Ryukyu Islands
Chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan
Follow Ryukyu Islands on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
We include updates on Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Kadena Air Base, Shimazu clan, Synchiropus splendidus, Habu, Chūzan, Shimazu Tadatsune, Sefa-utaki, Hokuzan, Utaki, Nanzan, Mudan incident, Cactus Ridge, Shiraho Saonetabaru Cave Ruins, Izena Island ... and more.
| 2025 | Ten professional baseball teams, including eight Japanese teams and two Korean KBO League teams, held winter training camps across Okinawa Prefecture. |
| 2024 |
Okinawa woodpecker
The Okinawa woodpecker was downlisted from critically endangered to endangered due to stabilized population trends, forest protection efforts, and successful control of invasive small Indian mongoose.
|
| 2023 | Okinawa Arena was one of five venues selected to host matches for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, alongside venues in the Philippines and Indonesia. |
| 2023 | The planned relocation of U.S. Marines to Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz was expected to be completed, though the process was still ongoing. |
| 2023 | Okinawa Arena hosted multiple FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers for the Japanese men's national basketball team. |
| 2023 | Ryukyu Golden Kings won their fifth national basketball title in the B.League. |
| April 6 2023 | Management company BASE officially filed for bankruptcy, effectively ending the Ryukyu Blue Oceans professional baseball team project. |
| November 2022 | The Ryukyu Blue Oceans baseball team project was put on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic complications and allegations of financial mismanagement, including unpaid player wages. |
| January 2020 | Ryukyu Blue Oceans baseball team expected to be fully organized by January. |
| July 18 2019 | BASE Okinawa Baseball Club announced the formation of the Ryukyu Blue Oceans, the first professional baseball team in Okinawa, with plans to join the Nippon Professional Baseball league. |
| September 30 2018 | Denny Tamaki was elected as governor of Okinawa prefecture, campaigning on reducing the U.S. military presence on the island. |
| June 25 2018 | Okinawa residents held a protest demonstration at sea against scheduled land reclamation work for U.S. military base relocation. |
| December 21 2016 | 10,000 acres of Camp Gonsalves were returned to Japan. |
| July 2016 | Okinawans' opposition to American troops' helipads in the Takae zone of Yanbaru forest intensified after the construction of six new helipads. |
| January 24 2016 | First recorded instance of sleet in Nago, breaking the region's typical tropical climate pattern. |
| January 13 2015 | National government announced funding cuts to Okinawa in response to governor Takeshi Onaga's stance on removing U.S. military bases. |
| 2014 | FC Ryukyu began competing in the national league system, joining either the second or third tier of professional football in Japan. |
| 2011 | U.S. military employed over 9,800 Japanese workers in Okinawa, demonstrating significant local employment through military bases. |
| 2011 | Reported discovery that the U.S. military had kept tens of thousands of barrels of Agent Orange on the island, causing concern among veterans and Okinawans. |
| April 2010 | Japanese government proposed a modified plan for U.S. forces relocation after previously freezing the relocation plan. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Okinawa woodpecker & Okinawa Prefecture, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.