Governments disagree where to build new military airfield - JapanUpdate.com

Japan and the United States agree they must build a new military airport to replace the controversial Futenma Marine Corps Air Station.

The trouble is, each government has its own idea about how to best go about making the new facility a reality. Both have plans that would slash the construction time for a new airport from nearly a dozen years down to a manageable five years. As negotiations continue with Washington and Tokyo, the original plans for a massive airfield project off the coast of Henoko have undergone definitive change. The long approved design was for a 2,500-meter-long civilian-military use runway that would have extended into the waters, through reefs, off Henoko, near Nago.

That’s changed, and now defense planners are calling for a 1,500-meter military airfield only. It would, officials say, be sufficient to absorb the aviation mission now assigned to...

Okinawa regains top spot in ‘best place to live’ survey - JapanUpdate.com

The most fantastic place to live in Japan is Okinawa.

A just-completed survey by Jiji Telecommunications Office shows Japan’s southernmost prefecture is once more rated the most lovely and gorgeous place to live. More than 700 doctors, politicians, education professionals, scientists and business leaders polled across the country cited Okinawa’s weather and cultural climate as reasons it’s the best place to be.

Okinawa moved into the survey’s Top 10 in 2000, jumping to number two in 2003. Now, there’s no question. Apart from the weather and climate, Okinawa Prefecture’s planning section director says “a big promotion on NHK television’s nationwide morning television drama series had a big impact.” He noted the show attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers, mostly in the educated and higher income brackets. Polls, the director says, show “optimistic bright characters of Okinawa attracted attention from almost everyone to make our islands boom upward.”

Shizuoka Prefecture ranks second in the survey, with its Mount Fuji, lakes and hot springs, mountains and skiing being an attraction. Kyoto, with its beautiful gardens and flowers, foods, temples and centuries of history made it number three.

Until less than a decade ago, Okinawa was considered “an uncivilized, poor place,” one official said. Even Okinawans kept to themselves when on the mainland, not telling anyone where they were from. Now, he says, “every Okinawan is proud to be an Okinawan.”

Okinawa Marines, JASDF pilots take to the skies

Eight Japan Air Self-Defense Force pilots and four Marine Corps pilots flew skirmishes together for the first time Sept. 7-9 in the skies above Okinawa.

The JASDF pilots were with 302nd Fighter Squadron, 83rd Air Wing, and the Marine pilots were with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 312, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

The skirmish training was unique in many ways, not the least of which was...

The Colonel

Kentucky fried chicken on Okinawa. 1989

Thermo therapy treatments now appealing to promote health - JapanUpdate.com - Okinawa News, Classifieds, Events, Culture, Forums, and more!

Americans are beginning to learn what Asians have known for centuries.

Good health is created by a variety of herbal medications and therapies, psychological and therapeutic regimens, chiropractic interventions. There’s a lot more to staying healthy than simply relying on the practices of “western” medicine.

In Okinawa, moxibustion and heat bath therapy are taking on a new life as people experience reductions in back and joint pains, and purge their bodies of toxins...

Typhoon Khanun

A powerful typhoon, the 15th of the season, is
expected to come closest to the Sakishima
Islands south of Okinawa late Saturday, the
Japan Meteorological Agency said. Typhoon
Khanun is heading northwest at 25 km per hour
and has an atmospheric pressure of 950
hectopascals and was packing winds of up to 162
kph near its center, it said.

The typhoon is expected to be within a 110-km
radius of a point 120 km north of Ishigaki
Island at midnight Saturday, and to be within a
150-km radius of a point 280 km north of Taipei
in Taiwan at noon Sunday, the agency said.

American Village in Chatan a fantastic success story

American Village in Chatan a fantastic success story - JapanUpdate.com - Okinawa News, Classifieds, Events, Culture, Forums, and more!

Chatan citizens like Americans.

They like American customs and culture, and they very much appreciate the tens of thousands who flock to their town every week. Chatan’s Mihama District is home to American Village, a megapolis of stores, markets and shops that tout all things American.

American Village attracted 8,300,000 patrons last year, some 160,000 visitors a week flocking to the 83 shops and stores, as well as to the 14 larger company operations within its boundaries. American Village, only 16 kilometers north of Naha City, is filled with movie theaters, a flea market, a nature park, a game center, and Jusco. There’s even a baseball stadium. It’s parking lot is among the largest on the island.

It’s the American atmosphere that attracts not only Americans, but thousands of locals to the shopping area. Mihama’s business association says...

Typhoon Nabi "UPDATE"

Digital Typhoon: Typhoon 200514 (NABI): "Typhoon NABI is weakening and moving across Japan Sea. Hokkaido, in front of the direction of the typhoon, is heavily raining today, but it is expected that the strong winds of the typhoon will not be as destructive as those by Typhoon 200418 last year. 57 points has broken the maximum record of daily rainfall, and other 4 points recorded the maximum hourly rainfall in history. These statistics indicate that this typhoon may be memorized by its rainfall. As of 18:00, 15 people were killed and 10 were missing, and such damage is reported mainly from the southern part of Kyushu."

This site has some really good info on the Typhoon, worth visiting.

Typhoon Nabi

Stars & Stripes: "Typhoon Nabi shifts course, now heading to Okinawa
Storm projected to hit north of Kadena early Tuesday

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Okinawa now is directly in the cross hairs of powerful Typhoon Nabi after the storm shifted course overnight Wednesday, leaving U.S. military bases bracing for the blow and scrambling to secure equipment or move it to safety."

Nabi is forecast to bend slightly to the northwest over the weekend with the eye clipping Okinawa’s northern edges at 5 a.m. Tuesday. Forecasts call for the storm’s center to pass 51 miles north of Kadena, with sustained winds of 155 mph gusting up to 190 mph, comparable to a Western Hemisphere Category 5 hurricane.

In any event, he said, Okinawa can expect “anywhere from 6 to 12 to 15 inches” of rain, “just depending on how close the eye gets and how slowly it goes over the island.”

If Nabi remains on its current track, it could become the worst storm to hit Okinawa since Super Typhoon Bart walloped the island on Sept. 22, 1999, with winds of 145 mph reported at Kadena and 173 mph at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.