The governor of Japan's Okinawa Prefecture has warned the central government to "proceed carefully" as defense authorities move forward with plans to station surface-to-air missiles on an island just ...

Hermit crabs, turtles and other species found only in Okinawa are vanishing from its beaches, as smugglers and souvenir-hunting tourists strip Japan’s southernmost islands of their unique wildlife.

Chinese observers have downplayed Beijing’s reference to Okinawans as “indigenous”, saying the comments were mainly a critique of the militarisation of Japan’s southernmost prefecture – home to dozens ...

Okinawa, an archipelago that stretches from just below Japan’s main islands almost to Taiwan, means different things to different people. For many Japanese visitors, Okinawa, with its white stretches ...

OKINAWA – When Japan’s famed Golden Route, spanning major cities Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, has been done and dusted, the sunny shores of its southernmost prefecture await. Comprising more than 160 ...

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki has accused U.S. military police of failing to coordinate with Okinawa authorities before taking nine Marines into custody on an Okinawa city street during a joint patrol ...

Henoko, Japan - Okinawa resident Hiromasa Iha can still recall the screams of his classmates and teachers after a US military jet crashed into his elementary school more than six decades ago, killing ...

This is part of a collection of stories spotlighting deeply rooted—yet sometimes less exposed—crafts hubs around the world and how to experience them. Read more here. At Chinen Bingata laboratory on ...

Mutsumi Nakasone and her family members put their hands together in prayer in front of the Cornerstone of Peace in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on June 23, 2025. Mutsumi's grandmother, Ushi Higa, and ...

On April 1, 1945, thousands of American troops landed on the beaches of Okinawa, a heavily fortified Pacific island to the south of Japan. Nearly three months later, the United States claimed victory ...

On this day 80 years ago, victory was wrested from the depths of hell when American forces triumphed over the Imperial Japanese Army in the Battle of Okinawa—a brutal and blood-soaked triumph that was ...

Eighty years have passed since the Battle of Okinawa effectively came to an end, but the scars of war and occupation remain etched into the islands. On next Monday, Japan’s southernmost prefecture ...