Page 8 - Uruma News Today

NAHA--The Okinawa prefectural government stopped drawing water from the Kurashiki dam after officials discovered unexploded ordnances and drums containing projectile shells in the mud there, it announced on Feb. 17.

Okinawa Gov Denny Tamaki is set to run for the gubernatorial election expected to take place in September, seeking his second term as the governor of the southern island prefecture, hosting the majority of U.S. military bases in Japan, according to people familiar with the m...

Tamaki is expected to run against Atsushi Sakima, a 57-year-old former mayor of Ginowan who is seen as a potential candidate backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed “deep regret” that a unit of Marines was not tested for COVID-19 before it arrived on Okinawa aboard a U.S. government flight.

The coronavirus cluster at Camp Hansen grew Wednesday by another 17 cases for a total of 217, according to a statement from the Public Health Department.

A cluster of new cases emerged among newly arrived Marines in a rotational unit, according to Marine Corps Installations Pacific on Friday. Neither the Marines nor the Japanese government has commented publicly on whether the cluster included omicron cases.

Visiting Kadena Air Base on Sunday, Japanese cabinet member said he would pressure the U.S. military to take more thorough mitigation measures and “ease the concern of local people.”

NAHA--Prefectural authorities in Okinawa announced the first known case of a local resident confirmed infected with the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus.

A total of 99 U.S. soldiers on the base have been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus as of Friday.

Aiko Shimajiri fist-bumps supporters as she walks into a rally at a bullring in Okinawas gritty Uruma city, the former minister in Japans ruling party relishing the prospect of pulling off an upset victory in this weekends vote.