The Investigative Verification Committee confirms the propects of Okinawa Prefecture’s US Office as “difficult to maintain under its current situation”, noting that documentation submitted to the US Government was “clearly at odds with the truth”. (25mr25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Multiflora Rose, roadside Futenma, 24mr25


The paper corporation that Okinawa Prefecture set up to run its Washington Office has become problematic. 


On 24 March, the Investigative Verification Committee, made up of lawyers and other outside experts,  which the Prefecture had established, confirmed the Office’s prospects in documents that it had gathered, reporting, “With  its procedural defects, its maintenance in its current state will be difficult”.


Governor Denny Tamaki, who aims to keep the Office in existence, is expected to submit the Committee’s report at the final Assembly meeting on 28 March. There he will put his influence into the debate over whether to keep the Office running.


According to the Committee, they closely researched the various materials related to the Office on 24 March. However, they claimed to be unable to confirm materials that could guarantee the legitimacy of the Office at the present time.


One significant point was that, at the time of obtaining the visa for its resident employee, the Prefecture submitted documents denying that it had hired the employee. The Committee exhibited doubt, stating, “That’s obviously at odds with the truth.”


Moreover, the Committee showed its recognition that problems in the corrective actions on the ratification of the corporation that the Prefecture had established had yet to be solved. So, under the current conditions, they confirmed that pursuing the continued existence of the Office would prove difficult.


On the other hand, on the same day at the Prefectural Assembly Special Research Commission (Article 100 Commission), Deputy Governor Takekuni Ikeda, who oversees the management of the Office, once again explained, “I didn’t know the particulars of the set up of the Office.” But, taking as a given its continued existence, he referenced it for the first time, stating, “I’d like to consider how to revise the scheme.”


Former Deputy Governor Kiichiro Jahana, his former boss in the same job, also expressed his acknowledgment that changes would be necessary in the management situation, stating, “My awareness of the Office’s establishment came, in bits and pieces, from out of the blue.”


Original Japanese article: Yomiuri Shimbun, published Tuesday 25 March 2025 at 10:32.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2cffa58a19ff3cbcbfca5ce27d4290a4f7c90ee9


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 the 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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