Denny in the News

Splendor of Okinawa: Canna, roadside Uruma, 17ap23 The contagion of Covid-19 is again spreading widely. To counter it, on 26 June, the Prefecture announced the activation of Covid patient ‘care stations’ to accept the elderly and others infected, for the purpose of relieving the burden on health care facilities. Health care facilities in the prefecture have been impacted with clusters of infected patients within them. The number of hospitalized Covid inpatients has exceeded 700. This wave of contagion is gradually lifting Okinawa to its tip nationwide. On the same day, Government Covid-19 Sectional Committee Chairman Shigeru Omi conferred with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. At a press conference afterwards, Chairman Omi stated, “This is possibly the start of the 9th wave.” Based on the fixed period between 12 and 18 June, Okinawa’s rate of 28.74 newly infected was the highest nationwide, notably, 5 times above the national average of 5.60. As for the impact of this on tight hospital bed...

Splendor of Okinawa: Goldfish Plant, roadside Uruma, 13ap23 During the regular session of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly’s general questions on 26 June, Okinawa Liberal Democratic Representative (LDP) Daisuke Hanashiro, unilaterally, alluded to Former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono. He declared, “That great master once disgraced the history of our nation!” After the session, Representative Hanashiro was queried by the press over his reason for the term ‘disgrace’. He responded, “The Kono statement”, which admitted the involvement of the Japanese Military in the comfort women issue. (Trans. note: The Japanese Military ran brothels with hired or forced prostitutes during WWll.) Representative Hanashiro’s declaration arose during questions about Governor Denny Tamaki’s China visit. The governor will visit China at the beginning of July as a member of a group from the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade  (JAPIT), chaired by ex-Speaker Kono. Ex-Spea...

Splendor of Okinawa: Bush Clock Vine, roadside Uruma, 23ap23 Governor Denny Tamaki’s China trip has been decided. They say a meeting with President Xi Jinping is being arranged. That is not, perhaps, cause for bubbling joy. Moreover, at the Prefectural Assembly meeting on 26 June, Governor Tamaki was queried about his response if the question of Senkaku Islands’ ownership were to pop up. He showed his hand with the abrupt reply, “It’s essential the no declaration be made.” Just as in his flippant trip to the US in March, he is getting a cold shoulder from the Government and the Prime Minister’s residence as well. If he actually gets a face to face meeting with President Xi, he will probably want to grab the upper hand. However, such an expectation will be also apparent to the Chinese side. One month before Governor Tamaki’s China visit, as if the timing were planned, using the People’s Daily as his mouthpiece, President Xi issued his very first statement on Okinawa, noting, “Fuzhou and...

Splendor of Okinawa: Phalaenopsis, roadside Uruma, 24my23 On 26 June, Governor Denny Tamaki held a press conference for the general media. He was asked about his intention in using the Ryukyuan Language (Uchina- Guchi) in his Peace Declaration at the Mourning Ceremony for All Okinawa War Dead on 23 June. The governor replied, “During the Battle of Okinawa, people from the generation who spoke only Uchina- Guchi were taken as spies and  became victims of execution by the Japanese Army. We included those victims in our mourning also.” Beginning with his taking office, from the mourning ceremony of 2019, for 5 years in succession, Governor Tamaki has spoken parts of his Peace Declaration in Uchina- Guchi and English. However, Liberal Democratic Party House Representative Masahisa Miyazaki objected to the governor’s use of Okinawa’s language on this occasion in a tweet on 23 June. Representative Miyagi posted, “Governor Tamaki’s mixing Uchina- Guchi and English into his Peace Declarati...

Splendor of Okinawa: Costus, roadside Uruma, 5jn23. (BEIJING Kyodo) on 25 June, the Japanese International Trade Promotion Association (chaired by Former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono) confirmed the schedule of 3-6 July for the trip of its group of representatives to China. According to Japan-China related sources, arrangements are being made for meetings with members of President Xi Jinping’s leadership group. Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki will also visit China as a member of the representatives' group. After Beijing, he is scheduled to make an independent trip to Fujian, which is tied to Okinawa Prefecture by  relations of friendship. This is his first such trip since April of 2019. Considering that this is the focal 45th year since the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty was concluded, the aim of the trip is to bind the stability of the relations through economic exchanges. According to Chinese authorities, relations between Japan and China have been...

Splendor of Okinawa: Plumeria, roadside Uruma, 5jn23 The “East Asian Exchange of Dialogue toward Okinawa as a Hub of Peace” Symposium was held at the Ryukyu Shimpo Hall in Izumi in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. Governor Denny Tamaki and Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama offered their greetings.  The panel discussions were held in 3 sections. In the various sections, 11 took the podium, among them, politicians, experienced experts on China from Japan and abroad, economists,  and youth. They affirmed that to avoid war and create peace, it is essential to deepen dialogue and exchange among neighboring countries. In the first section of the discussions, 4 took the podium: Former President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Defense Bureau Chief Taku Yamazaki, Professor and Associate Dean at the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University Jiangyong Liu, Ryukyu University Professor Emeritus Masaki Gabe, and Aoyama Gakuin University Professor Emeritus Kumiko Hab...

Splendor of Okinawa: Scarlet Jungle Flame: roadside Uruma, 5jn23 The end of organized combat in the Battle of Okinawa, during the final days of World War ll, was 78 years ago. In remembrance of that 1945 day, on 23 June, Spirit Consolation Day, the annual ceremony to remember all the war dead of the Battle of Okinawa, was held at Peace Memorial Park at Mabuni in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture. With the Taiwan issue in mind, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated, “This is the most difficult time our Nation has been engulfed in under the environment of the Japan-US Security Agreement, since the end of World War ll.  In contrast, Governor Denny Tamaki looked toward peaceful policy creation in the Asian Pacific Region, while at the same time expressing his concerns over rising military tensions. He pledged, “We will develop our own prefectural regional diplomacy.”  Thus the rift between the two leaders on the defense build-up was laid bare. In his Peace Declaration, Governor Tamaki emph...

Splendor of Okinawa: War dead remembered: even unweaned tiny twins Tokiko and Funiko, the flower of Ryukyu. (23jn23) On 23 June, Okinawa looks forward to Spirit Memorial Day for dead of the Battle of Okinawa, including the multitude of civilians wrapped up in it in the final days of World War ll. At the Peace Memorial Park at Mabuni in Itoman, the site of the final fierce battle 78 years ago, the Okinawa Mourning Service for All the War Dead will be held, sponsored by the Prefecture. The prefecture’s people will pledge  their lesson that peace be pursued as their inheritance to future generations, during a moment of silence offered up to the over 200,000 who lost their lives. (Trans. note: The cenotaphs at the park are engraved with the names of all the identified dead from the battle, regardless of nationality.) 　 Governor Denny Tamaki and relatives of the dead and others will attend the ceremony. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the speakers of both houses of the Diet, among othe...

Splendor of Okinawa: Bougainvillea, roadside Uruma, 24my23 At the beginning of July, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki will make a trip to China. Prior to the visit, at the beginning of this month, China’s President Xi Jinping for the first time commented on China’s deep exchanges with ‘Ryukyu’ in association with the Senkaku Islands (in Okinawa’s Ishigaki City).  The ripples from his comments are broadening. Voices of alert even sent jolts through the Japanese Government’s relations with Okinawa over the hidden intention of President Xi’s comments. Some have even speculated that the Xi Administration was playing Okinawa as a new ‘anti-Japan’ card in exasperation in its annoyance over Japan’s intrusion into the Taiwan issue. President Xi made an inspection tour of the Chinese National Block-printing Museum in Beijing, which houses historical material such as ancient documents. On the front page of the 4 June edition of the People’s Daily, an organ of the Chinese Communist Pa...

Splendor of Okinawa: Dahlia, roadside Uruma, 24jn23 (BEIJING: Jiji) The Chinese Communist Party organ People’s Daily reported President Xi Jinping’s statement about “Ryukyu” and it caused a ripple. However, it may be an intentional jolt to Japan with its strong concerns over the Taiwan issue, just prior to Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki’s trip to China at the beginning of July. The first page of the 4 June issue of the People’s Daily reported on the news of President Xi’s visit to a history museum on the outskirts of Beijing. During his inspection tour, President Xi alluded to the Ryukyu Kingdom, which ruled Okinawa from the 15th to 19th centuries. Among his statements, he noted, “Fuzhou City (the capital of China’s Fujian Province) has a Ryukyu Mansion (where visitors from Ryukyu stayed). The city’s deep fellowship with Ryukyu is well known.” According to Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily, this was President Xi’s first statement on either Ryukyu or Okinawa since taking office as Ch...

Splendor of Okinawa: Philippine ground orchid, 24my 23 (TOKYO) on 16 June,  Okinawa Prefecture Vice-Governor Takekuni Ikeda presented his declaration of opinion on the new base construction at Henoko, associated with the relocation of the US Military Futenma Airfield, to the General Affairs Ministry designated 3rd party organization, the National and Regional Dispute Resolution Committee (Chairman Yoichi Kikuchi) at its 3rd meeting. The Okinawa Defense Bureau had requested  special permission from the Prefecture to gather coral in connection with its new base construction. (Trans. Note: Permission was not given.) The Agricultural, Forestry, and Fisheries Ministry then issued a compliance directive to the Prefecture. Vice-Governor Ikeda pointed out once again,  “As the directive deviates from the very essence of the Regional Autonomy Law, it’s illegal. That directive ought to be immediately rescinded!” The Dispute Committee will issue its determination on the applicability...