Source inside the Prefectural Office explains the reason for Governor Denny Tamaki’s announcement to visit Henoko a month after the accident there, amid a burst of questions from “voices criticizing the visit as too long overdue”. (18ap26)

Splendor of Okinawa: Golden Dewdrop, Ricom pathside, 17ap26


Two boats, carrying 21 students from Doshisha International High School among others, capsized in the offing at Henoko in Nago, Okinawa.


A second year student and a boat captain died in the accident. In addition, 12 of the 14 injured in the lamentable accident, which occurred on 16 March 2026, were students.


According to our Society Section reporter, “While the students and others were on a study tour for their peace studies on the situation of work on the relocation site there for the US Military Futenma Airfield Base, it appears that the boats that they  were viewing from in the offing at Henoko  were hit by a sudden blast of wind and waves, capsizing the boats. Questions have arisen over such matters as a lack of sufficiency in understanding preparedness in vessel safety between  the school and ‘Helicopter Base Opposition Coordination Committee’, the group managing the boats.”


A month after the  accident occurred,  on 16 April, Governor Denny Tamaki answered press queries on record at the Prefectural Office. There he announced, “I’m going to the site to pay my condolences.”


On the Internet platform X, a large number of voices criticized him, wondering if  the visit were not overdue, “a month too late?”  


Mikito Chinen, famous for the series “Ameku M.D.: Detective Doctor”, on 16 April posted on a personal X account carried in an Okinawa Times report, “What? Hasn’t he gone there yet? Left speechless!”


Why did the governor make this announcement now? We asked a source in the Prefectural Office.


The source claimed. “The governor had a feeling to pay his condolences at the site immediately after the accident. However, since the scene was under investigation and ‘he didn’t want to be a nuisance’, the governor sought a better time. Moreover, March is the end of the fiscal year and an adjustment to his schedule would have been difficult.”


At the press conference, Governor Tamaki also brought up Golden Week, noting, “In order to work out measures to avoid a recurrence and alert all of our tourists, it’s essential that we must establish their safety and security.”


On 13 September, the Okinawa Prefectural Gubernatorial Election will take place. This accident will probably become one of its focal points.


Original Japanese article: Josei Jishin, published Friday 17 April 2026 at 16:20.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/441fe1c0c7d8fe6ede276e64396abc3bcb07a237


Denny in the News: Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although 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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