Denny in the News

Splendor of Okinawa: Monk’s cress, roadside Uruma, 28de22. On 27 December, Governor Denny Tamaki announced his thoughts on hosting the 88th National Sports Festival in 2034. On the same day, at the Okinawa Prefecture Office, he had received an appeal to host it from Prefectural Sports Board Chairman Michiyuki Tokashiki. The governor responded, “We’ll do our best to work together and moreover get Okinawa promoted as a Sports Island!”  In 2024, the National Physical Education Festival will be renamed as the National Sports Festival. The governor will also serve as Prefectural Sports Committee chair. Hosting the event will require a vote by the Prefectural Assembly. So, the governor promised, “We’re going to work hard to put this together in order to get it approved at the February Prefectural Assembly Session.” If the Prefectural Assembly accepts his proposal, the governor will go to Tokyo to make his appeal to the Japan Sports Committee and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports...

Splendor of Okinawa: Hibiscus schizopetalus, roadside Uruma, 29de22 On 28 December, Kin Mayor Hajime Nakama visited Governor Denny Tamaki at the Okinawa Prefecture Office. Highly virulent Avian Influenza (bird flu) had broken out at a poultry farm in his town. The mayor reported to the governor that contagion control measures, such as the culling of infected poultry and disposal of materials, had been completed and the measures were finished on 21 December. The Prefecture had been informed that a large number of dead chickens were discovered at that poultry farm and the chickens were confirmed positive in a cursory test on 15 December. So, the farm requested contagion control assistance from the town of Kin. From 16 December extending until the completion of contagion control, 130 people were involved in the measures. 　 Mayor Nakama noted, “The disease was confined to only one poultry farm, without spreading to the others. That’s thanks to the speed of our work in coordination with the...

Splendor of Okinawa: Golden dewdrop, roadside Uruma, 28de22 On the afternoon of 27 December, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki held a press conference. The governor called on the prefecture’s people to take measures to prevent Covid-19 and to reasonably make use of emergency health care during the end of the old and beginning of the new year season. Within the prefecture, a wave of infections is expected to spread with the opening of the new year. Governor Tamaki noted, “When a lot of people gather together for meals, the risk of transmission is especially high. Before participating, we’d like you to carefully manage the condition of your body and before the event itself thoroughly confirm with a test that you’re not infected.” He further requested that gatherings of large numbers of people over an extended period of time be avoided. Within the prefecture last week, for two days in a row, the number of newly infected surpassed one thousand, continuing its tendency to increase. A...

Splendor of Okinawa: Senecio, roadside Uruma, 27de22 The Defense Ministry has noted its plan to deploy a missile unit to Yonaguni Island. In response, at a press conference on 27 December, Governor Denny Tamaki burst out in opposition, “With no prior explanation, they’ve suddenly gone over budget on this, while we have to face a severe situation.” On the reinforcement of the Yonaguni garrison, the governor stressed, “It started with a coastal monitoring unit. Now for 2023, they’re adding electronic warfare and missile units. Make no mistake about it, this is all an increase in the region’s burden.” He expressed his displeasure, noting, “Without any of the required information! Considering the suddenness of this plan, how about whether it’s over our budget? When asked whether he would appeal his opposition to the deployment to the Government, the governor explained, “I haven’t yet considered that.” He expressed his consideration of ascertaining the response from the Government side on w...

Splendor of Okinawa: Cassia, on wall in Uruma, 27de22 (TOKYO) On 26 December, Governor Denny Tamaki visited the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). He held discussions with MEXT Assistant Vice-Minister Yoshinori Hakui. The governor plans to establish an evening middle school with the  Sango-sha High School Division of Sousei-sha Education Foundation. So, he requested an easing of the establishment standards. According to Governor Tamaki, Vice-Minister Hakui expressed his  forward-looking consideration of setting up an evening middle school in the prefecture. He had explained, “Even without relaxing standards, carrying them out flexibly is quite possible.”  Governor Tamaki brought up Sousei-sha’s request for permission for the project. The vice-minister explained, “I’ve seen the “unacceptable” report from the Private School Inspection Committee and have replied to it.” Moreover, he added, “I’ve requested that, in the case of a true neces...

Splendor of Okinawa: Capsicum annum, roadside Uruma, 11de22 Governor Denny Tamaki held his final 2022 scheduled press conference on 23 December. He was asked which event of the past year would have the most lasting impact. He offered the compilation of a new Proposal to encapsulate the 50th year since Okinawa’s Reversion to Japan.  The governor noted, “When people welcome in the 100th anniversary, our Proposal will take its place as a sort of milestone with its significance being the verification, perhaps, of our current concerns having been more or less solved and of our development.” His Proposal requested that the Japanese and US Government speedily cease use of the US Military Futenma Airfield, cancel the construction of the new base at Henoko in Nago, revise the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, and such. The governor’s proposal was based on the Proposal on Measures for Reversion (Yara Proposal), compiled under the US Occupation by the Ryukyu Government in advance of the 19...

Splendor of Okinawa: Guava plant, roadside Uruma, 11de22 The Cabinet has decided its 2023 budget proposal. In it, Okinawa’s portion of the budget will be reduced by 500 million yen to 267.9 billion yen  compared to its 2022 budget. On this News, Governor Denny Tamaki announced on 23 December, with a quip that has become his standard evaluation, “In the midst of our Nation’s harsh economic conditions, it's their standard consideration.” Last December, when the Cabinet decided its 2022 budget, Okinawa took a huge cut of 33 billion yen compared to the previous year’s initial budget. On that news, the governor had announced it with harsh comments, such as, “Such a huge cut is extraordinarily shameful!” Considering the scale of the budget, this year’s is about at the same level as last year. However, because the breadth of the cuts are small, the governor’s assessment turned positive.  In his 23 December comments, Governor Tamaki recognized the extension of mitigation measures for ...

Splendor of Okinawa: Matchstick bromeliad, roadside Uruma, 14de22 The Government has put out its initial budget proposal. In it, the proposed budget for Okinawa Promotion is only 267.9 billion yen, a cut of 400 million from its 2022 budget. After the re-election of Governor Denny Tamaki, who touts his opposition to the relocation of Okinawa Prefecture’s US Futenma Airfield to Henoko in Nago, Okinawa’s budget has been cut to below 300 billion yen for the second year in a row. The Okinawa Promotion Lump Sum Grant, an account which gives the Prefecture high flexibility in use, was cut by 400 million to 75.8 billion yen. On the other hand, the Okinawa Promotion Specified Project Advancement Fund, which the Government grants directly to municipalities without going through the Prefecture, was increased by 500 million yen to 8.5 billion. Ever since the Abe Administration, the Government has used a carrot and stick approach in the tussle between it and the Prefecture, and that policy is again...

Splendor of Okinawa: Cordyline fruticosa, along wall in Uruma, 20de22 On 22 December, Okinawa Prefecture announced that 1010 people were newly infected with Covid-19. It was the first time since 9 September that the number of new victims surpassed one thousand in a single day. Since 14 December, the hospital bed occupancy rate also has stood steady at 30%. So, the Prefecture has raised the alert level from 1 (a lull in contagion) to 2 (onset of wide-spread contagion). Moreover, the Prefecture has put in place a “Countermeasure period to maintain social and economic activity and suppress wide-spread contagion” from now until 13 January 2023 and urged contagion preventative measures and vaccinations. After the Virus Response Headquarters Committee meeting on 22 December, Governor Denny Tamaki held a  press conference. He reminded the prefecture’s people, “For the past two years, we’ve had a wave of travel arriving  at year end and the start of the new year. It’s an especially im...

Splendor of Okinawa: Nipplewort, roadside Uruma, 20de22. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki held discussions with United Nations Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu on 20 December. They exchanged ideas on the topic of  gender and the importance of diversity. Under-Secretary-General Nakamitsu noted, “People with various backgrounds have many different views, depending on their sex, ethnicity, religion, and such. Through these various viewpoints, we can discover new ways of understanding. That diversity is becoming a plus, not something to fear.”  Under-Secretary-General Nakamitsu also touched on the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan. She stated,”The voices of women must be an important pivot in the transformation of society.” She added, “Women have flourished in raising their voices in solidarity also in Okinawa, which has welcomed its 50th anniversary of Reversion. Governor Tamaki replied, “There is a growing awareness of seeing society fro...

Splendor of Okinawa: Portulaca, roadside Uruma, 20de22 On 20 December, Okinawa Prefecture confirmed Bird Flu virus in chickens at a poultry farm in the Kin District. The Prefecture announced the virus was determined as Asian Strain H5N1 by genetic testing at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. It was the same type as the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza that has been continually popping up at farms across the nation this season. The infection route has yet to be clarified. However, the pathogenic virus resides in water birds, like wild ducks and geese. It is thought that perhaps such birds from Russia and other northern areas are carrying the flu into Japan during their winter migration. Rice paddies around the farm where the flu broke out are full of migrating birds flying in and out. According to the Prefecture, in an inspection after the outbreak, several ducks and such were confirmed in the surrounding paddies. On 20 Decem...

Splendor of Okinawa: Catharanthus, roadside Uruma, 8de22 On 19 December, Okinawa Prefecture held its Experts Committee on Covid-19 (chaired by Prefectural Department of Public Health and Environmental Research Director Hideki Kuniyoshi). The committee discussed items such as raising the warning level to agree with the Prefecture’s epidemic prevention measures criteria. Although the spread of the disease is not wide right now, the Prefecture’s criteria for Covid hospital bed use has continued to surpass the rate of 30%. Before the end of this year and the beginning of next year, the committee members expressed the conviction by and large, “It’s appropriate to raise the level.” On 22 December, the Covid Response Headquarters Committee will formally make the judgment.  Currently the warning level is 1 (a lull in the spread). However, within the prefecture since November, there has been a tendency toward a gradual rise. The rate of hospital beds in use has also continued to worsen. So,...