“We look forward to your revision of the US-Japan SOFA.” Urges Okinawa’s Governor Tamaki to new LDP President Shigeru Ishiba. (28se24)

Splendor of Okinawa: Butterfly-pea, roadside Futenma, 27se24


Shigeru Ishiba was chosen as the new  president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on 27 September. On hearing the news, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki issued his comment, “We’re looking forward to having him get to the task of solving various problems with us.”


Governor Tamaki said in his evaluation of Shigeru Ishiba, “He’s outstanding in his experience and vision.” However, the governor also noted, “We expect him to make revisions reflecting the voices of our prefecture’s people”, with his election as party president, alluding to his getting into reforms that must be made in the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which governs the status of the US Military in Japan.


Moreover, on the relocation of the US Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan to Henoko in Nago (both in Okinawa Prefecture), the governor repeatedly noted, “The lack of response to the feelings of the Okinawan people in opposition to the landfill there remains still unaddressed.”


So, he requested of President Ishiba, “We’d like you to make dialogue with the Prefecture a reality.”


Original Japanese article: Sankei Shimbun, published Friday 27 September 2024 at 19:19.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6c13f524ce22857fc5a5ae4b9d0d6e856158b916


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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