“Starry-eyed”: Governor Denny Tamaki. (19jn23)


Splendor of Okinawa: Habranthus Robustus, roadside Uruma, 24jn23


They say it was a cold shoulder Governor Denny Tamaki got from the Government at the Prime Minister’s residence. The governor went to Tokyo  with a documented request, pleading his opposition to the deployment in Okinawa of counter-attack capability, as cited in the ‘3 Security Treaty Documents’.


The response came from the Foreign Ministry and the Vice-Minister of Defense. The Government’s thinking came clearly through, of course, without broaching the topic or showing a discourteous attitude.


In reviewing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s actions on 30 May, something came suddenly to mind. That was the day our governor visited the Prime Minister’s residence. He presented the Prime Minister with a Kariyushi (trans. note: Okinawan summer wear) shirt. 


The meeting was recorded as being between 2:21 and 2:29 p.m. We really can’t judge if that 8 minutes was a long or short meeting.


 However, just before that, the Prime Minister had had a meeting of party heads with the Komei Party, where there was a danger of the collapse of their coalition over adjusting candidates in a House of Representatives election district. Considering the importance of that meeting, the Prime Minister must have been pretty tired.


However, during that morning, he was also on hand for a full 15 minutes, while the governor of Tottori Prefecture presented him with a watermelon between 11:11 and 11:26. 


A Kariyushi shirt and a watermelon! There is really no way of comparing them. The times spent for the presentations were different, but, we probably should not think that  it conveyed the mood of this event.


Our governor plans to visit China in July to promote his regional diplomacy. Perhaps he wants to manifest his ideals by realizing actual discussions with top officials.


But, just at this time, President Xi Jinping is suddenly blurting out  statements alluding to the history of China and the Ryukyu Kingdom. When the top leader of a great nation brings up the name of a particular little place,  alarm is called for.


Discovery of true meaning is perhaps the role of diplomacy. But our governor aggressively interpreted Xi’s comments, “I’m accepting them as an expression of a longing for cultural exchange!” We would only beg that  reactions like this be put diplomatically.


Original Japanese article: Yaeyama Daily News, published Wednesday 14 June 2023 at 04:00

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8c8ade4d96f806e9f19f19faaada7932c1a59e9d


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.

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