Prime Minister Ishiba apologizes to Governor Tamaki over Diet Member Nishida’s comments on the Himeyuri Monument. The governor notes, “The historical facts are solid!” (26my25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Sunflower, Gushikawa RC Church, 25my25


On 20 May, Prime Minister (also Liberal Democratic Party Chief) Shigeru Ishiba held a meeting with Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki at the Prime Minister’s Residence.


With LDP House of Councilors Shoji Nishida’s statements on the Himeyuri Monument at Itoman in Okinawa Prefecture on his mind, the Prime Minister apologized, saying, “His statements were truly unspeakable! As leader of our party, I deeply apologize for them.”


The Prime Minister’s apology was on the customary yearly visit of Governor Tamaki to present the Prime Minister a Kariyushi shirt, used as summer wear in Okinawa.


After the meeting, Governor Tamaki quipped to the press squad, “I want to firmly accept the Prime Minister’s apology.” But, he then candidly added, “We would have preferred a comment that more firmly took historical facts into account.


Mr. Nishida has apologized and retracted his comments, such as that the explanation at the Himeyuri Monument, which honors the souls of students who became victims of the Okinawa Campaign, was a “rewriting of history”.


(Trans. note: This basic story of Mr. Nishida's statements has been at the top of the news for a week. I’ve been amazed at the reluctance of reporters to attest to the facts that Mr. Nishida is disputing: Okinawans were urged, some perhaps forced, by military authorities to commit suicide rather than surrender. That much is indisputable and well documented. The tragedy of the Himeyuri girls was not an accident of war, but the culmination of orders by military authorities. It’s the task of reporters, not mere translators like me, to make such facts clear to their readers.)


Original Japanese article: Yomiuri Shimbun, published Tuesday 20 May 2025 at 14:56.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/24daa1759ad242dbdaff4fc982b2a441e9b0e9d2


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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