Japan's Supreme Court has dismissed a U.S. airman's appeal against his five-year prison sentence for kidnapping and sexually assaulting an underage girl in Okinawa Prefecture in 2023. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/02/03/japan/crime-legal/okinawa-rejection-airman-appeal/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #crimelegal #us #japanesecourts #okinawa #usmilitary #sexcrimes #usbases #usjapanrelations #women039sissues #childabuse #supremecourt
Since late last year, some Japanese officials have been discreetly urging fishermen around the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyu in China — to steer clear of them to avoid escalating a diplomatic clash with Beijing. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/02/03/japan/china-senkaku-fishermen/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #senkakus #disputedislands #chinajapanrelations #okinawa #ishigaki #japancoastguard #eastchinasea
A pharmacy in Okinawa Prefecture has gone online to ensure residents on remote islands hundreds of kilometers away continue to get their supply of medications. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/02/02/japan/society/okinawa-remote-islands-medicines/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #okinawa #medicine #pharmaceuticals #internet #sukoyaka
Naha’s newest opening embraces Okinawan culture — in the case of roof tiles salvaged from Shuri Castle and repurposed in the lobby, that is literally so. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2026/01/30/travel/okinawa-hotel-kokusaidori-shuri-castle-new/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #travel #okinawa #hotels #naha #shuricastle
Japan's Finance Ministry upgraded its economic assessment for the Hokuriku and Okinawa regions while leaving its view on the remaining nine regions unchanged. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/01/29/economy/hokuriku-okinawa-finance-ministry/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #financeministry #hokuriku #okinawa #japaneseeconomy #tourism
Information on the death of a Japanese schoolteacher within a U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture in April of last year has been detailed in a recent U.S. Air Force report on the case. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/27/japan/okinawa-chopper-accident-death/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #okinawa #usmilitary #helicopters #kadenaairbase
Nago Mayor Taketoyo Toguchi, supported by advocates of a controversial U.S. base relocation project, won his third term in Sunday's mayoral election in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/26/japan/politics/toguchi-nago-mayor-3rd-term/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #okinawa #nago #henoko #futenma #usbases
The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) — a new party formed by the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito — announced its basic policies and party platform on Monday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/19/japan/politics/cra-policies-security-energy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #cra #2026lowerhouseelection #komeito #cdp #junazumi #tetsuosaito #henoko #futenma #okinawa #sanaetakaichi #sanseito
The incumbent mayor and two challengers filed their candidacies for the Jan. 25 mayoral election in Nago, Okinawa, which will focus on the planned relocation of a U.S. military base to the city’s Henoko area. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/19/japan/politics/okinawa-nago-mayor-election-kickoff/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #okinawa #nago #henoko #futenma #usbases #usmilitary
In Taiwan’s Yilan county, efforts are being made to preserve aircraft bunkers built by Imperial Japan during World War II for its kamikaze suicide attack pilots and commemorate them as part of local history. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/11/japan/history/taiwan-kamikaze-wwii/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #history #taiwan #wwii #okinawa #usmilitary #imperialjapanesearmy #yilan
Back in SFO, where they have an #Okinawa plaque in the floor of the international arrival lobby ✈️
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Japan will form a panel of experts as early as this spring to start full-scale discussions on a review of the country's three key national security-related documents, government officials have said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/09/japan/japan-security-strategy-review/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #usjapanrelations #us #usbases #okinawa #defense #defenseministry
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday met with Nago Mayor Taketoyo Toguchi to seek local understanding on relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the city. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/08/japan/koizumi-local-understanding-futenma/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #shinjirokoizumi #okinawa #futenma #henoko #us #usmilitary #usbases #usjapanrelations #defense
Nagasaki placed 17th and Okinawa 46th on The New York Times' list of "52 places to go in 2026." https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/07/japan/nagasaki-okinawa-ny-times/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #nagasaki #okinawa #us #tourism #wwii #atomicbombings #newspapers #newyorktimes
U.S. military police in Okinawa Prefecture temporarily detained a civilian by mistake in the city of Okinawa on Nov. 22, a joint U.S.-Japan government panel has said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/27/japan/us-military-police-detain-civilian-okinawa/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #us #usmilitary #usbases #okinawa #usjapanrelations
The United States has informed Japan of its hope to additionally use heavy weapons, such as antitank missiles and rocket launchers, in training at Ground Self-Defense Force firing ranges. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/24/japan/us-heavy-weapons-use-gsdf/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #us #usjapanrelations #okinawa #gsdf #defense #rockets #missiles #defenseministry #hokkaido #miyagi #yamanashi #shizuoka #oita
A suicide note left by a negotiator for the 1972 Okinawa reversion — which describes the envoy’s grief over brokering a secret nuclear agreement with the U.S. — is now on display. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/22/japan/history/okinawa-reversion-envoy-note/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #history #keiwakaizumi #okinawa #usbases #usmilitary #nuclearweapons
Okinawa Prefecture’s image of “islands blessed with children” might not be entirely accurate when it comes to its remote islands and isolated communities, which struggle with acute depopulation. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/22/japan/society/okinawa-remote-islands-depopulation/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #okinawa #population #depopulation #rurallife #localgovernment
Okinawa development funds to see first rise in 10 years https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/18/japan/japan-okinawa-development-funds/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #ldp #okinawa #budgets #yukoobuchi
Beijing wants the world to believe that unification with Taiwan represents the rightful and intended state of the postwar system. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/12/12/japan/china-guardian-of-postwar-order/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #sanaetakaichi #china #taiwan #us #chinajapanrelations #taiwanjapanrelations #okinawa #ccp #defense