No change in the “carrot and stick” policy, as next year’s budget for Okinawa Promotion gets cut again to under 300 billion yen. (24de22)


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 reflected in this year’s budget proposal.


36 million yen will be allocated to new projects, such as a project to promote tourism by providing housing  in home stays in the prefecture for foreigners to experience cultural exchange. Another 109 million yen will go to other projects, such as start-up assistance for telework facilities and development aid for bio-venture research.


Cabinet Minister for Okinawa and the Northern Territories Naoki Okada commented, “We try to make budgets more effective and more efficient than previously. Okinawa is wrapped up in a variety of problems. We’re going to help it work to solve the problems facing it.”


Original Japanese article: Asahi Shimbun Digital, published Friday 23 December 2022 at 22:02. Byline: Shino Matsuyama

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ce3f85a6e4251abdf8c24b546f7be111de8d38b4


Denny in the News: news about 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. 

  2. Any suggestion on improving the 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.

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