Denny in the News

Splendor of Okinawa: Treasure Flower, roadside Uruma, 30oc23 Governor Denny Tamaki held a press conference at the Prefectural Office at 4 pm on 30 October after the end of the first oral arguments in the law suit over the exercise of proxy in the case of the new base construction at Henoko in Nago. Okinawa Prefecture.The governor stressed that the best way to find a means of solving the problem is a dialogue between the Government and the Prefecture. The governor noted, “We expect to have a judgment which shows shows explicitly the will of the vast majority of the people of our prefecture and doesn’t acquiesce in trampling the popular will with the Government’s authority by the exercise of its so-called proxy.” The Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court is expected to conclude arguments on the day that the suit is heard. It will hand down its ruling at a date specified later. When the Government filed the suit, it requested that the court issue its ruling and order its quick approval, a...

Splendor of Okinawa: Flame Lily, roadside Uruma, 30oc23 Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki reported for work at the Prefectural Office on the morning of 30 October. In the afternoon at 2, first oral arguments are scheduled in the suit over the exercise of proxy in the case of the new base construction at Henoko in Nago. In response to queries from the press corps on his emotional state, the governor replied, “Clear mirror, still water (The state of my mind mirrors the clarity of still water).” The governor’s official duties start at 9 in the morning. Governor Tamaki referred to the exercise of proxy suit in his intra-Prefecture broadcast for staff and visitors. He emphasized, “Because I consider the principle of regional autonomy enshrined in our Constitution and democracy itself precious, I will do my best to plead our cause.” After the broadcast, the press corps once again eagerly queried the governor on the exercise of proxy. The governor responded,  “In our thought, we wa...

  The Origin of Demon Muuchii   A long time ago in a village deep in the mountains, a brother and his little sister, who were orphaned as children, lived together. While the brother was a violent type, his sister was kind-hearted. The brother would get into fights and drink, and once drinking, would go looking for more fights. As for the sister, as there were only the two of them, she always prayed in her heart that her brother would someday become a true man. Meanwhile, she did his share of the work as well as her own. But could her brother really turn good? Never!  Rather, he went from bad to worse. Then one day, after his sister had pleaded with him to give up his evil ways, the brother told her she was nothing but a noisy shrew, smashed his sake bottle into pieces, went off somewhere or other, and vanished completely. After about a half year or so had passed, in the dark of night a demon started coming down from the mountains and to eat the villagers’ chickens, goats,...

Splendor of Okinawa: Moth Orchid, roadside Uruma, 20oc23 The lawsuit on giving proxy to the National Government in the case of the planned relocation of Futenma Airfield is due to begin on 30 October. Prior to the trial, members of the Prefectural Assembly’s governing faction announced a declaration of support for Governor Tamaki, who has resolved to fight the Government over giving proxy. The lawsuit was filed to give the Government proxy to take the place of the Prefecture in approving a design change necessary for landfill work in an area of Oura Bay. Members of the ruling Faction of the Prefectural Assembly and municipal assemblies held a press conference on 28 October claiming that the proxy would be a violation of regional autonomy by the Government. Thus, they were announcing their opposition, as well as their emergency declaration in support of Governor Tamaki’s judgment to fight the Government. Prefectural Assembly and ruling faction member Miyo Nakamura stated, “In addition t...

Splendor of Okinawa: Purple Allamanda, roadside Uruma, 17oc23 On 20 October, Governor Denny Tamaki held his regular press conference. In it, he confirmed that possibly around 230 million yen in National Treasury grants would not be received, due to an application miss in 2 Civil Engineering Bureau projects. 256.81 million yen were allotted for the total project expenses of bridge  earthquake resistance reinforcement construction and harbor and port project site technical affairs under the management of the Port and Harbor Section. It was expected that National grants would  cover 90% of that. However, although the required National Treasury Debt Burden Action application procedures still had not been filed, in March of this year contracts were made with contractors. The miss was discovered just this month. So, the closing of accounts for the 2022 Project Maintenance Special Account going into the red in violation of the Regional Autonomy Law has become just one more problem in...

Splendor of Okinawa: Wild Petunia, roadside Uruma, 31au23 While considering requests for grants, issues have arisen over continued misses and ineptitude at the Prefecture. We learned on 23 October of inappropriate accounting practices in operational measures against Covid-19, even in the new Public Health Bureau. Moreover, it was confirmed that, in the operation of Covid-19 checks, completed forms were lost and there were possible leaks of personal information. The Prefecture  planned to make these scandals public at the final September scheduled plenary session of the Prefectural Assembly on the afternoon of 23 October. Moreover, at that plenary session of the Assembly, voting was scheduled on a proposal for a censure motion requesting Governor Denny Tamaki’s repentance for his words, actions, and administrative management. However, at the very opening of the session, Okinawa Liberal Democratic Party Representative Dai Shimabukuro requested an explanation of the scandals and asked...

Splendor of Okinawa: Crown of thorns, roadside Uruma, 31au23 The Resolute Dragon joint exercises of the Ground Self Defence Force (GDSF) and the US Marine Corps (USMC), mainly to be staged in Kyushu and Okinawa Prefectures, have commenced. On 24 October, at the GSDF Ishigaki Base in Ishigaki City in Okinawa, commanders of the US and Japanese forces held a press conference. Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki has been expressing concern over carrying out such large scale exercises. However, Western Army Commander General Juichi Yamane, requesting understanding, stated, “Enhanced coordination between the U.S. and Japan is connected to the peace of mind and security of our Nation’s people.” On 24 October, the GSDF practiced confirmation protocols for launching GSDF Type 3 Anti-ship Guided Missiles and USMC Type 3 Mid-range Anti-aircraft Guided Missiles, as well as USMC radar. At New Ishigaki Airport, a GSDF V22 Osprey Transport Aircraft flew in and carried out patient evacuation exer...

Splendor of Okinawa: Egyptian star luster, roadside Uruma, 18oc23 The US Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan is slated for relocation to Henoko in Nago, both in Okinawa. The construction work for it came up as a topic at the final session of the Okinawa Assembly (48 members) on 23 October. Assembly members of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and neutral factions proposed a motion of censure against Governor Denny Tamaki, but it lacked enough yes votes and was defeated. In the proposed motion, the opposition criticized Governor Tamaki because he refused to approve the Government’s request for design changes needed to shore up Henoko’s weak seabed. Moreover, it was claimed that the governor did not even obey the Supreme Court’s ruling that rejected the Prefecture’s claims.  The opposition asserted, “The governor has repeatedly acted more and more against our Constitutional Government!  He’s chipping away at the faculties and very nature that has let our regional au...

Splendor of Okinawa: Moss Rose Purslane, roadside Uruma, 18oc23 The U.S. Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan is slated for relocation to Henoko in Nago. In reference to the plan, at the regular session of the Prefectural Assembly on 23 October, a motion of censure against Governor Denny Tamaki for not approving a change in design for construction to shore up the weak seabed at Henoko was rejected by a majority. Claiming the governor’s judgment had disparaged the office of governor, among the 47 members of the assembly, Speaker of the Assembly excluded, the 23 members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito submitted their motion of censure. At the regular Assembly session, LDP members pointed out, “Unless there’s a defect in the National Government’s procedures, approval of its requests is normal. So, refusal to approve is an abuse of authority.” However, Assembly members from the governor’s side defended him, arguing, “The judgment to approve or not is the governor's ri...

Splendor of Okinawa: Purslane, roadside Uruma, 11oc23 (ITOMAN) On the afternoon of 21 October, the All Okinawa Committee for the Prevention of New Base Construction at Henoko held a mass rally of the prefecture’s people in the Multi-purpose Square at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman to request that soil, blended with the remains of the war dead, not be used in the construction of the new base at Henoko. Many of the citizens who attended pondered the present reality that a great many remains, still, have yet to be found, even though 78 years have passed since the end of the war. According to Satoshi Kunimoto of our southern bureau, the committee adopted this declaration: “The souls of many, including our children, rest here in Okinawa. We will protect forever our peaceful Okinawa, so that the same mistake will never happen again. With our hearts as one, we will put a halt to the new base construction.” The sponsors’ keynote was given by the committee’s joint representative, Susumu Ina...