima City port workers are accusing a construction company of causing red soil runoff into the ocean waters around the Maja Fishing Port in Nishihara-Hirara district of Miyak...