With the defeat in the Miyakojima City mayoral election leaving All Okinawa holding zero mayorships, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki laments, “It was a really sad result!” (21ja25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Peregrina, roadside Futenma, 1no24


Ballots were opened in Okinawa Prefecture’s Miyako City mayoral election on 19 January. All Okinawa, which supports Governor Denny Tamaki, had supported its related incumbent Kazuyuki Zakimi (75), who ended up losing the election, although endorsed by the Constitutional Democratic Party, Communist Party, Social Democratic Party, and  Okinawa Social Mass Party.


In response to press coverage at the Prefectural Office on 20 January, Governor Tamaki lamented, “We went to bat for him, but the result was really sad.”


Of the 11 cities in the prefecture, only Miyakojima City had an incumbent mayor aligned with All Okinawa. However, now the incumbent has lost the election to the city’s  former vice-mayor Noboru Kakazu (61), who had run as an independent. So, the number of All Okinawa related city mayors has ended up at zero.


Governor Tamaki claimed, “As for my feelings, once leadership elections are over, I take no sides. I make no distinction between those I supported and those I didn’t.”


The governor further emphasized, “At that point, I really no longer carry any sense of whether the winner is from All Okinawa or not.”


Original Japanese article: Sankei Shimbun, published Monday 20 January 2025.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c8b5a52eac6d63c68dff334553909a63d219e02b


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.


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