Former Prime Minister Suga lauds his accomplishments, welcomed even by the opposition forces. (23oc21)

 Former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visited Okinawa on 20 and 21 October to cheer on the House of Representatives election. He went first to Okinawa District 3, which includes Henoko in Nago, the site where the US Military Futenma Airfield, now in Ginowan, will be moved. He inspected the “East Nago Road,” a national highway, whose early completion became a reality due to local demand. He lauded his “accomplishment.”


Suga grasped the mike in two locations in District 3, which includes the city of Nago, but left it untouched at Henoko. Listening to local requests including the topic of traffic jams, under Suga’s leadership  the construction of the East Nago Road had been moved ahead by a year and a half. It was completely open to traffic last summer.


Suga stood up to greet Aiko Shimajiri (56), a new face in the LDP and former Cabinet Minister for Okinawa and the Northern Territories, at her campaign headquarters in Nago with, “Everybody’s delighted with the ease of traffic, because we got it done early!” Applause broke out among the 100 or so supporters. After leaving campaign headquarters, he went by car along the brand new road with Shimojiri and Taketoyo Toguchi, the mayor of Nago.


In the evening of 20 October, Suga gave a roadside speech in Okinawa City. He referred to a newly completed huge arena, “For the sake of local promotion and moreover for our children’s future, Ms. Shimajiri saw this arena through from its inception with repeated interaction between me and the mayor.” The arena, which was newly built during  the 2019 fiscal year, partly from the Okinawa Promotion budget, is a facility budgeted by direct grants to municipalities from the national government, bypassing the Prefecture. However some have criticized him for not being loath to divide the area with a “blatant candy and whip.”

  

On the other hand, voices of welcome for Suga were heard from the All Okinawa side which supports Governor Denny Tamaki and  is vying in all 4 of Okinawa’s election districts with the LDP/Komeito candidates. The campaign headquarters of Tomohiro Yara (59), incumbent and declared candidate for the Constitutional Democratic Party in Okinawa District 3 declared, “Criticism of Suga is deeply rooted for both his forcing the construction at Henoko on us and his response to Covid-19. His cheers for that stuff work to our advantage.”


Original Japanese article, authored by Daizo Teramoto and Shogo Kosumi (=寺本大蔵、光墨祥吾?): Asahi Shimbun Digital, published 22 October 2022 at 11:00

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/14cfc26b4daa6e6b7c13c23db2c4bedc91b181be


Translator’s note:

Denny in the News: news about Okinawan Governor Denny Tamaki.

Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although Okinawa is important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 

  1. This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. Any suggestion on improving the 

  2. translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.

  3. Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the suit over exercise of proxy in the case of the weak seabed at the new Henoko base, judgment to be handed down on 20 December. (4de23)

Image
Splendor of Okinawa: Shrubby Bush Clover, roadside Uruma, 30no23 The seabed at the new base construction site at Henoko in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, is weak and needs reinforcement. So, the Okinawa Defense Bureau requested permission for the necessary design changes, but Governor Denny Tamaki refused. In response, the Government intends to exercise proxy to give itself permission in place of the governor. The Naha Branch of the Fukuoka High Court announced on 29 November that it will hand down its judgment in the lawsuit filed over the case at 2 pm on 20 December. At the trial on 30 October, Governor Denny Tamaki emphasized in the first oral arguments, “We can in no way accept this exercise of proxy, which violates the autonomy and independence of Okinawa.”  He further stressed the will of the prefecture’s people in opposition to the new base construction as the ‘Public will’. In addition, he requested to show that the  path to resolution lay in dialogue. The trial was conclud...
Read more

Governor Denny receives the report on JUNGLIA at the 4 month mark after its opening. (7de25)

Image
Splendor of Okinawa: Temple Tree, Mihama Beach, 1de25 CEO Takeshi Kato of Japan Entertainment (JE), which manages JUNGLIA Okinawa, visited Governor Denny Tamaki at the Prefectural Office on 28 November.  　 The CEO reported on the 4 months since the attraction’s opening. He repeatedly brought up dealing with operational improvements and such based on the voices of visitors to the park.  　 The CEO specifically mentioned the evening concerts in the park’s garden and, starting from December, the free entry of one child with each adult, targeting the prefecture’s people. CEO Kato stated, “We’d like to be contributing to Okinawa’s tourism as well.” Governor Tamaki, alluding to his speech the same day, entitled “Declaration on Sustainable Tourism”, stated, “For the people, employees, and tourists of our prefecture, this is an important win-win format. We’d like to have JE’s cooperation in many, many more initiatives.” Original Japanese article: Ryukyu Shimpo, published Sunday 30 Nov...
Read more

In Okinawa, Candidate Takara takes hold of the Henoko opposition parties as their new face, urging,”Let’s earnestly come to grips with these issues together.” (21jy25).

Image
Splendor of Okinawa: Mexican Petunia, Gushikawa RC Church, 13jy25. In the House of Councilors Election for the Okinawa Election District, independent candidate Sachika Takara (46), endorsed by All Okinawa, which opposes the relocation of the US Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan to Henoko in Nago, both in Okinawa Prefecture, scored a victory. She defeated the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Party’s new candidate Ryo Okuma (38) in the election campaign.  Candidate Takara pledged before her supporters, “The Henoko problem is something our prefecture’s people have taken into our hearts. We’re going to earnestly come to grips with it together.”  With their eyes on a victory in next year’s gubernatorial election, her victory was a bitter blow to the LDP. Governor Denny Tamaki, who held the job of Candidate Takara’s campaign headquarters chief, stressed, “The will of the people in opposition to the relocation remains unshaken.” In recent mayoral elections, All Okinawa’s fortunes ha...
Read more