Will the Ginowan Mayoral election in Okinawa Prefecture, to be declared on 1 September, effectively come down to a one on one battle between a Government supporting former mayor and a newcomer from All Okinawa? (31au24)

Splendor of Okinawa: Field Marigold, Uruma RC Church, 23au24


The mayoral election for Ginowan City, which encompasses the US Military Futenma Airfield, will be declared on 1 August.


The race looks to be effectively a one on one battle between a former mayor, who stands for pushing cooperation with the National Government in its plan for the use of the vacant space left after the repatriation of Kadena Airfield and a newcomer, supported by the power of Governor Denny Tamaki’s group All Okinawa, which opposes the airfield’s relocation to Henoko in Nago. The election ballots will be opened on 8 September.


The 3 formal candidates, all listed as unaffiliated, scheduled to run in the mayoral election are:

  1. Former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima (60), endorsed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito.

  2. Ginowan City Assemblyman Isao Tobaru (65), a newcomer endorsed by the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Communist Party, and the Social Democratic Party.

  3. Takashi Higa (47), a survey company representative and newcomer.


The mayoral election was occasioned by sudden death of the late mayor, Masanori Matsukawa, who had supported both the LDP and Komeito. It will be closely watched as the first mayoral election in the prefecture since the June Prefectural Assembly election, when the opposition to the governor’s faction, such as the LDP and Komeito, took the majority.


Original Japanese article: Yomiuri Shimbun, published Saturday 31 August 2024 at 10:24

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/d41e17b828c9339be234609b600fe36c39faa9cd


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.

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