TRAVEL

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Monday the government has identified the country whose submarine was detected while submerged the previous day near Okinawa and will call for such encroachments to cease. (Japan Times)

The Defense Ministry says an unidentified submarine cruised just outside Japan's territorial waters on Sunday. (NHK)

A senior US Marine Corps official says the marines plan to use the Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture for 10 to 15 more years, until the air station is relocated to Nago City, within the prefecture. (NHK)

The United States recognizes Japanese sovereignty over Okinawa, a Department of State spokesman said Thursday. (Jiji Press)

The Chinese government says domestic public opinion is behind a newspaper commentary questioning Japan's sovereignty over its southernmost prefecture Okinawa. (NHK)

A Japan-Taiwan fishing pact, which sets a joint fishing zone within Japan's exclusive economic zone around the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, went into effect on Friday. (Jiji Press)

China refused to confirm that Okinawa belongs to Japan after two Chinese scholars suggested re-examining the ownership of the archipelago that includes the island, adding to tensions over a separate territorial dispute. (Bloomberg)

The Japanese government has held a ceremony to mark the country's recovery of sovereignty under the San Francisco Peace Treaty. A protest against the ceremony was held in Okinawa, which was left outside Japanese administration for another 20 years. (NHK)

While the Japanese mainland celebrated Sunday, Okinawans staged a protest rally over the national 61st anniversary of the country receiving its postwar independence through a treaty with the United States. (stripes.com)

The fragile relationship between China and Japan came under fresh strain Tuesday as ships from both sides crowded into the waters around a disputed group of islands and nearly 170 Japanese lawmakers visited a controversial war memorial. (CNN)

Hundreds of people in Okinawa, southwestern Japan, demonstrated on Sunday against a reported US plan to deploy the Osprey military aircraft at Kadena Air Base. (NHK)

Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air missile launchers arrived in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, on Thursday, amid North Korean missile threats. (Jiji Press)

Two Chinese naval ships were spotted in high seas off Miyakojima island, Okinawa Prefecture, on Tuesday afternoon, the Defense Ministry's Joint Staff said Wednesday. (Yomiuri)

Japan's Defense Ministry on Tuesday started transporting Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air missiles for permanent deployment in Okinawa Prefecture. (Jiji Press)

The Bank of Japan simultaneously upgraded its assessments Monday for all of the country's nine regional economies for the first time since July 2012, with growing hopes of economic recovery yielding an increase in household and corporate spending, boosting domestic demand. (Kyodo)

The government said Friday it will deploy a missile defense system in Okinawa Prefecture permanently, amid repeated threats by North Korea to launch missiles that could strike any target in Japan. (Kyodo)

North Korea reportedly warned Japan that Tokyo would be the first target if Pyongyang decides to play its nuclear card. (foxnews.com)

Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in and around central Tokyo as a defensive measure should North Korea decide to launch an attack amid rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula. (Kyodo)

The U.S. and Japan unveiled plans Friday for gradually returning some land on Okinawa now used by the American military, but still intend to relocate a U.S. Marine base elsewhere on the island, an idea fervently opposed by Okinawans. (Los Angeles Times)

The most famous gate of the UNESCO world heritage site Shuri Castle in Naha City, Okinawa, has just reopened to the public. (NHK)

Despite a lack of experience in foreign policy, or any other kind of politics, Caroline Kennedy looks set to receive a warm reception in Japan if her appointment as the next US ambassador to the country is confirmed. (csmonitor.com)

By 2040, the populations of all 47 of Japan's prefectures will be less than their 2010 levels, a health ministry-affiliated research institute said Wednesday, with Okinawa marking the least decline, followed by Tokyo. (Japan Times)

Seeking to remove a longstanding irritant in Japan's ties with the United States, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that his government would ask local officials on the island of Okinawa for a key permit to begin construction to relocate an unpopular American air base to another part of the island. (New York Times)

Four MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft came to the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on Tuesday afternoon without prior notice to the Japanese government. (Jiji Press)

Three Chinese maritime surveillance vessels on Monday sailed inside Japanese territorial waters around the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, according to the Japan Coast Guard. (Kyodo)