Politics
Pick Up Stories
Okinawa marks 51st anniversary of revers… [Politics]
May 15th marked the 51st anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to the Japanese administration in 1972. According to published figures, the Japa...Read More
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 C...Read More
Oliver Stone visiting Okinawa to discuss… [Politics]
American director, producer and screenwriter will be joining a former Okinawa governor and two other panelists on Wednesday, August 14th, to...Read More
Fight to preserve Henoko Bay goes to Washington [Politics]
By E. Heinrich-Sanchez This week, I would like to introduce Bruce Gagnon. a Vietnam-era veteran who began his grassroots organizing career by working for the United Farm Workers Un...
Urasoe Mayor survives non-confidence vote over military port [Politics]
Urasoe City Assembly rejected a non-confidence resolution against Urasoe Mayor Tetsuji Matsumoto at an extraordinary session, May 25th. Minority members of the city assembly had su...
Henoko opposition fund showing strong start [Politics]
A fund called ‘Henoko Kikin’ that is earmarked to supporting opposition activities against the construction of the relocation facility and relocation of MCAS Futenma to Henoko repo...
Governor Onaga to meet Prime Minister today [Politics]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is meeting Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga today in Tokyo. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Okinawa Deputy Governor Mitsuo Ageda will al...
First Suga-Onaga meeting fails to bring sides closer [Politics]
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made a long awaited visit to Okinawa and met Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga face to face for the first time since Onaga was elected the gover...
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...
Okinawa LDP to nominate Aiko Shimajiri chairperson [Politics]
The Liberal Democratic Party of Okinawa informally decided at their meeting, Sunday, to bring in 50-year-old Aiko Shimajiri, a LDP Upper House member, as the next chairperson of LD...
Tomigusuku sees record low voting rate in City Assembly election [Politics]
Residents of Tomigusuku City went to the polls, Sunday, to elect a new City Assembly. The ballots were counted on the same day and results made public. 16 of the incumbents and eig...
Tomigusuku City Assembly Elections on Sunday [Politics]
Residents of Tomigusuku City will go to the ballots this Sunday, to elect a new City Assembly. The ballots will be counted on the same day and the results announced by the midnight...
Kadena Mayor re-elected to second term without vote [Politics]
The incumbent Kadena Town Mayor was re-elected to a new term in office without a vote, as he was the only candidate for the post. The Kadena Mayoral election was officially schedul...
Onna voters pick new mayor over incumbent [Politics]
A challenger won the mayoral election in Onna Village, Sunday. In the Onna Village mayoral election, the incumbent, 67-year-old Fumiyasu Shikiya was seeking the fourth term in the ...
Okinawa’s budget slashed, but Henoko continues [Politics]
The central government in Tokyo has been sending not-quite-so-subtle signals to Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, who’s only been in office a month, letting him know that opposition ...
Hideo Henzan named chief of new Okinawa office in Washington D.C. [Politics]
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga has decided to appoint 66-year-old Hideo Henzan the chief of a correspondent office he plans to launch in Washington D.C. Henzan was, until last Sept...
Onaga plans start of land fill review, visit to Tokyo. [Politics]
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga said Monday that his team would start in January to comb through the approval process of the Henoko landfill approval for the planned relocation base...
Okinawa voters defy national trend [Politics]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s snap election ploy proved successful Sunday as his Liberal Democratic Party and junior partner New Komeito fouled the opposition’s plans to disrupt his ...
Onaga reiterates his stance on Futenma relocation, casino [Politics]
Okinawa’s new Governor Takeshi Onaga answered questions from the Prefectural Assembly for the first time, Tuesday. Regarding the issue of the MCAS Futenma relocation, Onaga said th...
All nine Okinawan candidates win seats in election [Politics]
The 47th Japanese Lower House Election was held Sunday, and the results are in. The ruling parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito, won a combined 325 seats out of 4...
Onaga begins work on possible revoke of Henoko landfill [Politics]
As soon as new Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga took office on Wednesday, he reiterated his pledge to block the relocation of the MCAS Futenma to a new base in Henoko. Holding his fi...
Henoko opponents plan to circle Prefecture Office Building [Politics]
The incoming Okinawa Prefecture Governor Takeshi Onaga and representatives of five parties supporting Onaga decided to organize a demonstration of about 2,000 people to create a hu...
Nine candidates battle for Okinawa’s four seats in Diet [Politics]
The 47th Japanese Lower House Election was officially announced on Dec. 2nd. In Okinawa, seven incumbents, one former Diet member and one new face are vying for Okinawa’s four seat...