Denny in the News

Splendor of Okinawa: Hippeastrum, Gushikawa RC Church, 31mr24 On 30 March, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi visited Okinawa Prefecture. The secretary attended a ceremony to memorialize the opening to the general public of ‘Flower Park Residential Zone’ in a section of the US Military Camp Zukeran in Okinawa City’s Kita Nakagusuku Village. In his greeting, the secretary stressed,  “As far as my eyes can determine, reductions in Okinawa’s base burden are a success!” The secretary also visited the vacated housing area in Ginowan City’s West Futenma that was reverted from the US to Japan in 2015. There he inspected the construction site for the relocation of Ryukyu University Hospital with Ginowan Mayor Masanori Matsukawa. In addition, on 31 March, the secretary will visit the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) in Onna Village and hold an exchange of opinions with Naha City Mayor Satoru Chinen.  It seems no meeting is scheduled with Governor Denny Tamaki. ...

Splendor of Okinawa: Geranium 14mr24 On 29 March, the Government announced that Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi will visit Okinawa Prefecture from 30 to 31 March. On 30 March, he will attend the memorial ceremony for the Ryokuchi Koen (Green Public Park), developed on vacant former housing land within US Military Camp Zukeran at Kita Nakagusuku Village in Okinawa City. That vacant land is scheduled for reversion to Japanese control from 2024 on. Until the site’s reversion, it will be a joint-use US-Japan public park. On 31 March, Secretary Hayashi will hold discussions separately with Urasoe Mayor  Tetsuji Matsumoto and Naha City Mayor Satoru Chinen to exchange opinions on measures to reduce the burden of the bases. However, discussions with Governor Denny Tamaki have not been scheduled. Original Japanese article: JIJI.Com, published Friday 29 March at 20:21 https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e7546983c04ee55cec04e4af9e9d9ef359875a1c Denny in the News: news about Governor...

Splendor of Okinawa: Monks Cress, roadside Uruma, 14mr24 　 With the Government’s focus on a crisis, the Self Defense Force (SDF) and others  are strengthening the capacity of the  infrastructure so it can be used smoothly. A part of that is a plan firming up to designate Ishigaki Port as a ‘decisively essential (certainly to be used) port and harbor location’. In response, on 28 March, members of the Opposition Party Coordinating Committee (chair: Nobuo Nagahama, 7 members) of the Ishigaki City Assembly held a press conference at City Hall to object, noting, “In fact, our Ishigaki Port is being transformed into a joint use military-civilian facility. Isn’t that going to lead to military use?” 　 In the group’s published declaration, there is apprehension that, according to the ‘decisively essential port’ designation, SDF and US Military exercises can be carried out at Ishigaki Port. Assemblyman Nagahama was critical, noting, “We mustn’t stop at simply accepting  an explana...

Splendor of Okinawa: Philippine Ground Orchid, roadside Uruma, 14mr24 On 26 March, Okinawa Prefecture held its ‘Headquarters for Advancement in Resurrecting Okinawa as the Healthy Long Life Prefecture’ (chair: Governor Denny Tamaki) at the Prefectural Office. The meeting confirmed its final proposal for the third ‘Okinawa Health 21’ plan for 2024-35 to maintain its encouragement of the health of the prefecture’s people. The prefecture’s ranking nation-wide in average life expectancy is continuing its decline and is now at 43rd for men and 16th for women. In view of this, regarding Okinawa’s resurrection as the ‘long life prefecture’, Governor Tamaki stated, “It’s now critical. This third plan has become extremely important.” The second plan’s final evaluation was reported at the meeting. 84 items were targeted for improvement or a tendency toward improvement. However, a total of 35 of the items were judged ‘unchanged’ or ‘worse’, such as the targets for metabolic syndrome, high blood p...

Splendor of Okinawa: Araguaney, roadside Uruma, 14 mr24 The All Okinawa Conference will not countenance the construction of the new base at Henoko. So, it will hold its ‘Preserve Esteem for Popular Will and Autonomy to the End’ mass rally from 11 a.m. on 6 April at Sedake Beach in Nago, Okinawa. The Supreme Court refused to take up the Prefecture’s final appeal on its suit over the Government’s exercise of proxy. In response to the court’s refusal, the conference will counter with this mass rally in support of Governor Tamaki, whose stand has shown opposition to the continuing construction of the new base. The conference estimates the rally will attract a scale of around 3,000 participants.  Joint representatives of the conference held a press conference on 21 March. Conference Joint Representative Norio Oshiro criticized the fact of the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the appeal and further stressed, “The courts are only one route. If they prove unsatisfactory, we can push back wi...

Splendor of Okinawa: Purslane, roadside Uruma, 14mr24 On 22 March, Governor Denny Tamaki granted  certificates as Cool Boss to chiefs of sections rated ‘excellent’, a status achieved by targeting  overtime work reductions and  the number of leave days taken in the fiscal year, which the Okinawa Prefecture employees plan at the start of the year. Eight section chiefs were designated Cool Boss for 2023. Governor Tamaki expected future progress as well in the work environment, stating, “The demands of government administration are complex and diverse. In the midst of it, the promotion of a work-life balance for our employees has become a necessity to respond appropriately to such pressures.” The 8 chiefs (actual titles omitted) designated Cool Boss are: Hiroaki Higa (General Affairs Division, Miyako Office, General Affairs Department) Masashi Hirata (Tokyo Office, same Department) Tomohiro Taira (Koza Prefectural Tax Office, same Department) Katsuya Kinjo (Children's Welfare...

Splendor of Okinawa: Treasure Flower, roadside Uruma, 10mr24 On 15 March, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki confirmed that portraits of kings of the Ryukyu Kingdom and other cultural artifacts, looted from Japan in the confusion of the final days of World War ll’s Okinawa Campaign, have been discovered in the US. He further confirmed that they have been returned to the Prefecture with the cooperation of the US Government and others. This was the first confirmation of the current existence of the portraits of these Ryukyu kings, whether inside Japan or overseas,  Governor Denny Tamaki noted in his press conference, “These portraits feel like experiencing the era of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the flesh. Our prefecture’s people are overjoyed at the return of these Okinawan treasures.” According to the Prefecture, 22 cultural assets from the Ryukyu Kingdom, discovered to have been looted originally from Okinawa, have been returned. They include ogoe (post death)  portraits of t...

Futenma Shrine and its Cave (Futenma Shrine main gate) In news reports, the city of Ginowan’s Futenma District is known for its US Marine Futenma Airfield with its noisy helicopters and Osprey aircraft. However, Futenma also has its lovely Futenma Shrine at the very edge of town, sandwiched between a busy highway and the fence of yet another US base. (Futenma Shrine) The original shrine, destroyed in the bombing and shelling of the first days of the Battle of Okinawa, starting from 1 April1945, has been restored. But the natural cave at the site, embedded in the low limestone hill just behind the shrine, continued on through the war as a place of worship, as it has been, not just for centuries, but for millennia, well predating the arrival of Buddhism and the late-comer Shinto, which now holds sway in the shrine.  (Shisa, guardian lion of Okinawan homes, at Futenma Shrine. The shisa’s closed mouth partner can be seen in the right upper corner in the background.) During the Sho Dyna...

Splendor of Okinawa: Mandarin Orange, roadside Uruma, 10mr24 (URUMA) There’s a plan afoot to construct a Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) Training Ground at the vacant site of a former golf course in the Ishikawa District of Uruma in Okinawa Prefecture. 17 groups, from within and outside the city, combined to form the ‘Association to Call for the Abandonment of the planned GSDF Training Ground’. On 20 March, the association held the ‘Citizens’ Rally to Request the Abandonment of the Planned GSDF Training Ground’. According to the sponsors’ report, over 1,200 participated  The rally adopted a resolution to the National Government and the Defense Ministry requesting the immediate abandonment of the plan. The association expects to make its request to the Government in the middle of this month, Uruma Mayor Masato Nakamura stated, “Our city residents have conveyed to me their strong feelings in opposition to the construction of the training ground. Looking toward the reversion of the ...

Splendor of Okinawa: Chasteberry, roadside Nago, 8mr24 In January of 2021, the male student  captain of a sports club at Okinawa Prefectural Koza High School committed suicide, after being  routinely scolded by the club’s advisor. In response, the governor’s set up a third party review board (chair: Lawyer Yutaka Furugen). On 22 March, the board submitted its report to Governor Denny Tamaki. On the immediate impetus for the suicide, the board concluded, “The greatest primary factor was the previous day’s unreasonably harsh scolding by the club’s advisor. Proposals and such to the high school and the board of education for preventative measures abounded. The review board requested that the Prefecture make the understanding of children’s rights common knowledge and immediately set up a  children’s consultation and educational organ for it. 　 The suicide happened on 29 January 2021. In February, the Prefectural Board of Education established a third party team. However, its ...

Splendor of Okinawa: Zonal Geranium, roadside Uruma, 10mr24 The Defense Ministry is planning to  develop the vacant site of a former golf course into a Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) training ground in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture. In response on 20 March, city residents and others held a rally in the city to request that the plan be scrapped. The Defense Ministry is scheduling training there for human assistance during disasters, night reconnaissance,  and such. However, rally participant Shiho Fuchaku expressed concern that the contents of the training would broaden. She complained, “We want to protect the safety of our children!” The Defense Ministry plans to upgrade the Naha-based 15th GSDF Brigade to division level. It claims it needs new training ground facilities in coordination with the increase in personnel. The ministry will purchase the site during 2024, with actual construction targeted for 2026. Governor Denny Tamaki has requested that the plan be scrapped. The Oki...