Nago is a city located in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of December 2012, the city has an estimated population of 61,659 and a population density of 293 persons per km2. Its total area is 210.30 km2.
The United States Forces Japan (USFJ) is a subordinate unified command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. It was activated at Fuchū Air Station in Tokyo, Japan, on 1 July 1957 to replace the Far East Command. USFJ is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo and is commanded by the Commander, US Forces Japan who is also commander of the Fifth Air Force. Since then, it is the first and only sustained presence of a foreign military on Japanese soil in its history.
The Ryukyu independence movement or the Republic of the Ryukyus is a political movement advocating for the independence of the Ryukyu Islands from Japan.
The 11th Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on November 28, 2010. The official campaign start began November 11. The 2010 election garnered national attention mostly for the dispute between the central government and local communities in Okinawa over the planned relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to Henoko in Nago that had also contributed to the resignation of prime minister Yukio Hatoyama in June 2010.
Over the last five decades there have been various plans for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a United States Marine Corps base located within the urban area of Ginowan City in Okinawa, Japan. The current proposal for a new site in Henoko Bay, Nago, has faced opposition from Okinawans and the local government who wish for the new base to be located off the island altogether.
Takeshi Onaga was a Japanese politician and the seventh Governor of Okinawa Prefecture from 2014 to 2018.
House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on Sunday 10 July 2016 to elect 121 of the 242 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the National Diet, for a term of six years. As a result of the election, the Liberal Democratic Party–Komeito coalition gained ten seats for a total of 145, the largest coalition achieved since the size of the house was set at 242 seats.
Satoshi Mitazono is a Japanese politician and journalist who is the former governor of Kagoshima Prefecture. He defeated the incumbent Yūichirō Itō at an election held on 10 July 2016.
The 2016 Kagoshima gubernatorial election was held on 10 July 2016 and contested by the three-term incumbent Yuichiro Ito and political journalist Satoshi Mitazono. Ito was denied a fourth term in office, as Mitazono received 55% of the vote following a campaign based primarily on change as well as opposition to the prefecture's operating nuclear power plant. The election was held on the same day as the national House of Councillors election, which helped increase voter turnout to 58.6%, compared to 43.8% at the previous election in 2012.
Okinawa 1st district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Okinawa Prefecture and encompasses the city of Naha and parts of Shimajiri District. As of 2016, 270,872 eligible voters were registered in the district.
The 2018 Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on 30 September 2018 to elect the next governor of Okinawa. As there are no term limits in Japan, incumbent Governor Takeshi Onaga was eligible for re-election before his death in August 2018. The election was originally scheduled to be held on 9 December 2018, but this was brought forward after Onaga's untimely death. Onaga's deputy, Kiichiro Jahana temporarily assumed his post for three days until being replaced as interim governor by Moritake Tomikawa. This was the first gubernatorial election in Okinawa since the voting age was lowered to 18.
Okinawa 2nd district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Okinawa Prefecture and encompasses the cities of Urasoe and Ginowan, and Nakagami District. As of 2016, 288,070 eligible voters were registered in the district.
Okinawa 3rd district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Okinawa Prefecture and encompasses the cities of Nago, Okinawa, Uruma, Kunigami District and parts of Shimajiri District. As of 2016, 312,171 eligible voters were registered in the district.
A by-election for the Okinawa 3rd district in the Japanese House of Representatives was held on 21 April 2019.
Yasuo Higa was an Okinawan photographer, ethnologist and anthropologist. He served ten years as a police officer near a US military base before becoming a photographer, with much of his early work centered on life in postwar Okinawa. Higa is most known for his research on ancient rituals and shamanesses from the Ryukyu Islands, mainland Japan, and Asia, conducted over the span of nearly 40 years. Through his photographs and extensive notes, Higa has preserved critical documentation on maternal rituals that have been effectively rendered extinct in areas such as Kudaka and Miyakojima.
The Association of Scholars Opposed to the Security-related Laws (安全保障関連法に反対する学者の会), previously known as the Association of Scholars Opposed to the Security-related Bills (安全保障関連法案に反対する学者の会), is an organization of scholars opposed to Japan's 2015 military legislation, which was founded in June 2015.
Masako Ganaha is a Japanese freelance journalist and JSDF reservist. She is a representative operating committee member of the Citizens' and People's Association for Correcting the Ryukyu Shimpo and the Okinawa Times (琉球新報、沖縄タイムスを正す県民・国民の会). She is also an external advisor for the Sanseitō party.
Satoru Nakamura is a Japanese journalist and the president of the Okinawa Policy Research Forum. He also serves as a director of the Free Press Association, an organization dedicated to protecting the public's right to know.
Robert Kajiwara is an American activist residing in Hawaii, USA. He supports the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, the Chinese government's policies toward the Uyghurs and Tibetans, and the Ryukyu independence movement. On the other hand, he holds a negative view regarding Hong Kong independence and Taiwanese independence.
