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
19-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of attempted murder [News]
Naha City Police arrested a 19-year-old boy living in Naha City on suspicion of an attempted murder. According to investigators, the boy hit his father on the head with some kind o...
Suspicious fires at Nago City elementary school yard [News]
Children taking part in a school club activity in the Gabusoka district of Nago found 11 bamboo and one plastic broom burning on the premises of their elementary school. The childr...
Marine, airman nabbed for driving under influence [News]
Naha Police arrested a 35-year-old Marine on suspicion of driving under influence in Naha, Sunday morning. According to Naha Police, a police patrol stopped Micheal Davis, a Marine...
Okinawa has highest number of drunk drivers in Japan [News]
According to Okinawa Prefectural Police statistics published Mar. 29th, 1,313 people were caught driving under influence or drunk during the one-year period from Apr. 2014 through ...
Ground Self Defense Force private arrested for DUI [News]
Ginowan police arrested a 20-year-old Japanese Self Defense Force private on suspicion of driving under influence, early Sunday morning in Mashiki, Ginowan City. According to Ginow...
2015.03.30
English networking dinner creates great business networks [Business]
By Tony Nakamoto “In Okinawa, there are both Japanese and non-Japanese business people, so why don’t we get together to expand our opportunities to our mutual benefit?”...
Fight over Henoko survey halting order intensifies [Politics]
Governor Takeshi Onaga submitted documents to the fisheries ministry, Friday, justifying his orders to suspend the ocean floor survey work off the coast of Henoko. In the documents...
Henoko dispute heading for courts [News]
The fight over the construction in Henoko of the replacement facility to MCAS Futenma intensifies and seems to be heading to the courts as both sides are taking measures to counter...
2015.03.27
Helios distillery boasts Okinawa’s largest alcohol selection [Business]
Helios distillery in Nago City is best known for its long-time best selling ‘Kura’ Awamori, but there’s much more in its arsenal than merely Okinawa’s most famous liquor. Kura is t...
2015.03.25
Golden Kings slip to 2nd after being stunned by Oita [Ryukyu Golden Kings]
The Ryukyu Golden Kings were riding high in the Basketball Japan League’s Western Conference after an easy series opener against the Oita HeatDevils, but encountered a fired up squ...
Onaga orders stop to Henoko seabed survey [CURRENT ISSUE]
Upping the ante over the dispute over the construction of the replacement facility to MCAS Futenma off Camp Schwab in Henoko, Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga has ordered the Okinawa...
Hospital employs tablets for real-time translation [News]
Urasoe Sogo hospital has deployed a system that enables foreign patients and hospital staff to talk with the help of an online interpreter through mobile tablets. It’s the fi...
Itoman Police lose their investigators’ digital camera [News]
Itoman Police has lost a digital camera with its SD memory card that had been used in investigations and had been kept in a cabinet in the Itoman Police Station. A spokesman for th...
Unresolved problems abound for Henoko project [News]
The Okinawa Defense Bureau has decided to extend by about three months its survey of the seabed off the coast of Henoko, citing the pause in the work during the gubernatorial and H...
More than 10,000 tax free shops open in Japan [Business]
The number of tax free shops in Japan, in which foreign visitors can buy products without the 8-percent consumption tax is expected to pass the 10,000-mark by the end of March. The...
79-year-old woman robbed at knifepoint on Miyako [News]
A small store was robbed of ¥15,000 by a man wielding a knife in Miyakojima City, Miyako Island, in the afternoon of Mar. 20th. According to Miyako Police, a man brandishing a weap...
Nearly 4,000 protest at Henoko on Saturday [News]
According to organizers, about 3,900 people took part in a protest rally at a beach in Sedate, Henoko, Nago City, Saturday, demanding a halt to the seabed drilling survey at the pl...
Marines’ policy deputy forced to resign over leaked video [News]
A video showing the arrest of Hiroji Yamashiro, the 62-year-old chairman of the Okinawa Heiwa Undo Center (Peace Movement Center), protesting the construction at Henoko in front of...
U.S. military truck knocks down wall, leaves scene [News]
A large U.S. military vehicle crashed into a concrete block wall of a private resident in Konbu, Uruma City, about 7 a.m. on Mar. 18th and knocked down a section of the wall about ...
Okinawan man arrested for threats against U.S. Embassy [News]
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police led task force arrested, a 52-year-old Okinawan man, Mar. 19th, for making bomb threats against the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Mitsuyoshi Kamiya was arres...
