Over 2,000 citizens and others join demonstration in Okinawa to protest the ongoing assaults by US troops. (18au24)

Splendor of Okinawa: Raintree, beachside Mihama, 9au24


With the ongoing sexual assaults by US troops in Okinawa Prefecture coming to light, citizen groups and others requesting a reduction in Okinawa’s base burden, held a protest rally on 10 August at an athletic field in Ginowan City.


According to the organizers, over 2,000 citizens attended. The rally adopted a letter of appeal to the Japanese Government requesting control and reduction of bases and a radical revision of the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), pointing out its barriers in crime investigations.


The participants raised placards bearing the slogan, “Don’t forgive US troop sexual assaults!”, as Governor Denny Tamaki took the stage to greet the crowd with, “Let’s get on with it, dauntless, and never giving up!”


Chiemi Yonaha (52), a mother still raising 2 children, touching on the US Military aircraft crash accidents and sexual assault crimes that have occurred up to now, emphasized, “Schools and parks, that ought to be safe are getting dangerous. This is Okinawa’s extraordinary environment!”


On the victims of sexual assault crimes by U.S. troops since 2002, Australian Tokyo resident Catherine Fisher added her voice, “The bad ones are not the victims!”

　

At the end of June, local media revealed 2 cases of sexual assault crimes by US troops in Okinawa Prefecture. This became an issue, because the Prefecture received no notification of the crimes from either the Foreign Ministry or even the Prefectural Police.


Original Japanese article: Kyodo Communications, published Saturday 10 August 2024 at 19:08

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e9bdc172bdfd0a5fb0e5d800ca9ae3e27ed3eab2


Denny in the News:


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 my 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.


(I increased the font size from 14 to 16 point to aid those with weakened eyesight, like mine.)

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