Denny in the News

Splendor of Okinawa: Orange jasmine, along wall in Uruma, 6jn22 　 On 30 June, the Prefecture paid out its summer bonus (end of June period allowance for hard work). Excluding director level managers and above, general administrative employees received an average total of 632,235 yen at the average age of 42.2. The cut in the number of months of pay used in the calculation and the bonus reduction recommended by the Prefectural Personnel Committee last October came out to bonuses 9.92% less compared to the same bonus last year. Those eligible for a bonus totaled 24,176, with an average age of 42.7. The total of bonuses paid was 17,561, 075,000 yen. Governor Denny Tamaki received a bonus of only 2,066,400 yen. That is about 220 thousand less than the same bonus last year. Vice-governor bonuses were 1,629,600 yen for Yoshimi Teruya and 1,644,126 yen for Takekuni Ikeda. Members of the Prefectural Assembly each received a bonus of 1,260,000 yen. However, Prefectural Assembly Speaker Noboru A...

Splendor of Okinawa: Beach spider lily, at Nuchi nu miji (Water of life) Well in Uruma, 29jn22 Okinawa Prefecture announced on 28 June that Governor Denny Tamaki had become a person with dangerously close contact to Covid-19, and after a PCR test the same day, the result confirmed that he had tested positive. As background to the confirmation of the governor testing positive, according to the Prefecture, Governor Tamaki had felt some throat irritation, but had no fever or other symptoms. He is recuperating at the governor’s residence. He has not appointed someone to take his place, since he is handling office affairs remotely.  The governor is expected to return to his office by 8 July at the earliest. The Prefectural Assembly is already into its June session. The 2nd day of general questioning that was scheduled for 28 June was postponed and the session will be prolonged by 3 days.  According to the Prefecture’s explanation, on 26 June, Governor Tamaki spent an hour and a hal...

Splendor of Okinawa: Spiny Stonewort, gutter in Uruma, 6jn22 Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki has come into dangerously close contact with a Covid-19 victim. Due to that news, at the opening of the Parliamentary Steering Committee (chaired by Morio Toma) of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly on the morning of 28 June, it was decided to postpone the day’s scheduled general question session.  The committee meeting opened briefly and, after the announcement by the vice-governor, it was postponed. General Affairs Director Riki Miyagi explained at the meeting that the earliest the governor could come back to his office would be on 1 June, if he tested negative for the virus. If positive, his return could take 5 days or more.  According to Director Miyagi, it became clear that a relative or the governor had been infected, prior to the questions of Okinawa LDP Representative Hiroki Nakata, at just after 7 p.m. on 27 June. After the general question session, the governor and Dir...

Splendor of Okinawa: Dracaena trifasciata, Uruma City Hall wall, 7jn22 Ballots will be opened on 10 July in the 26th House of Councilors Election in the Okinawa Election District. With the influence of Covid-19 on the wane and the economy and lives of the prefecture’s people on the mend, the essential point of contention will be whether or not the new base construction at Henoko in Nago proceeds.  So, this paper is comparing the important policies of the contenders in what has truly become a two horse race  between incumbent Yoichi Iha (70), backed with the power of All Okinawa, and contender Genta Koja (38), picked by the Liberal Democratic (LDP) and Komei Parties. For Yoichi Iha, economic and US base policies are equally important. Iha promises the revitalization of the prefectural economy and lives of the prefecture’s people after the ravages of Covid-19, along with raising incomes, the fight against child poverty, and opposition to the new base at Henoko, with all equally ...

Splendor of Okinawa: Lagerstroemia speciosa, wall in Uruma 19jn22 A soil excavation mine is located within the Okinawa National Battlefield Monument Park at Komesu in Itoman. Pursuant to it, on 24 June, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki expressed his viewpoint on receipt of the actual settlement proposal submitted by the The Environmental Dispute Coordination Committee of the Ministry of Interior and Communication (Interior Ministry) Rules Committee. He was replying to a query from Communist Party Representative Sumie Nishime during representative questioning at the regular June session of the Prefectural Assembly.  The governor explained that, according to the settlement proposal, if remains are discovered during the excavation, work will cease in an area of 5 square meters around the remains for 2 weeks. Within that time frame, the completion of examination and collection of remains will be requested of the Remains of the War Dead Information Collection Center and others. ...

Splendor of Okinawa: Scarlet ratsvine, along wall in Uruma, 20jn22 Excavation of soil for landfill is planned at a mining site within the Okinawa National Battlefield Monument Park at Komesu in Itoman. The Environmental Dispute Coordination Committee of the Ministry of Interior and Communication (Interior Ministry) Rules Committee ordered the excavation.  Having received the proposed agreement of the Ministry with the excavation contractor, the Prefecture issued its response on 24 June. The Prefecture set out provisions such as the cessation of excavation, if the remains of the war dead from the Battle of Okinawa are found. Moreover, the Prefecture will confirm the contents of the excavation. The contractor had until 23 June to respond to the Ministry’s proposal and both sides had reached the agreement. On the other hand, citizen groups oppose the settlement between the Prefecture and the contractor because it doesn’t change their concern that the remains of the dead may be mingled...

Splendor of Okinawa: Tibouchina Urvilleana, along wall in Uruma, 6jn22 On 23 June, the ceremony was held at Itoman in Okinawa Prefecture for all the war dead. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s greeting, calling for, among other things, “We will work together with all our strength to lessen  the burden of the bases,” was met with cries of protest, such as, “Go home!” and “Listen to the voice of Okinawa!”, flying from citizens watching the progress of the ceremony from its perimeter.  The US Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan is scheduled to be relocated within the prefecture to Henoko in Nago. In a prefectural citizens referendum in February of 2019, over 70% voted against the essential landfill, but later the Japanese Government continued the landfill anyway,  in spite of the deep-rooted opposition. This was the first time in 3 years that a prime minister has been invited to the ceremony. Prime Minister Kishida was attending for the first time since taking office. Along th...

Splendor of Okinawa: Cooperleaf, by roadside Uruma, 9jn22 Okinawa Prefecture commemorates 23 June as Souls Memorial Day to mourn the more than 200,000 lives lost on both the Japanese and US sides in the final stage of the Pacific War in the Battle of Okinawa.  23 June this year marks 77 years since the day the Former Japanese Army ceased coordinated resistance on Okinawa. This year too, the landmark 50th anniversary of the Reversion of Okinawa from US rule to Japan was also commemorated, with the whole world on edge over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  The final battle of the Okinawa campaign was at Mabuni in Itoman. At the Peace Memorial Park there, with Governor Denny Tamaki and others present, the memorial ceremony (sponsored by the Prefecture and others) was held to mourn all the war dead with renewed vows for everlasting peace. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended as the first prime minister to do so in 3 years. As a precautionary measure due to Covid-19, those attendi...

Splendor of Okinawa: Euryops Chrysanthemoides, along wall in Uruma, 6jn22 On 21 June, the Okinawa Assembly held its regular June meeting. The Assembly unanimously approved its first supplementary budget of 22.68 billion yen. It included countermeasures targeting Covid-19 and soaring prices, as well as a proposal, passed by a majority composed of the ruling party and others, for a pay cut to the top three prefectural authorities, including a 3 month pay cut for the governor to extend to the end of his term.  Governor Tamki received a 15% pay cut for 3 months, totaling 540,000 yen. His Vice-governors Yoshimi Teruya and Takekuni Ikeda each received a pay cut of 10% with a combined total of 280,000 yen.   The cuts were over administrative procedures that would have activated a lump sum (so-called soft) grant from the National Government. Because of a handling miss on the side of the  Prefecture, the grant for administrative costs of about 1 billion yen was not received a...

Splendor of Okinawa: Gardenia Jasminoides, roadside Uruma, 29my22 On 18 June, a US Marine CH53E transport helicopter made an emergency landing in a cow pasture at Ginoma in the village of Kunigami. Responding to the accident on the morning of 20 June to the media outlets at the Prefectural Office, Governor Denny Tamaki stated, “The first thought that comes to mind about the aircraft is how close it came to injury to the lives of people of our prefecture and damage to their property. It’s extremely frightening. I’d like to see them get to the bottom of the cause of this accident, especially whether they should be putting more effort into the timely maintenance of this type of aircraft.” In addition, he expressed his intention of closely monitoring the response of the US Military and the Okinawa Defense Ministry Branch. Since last year accidents involving helicopters attached to the US Marines have been frequent and downplayed as “precautionary landings.” Governor Tamaki expressed his ir...

Splendor of Okinawa: Old man’s beard, Agena Jr. Hi. fence 31my22 Incumbent Yoichi Iha (70), unaffiliated, has scheduled his run for reelection in the Okinawa House of Councilors Election District. On 18 June, he held his general kickoff mass rally in front of Naha Water Bureau. Candidate Iha promised, “Our first priority is to revitalize the daily lives of our prefecture’s people and our economy.” As for the new base construction tied to the relocation of the US Military Futenma Airfield to Henoko in Nago, Candidate Iha pointed out that the landfill is unfeasible due to the weak seabed. He stressed, “I’ll get elected to the House of Councilors and then help governor Denny Tamaki get elected in the gubernatorial election as well. That’s the best way to stymie the US and Japanese governments  on the new base construction.” Touching on Governor Tamaki’s elimination of child poverty, promotion of the agricultural industry, and such, Candidate Iha called for support for those policies, ...

Splendor of Okinawa: Zinnia, roadside Uruma, 18jn22 (Trans. note: no governor related news today.) KUNIGAMI - On 18 June at about 2:45 p.m., a US Marine Ch53E large transport helicopter made an emergency landing in a cow pasture at Ginama in the village of Kunigami. According to the US Marines in Okinawa, the aircraft belongs to the First Marine Airborne Group. On the same afternoon at about 2:35, 3 more aircraft of the same type and from the same flight had made emergency landings at Yoron Airport on Yoron Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. In response to a query from this newspaper, the Marines in Okinawa explained the cause of the landing at Ginama in Kunigami as, “a bit of smoke was noticed in the cockpit.” For the three helicopters that landed at Yoron Airport, the explanation of the cause was, “The fuel dropped below the level for continuing the flight.” However, there were no injuries to people or damage to property in either case. The landing spot in Kunigami was near where Route ...