“Mail Order Life” gathers the voices of I5 from Okinawa for their thoughts in its special issue on ‘Is Okinawa about to see war again?’ ( 21my23)


Splendor of Okinawa: Pink ladies, roadside Uruma, 17ap23


15 May marked 51 years since Okinawa’s Reversion to Japan. An article on the home page of “Mail Order Life”, published by Catalog House Co. in Shibuya, Tokyo, begins with the title, “So that Okinawa will not again become a battlefield. 15 voices from Okinawa. The article explains that for 5 days running it will present the thoughts of people born in or with intimate knowledge of Okinawa Prefecture on the topic of ‘possession of enemy base attack capability’.


On 15 May, 3 people offered their opinions, Governor Denny Tamaki, Okinawa International University Professor Hironori Maedomari, and certified survivor of the 1484 victims of the Tsushima Maru Incident Keiko Taira.


Faced with armed attacks in WWll, the Prefecture planned to evacuate civilians and others from the Ryukyu Islands to Kyushu. Referring to the refugee ship sunk by attack while she was on board the Tsushima Maru in 1944, Keiko Taira commented, “They were aiming for us wherever we were at sea. We could never have evacuated by ship. I’ve held on working for peace up to now at age 88. Now am I going to see war again? I’d really like them to stop it!”


Governor Tamaki claimed that the Prefecture has yet to get a complete explanation from the Defense Ministry of its plan to deploy long-range missiles.”His discomfort apparent, he stated, “Our unease can only increase!” To the Japanese Government, the governor appealed for diplomatic efforts, begging, “Don’t get into a war!”


Professor Maedomari stressed, “America is the instigator. It’s using Japan to cram China into a corner.  ‘Enemy base attack capability’ is against our Constitution!”


On the point of the plan, Catalog House’s Yuji Hirano stated, “We’re pointing out to our readers that the votes of the prefecture’s citizens, which have expressed opposition, have been forgotten. Moreover, Okinawa’s burdens have clearly increased with the 3 addenda to the Security Agreement. Okinawa‘s voices have felt the need to wordlessly rise up to be reflected in Government policies.


Between now and  19 May, various issues are scheduled to be discussed by celebrities such as author Shun Medoruma,Yaeyama folk song folklorist Setsuko Miyazato, post-graduate student Jinshiro Motoyama, movie director and actress Aika Higashimori,  cartoon creator Takahisa Taira, and Fukutsu Museum Director Chihiro Uchimura. Catalog House expects to publish about 1.2 million copies.


Original Japanese article: Ryukyu Shimpo, published Tuesday 16 May 2923 at 09:00. Byline: Mariko Nakamura 

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/052aee456730655995fd87b9852c18d9dfae3f53


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. 


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


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