On achieving his fifth term, Ishigaki City Mayor Nakayama vows, “I’ll put our Nation into action by requesting an inspection landing on the Senkaku Islands “ and “I’ll prepare for the worst” with a plan for civilian evacuation. (21au25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Nerium, Gushikawa RC Church, 17au25


Unaffiliated Yoshitaka Nakayama (58), the previous mayor, was re-elected for a fifth term in the opening of ballots on 17 August in Okinawa Prefecture’s Ishigaki City Mayoral Election.


In responding on the record to press queries, the new mayor made it apparent that he planned to continue the seaborne inspections of the Senkaku Islands that the City had previously carried out. But he added, “I’m going to ask the Nation for permission to land on the islands. I want to put our Nation into action!”


The city’s mayoral election was a one on one battle between then Candidate Nakayama and unaffiliated novice Yoshiyuki Toita (55), who  received support from the forces of All Okinawa, which backs Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki. 


According to the election results, the citizens chose a continuation of the administration of Mayor Nakayama, in spite of the possible impact of accepting the Nation’s US-Japan Security Alliance.


Alluding to plans for the civilian evacuation of Japan’s Sakishima Island Chain (Southern Ryukyu Chain), which encompasses Ishigaki City, Mayor Nakayama stressed, “It would be unthinkable to say that we have no measures available for  the very worst scenario. Our stance is to care for the lives of our city’s people. We want to zealously plan preparations for even the worst of scenarios!”


The results of the Ishigaki City Election are as follows:

(Unaffiliated, previous mayor) Yoshitaka Nakayama: 12923 (winner)

(Unaffiliated, novice) Yoshiyuki Toita: 11124


Original Japanese article: Sankei Shimbun, published Monday 18 August 2025 at 00:15

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6ef9e454cf7e0fbe6d3f3bf84052cafdef9bd398



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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