Stating, “As the LDP leader, I apologize”, Prime Minister apologizes to Okinawa governor for Shoji Nishida’s statements. (30my25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Chinese Hibiscus, roadside Uruma, 18my25


On 20 May, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki held a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Residence. 


At the meeting, the Prime Minister brought up Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) House of Councilors Member Shoji Ishida’s statements concerning the Himeyuri Monument. The Prime Minister stated, “His statements were truly unspeakable for the people of Okinawa. As the leader of the LDP, I apologize profoundly for them”.


After the meeting, Governor Tamaki stated to the press squad, “We also would like to accept his sincerity”.


Mr. Nishida was at a symposium in Naha on the revision of the Constitution. There he made such statements as, “They’ve rewritten history”, in regard to the explanation display at the Himeyuri Monument in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, which honors the souls of the students who were mobilized into the army in the final stage of World War II.


On 9 May, Mr. Nishida had partially retracted his statements.


Governor Tamaki had visited the Prime Minister’s Residence on 20 May to present Kariyushi Wear, the formal summer clothing of Okinawa, to the Prime Minister and his Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.


Original Japanese article: Sankei Shimbun, published Tuesday 20 May 2025 at 12:55.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0218fa2c979258455172fd1f2bee478a66e8df9e


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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