Keishi Koja

Keishi Koja is an Okinawa-based reporter/translator who joined Stars and Stripes in August 2022. He studied International Communication at the University of Okinawa and previously worked in education.

@KeishiRKoja

koja.keishi@stripes.com

Japan says Chinese coast vessel 1304, seen here in January 2020, appeared to be armed with a deck-mounted machine gun when it entered Japanese territorial waters in the East China Sea, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023.

Tokyo protests to Beijing after Chinese coast guard vessels approach Senkakus again

Tokyo lodged a diplomatic complaint with Beijing after a flotilla of Chinese government vessels entered waters claimed by Japan around the Senkakus.

The daughter of an Okinawa-based Marine was seriously injured Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, after falling through a gap on the righthand side of this escalator at a mall near Camp Kinser.

Marine’s daughter, 7, seriously injured after falling from escalator on Okinawa

Noriko Kawarai, right, receives a relic from the Battle of Iwo Jima that belonged to her uncle, Morihiro Murota, from Mayor Shin Sato at Kanuma City Hall, Dec. 20, 2022.

War relic from the Battle of Iwo Jima returns to fallen soldier’s family in Japan

A memorial to students killed in the Battle of Okinawa was erected at Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Itoman city in March 2017.

Battle of Okinawa survivors oppose Japan’s military buildup in Nansei island chain

A Mitsubishi Mirage involved in a wrong-way crash in Uruma city sits at the Naha Police Station, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.

Okinawa-based US soldier, sailor accused in separate alcohol-fueled crashes

Two U.S. service members could face charges in recent incidents of alleged drunken driving, one involving injuries, according to Japanese police.

F/A-18s from Carrier Air Wing 5 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, practice carrier landings on Iwo Jima, May 17, 2019.

Work begins on Japanese base designated for US Navy carrier-landing practice

A new island military base will one day host U.S. Navy carrier-landing practice, a ministry spokesman said.

Members of the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment prepare to take off in an MV-22 Osprey at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Aug. 13, 2022.

Marine Corps plans new littoral regiment for Okinawa, Japanese newspaper reports

The Marine Corps plans a new quick-reaction force on Okinawa to counter Chinese maritime expansion in the region.

Japan's Defense Ministry plans to build a Self-Defense Forces supply base at its Okinawa training facility, seen here on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023.

Japan plans new supply base near Kadena Air Base and Camp Courtney

Japan plans to build a new supply base near Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, a defense spokesman said.

Chinese vessels intruded into Japan’s territorial waters 28 times for 37 days in 2022, according to the Japan Coast Guard.

Japan’s Cabinet OKs coast guard outlay in response to Chinese activity

Japan will buy more coast guard vessels and aircraft and step-up surveillance in the East China Sea in response to an increasing Chinese presence there, according to recently released documents.

Camp Yonaguni, a Japan Self-Defense Force base, is on Yonaguni Island, approximately 70 miles off Taiwan’s eastern coast.

Japan plans surface-to-air missiles on island east of Taiwan

Japan plans to put surface-to-air missiles on Taiwan’s doorstep in a move to shore up defenses in the Nansei Island chain, a defense official said.

Japan alleged that China Coast Guard vessel 2502, seen here on Nov. 16, 2016, entered Japanese territorial waters in the East China Sea on Dec. 21 and Dec. 22, 2022.

Japan lodges more complaints of maritime trespassing by China

A weeklong joint naval exercise by the Chinese and Russian navies got underway in the same region Wednesday.

A Chinese navy survey vessel, seen here, entered Japan's territorial waters south of Yakushima island just before 7 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.

Tokyo expresses ‘strong concern’ over Chinese naval vessel in Japanese waters

Tokyo lodged diplomatic complaints with Beijing over alleged intrusions into Japanese territorial waters by a Chinese naval vessel, according to the Japanese government.

Four M6-series 60mm anti-tank rocket rounds were removed Dec. 16, 2020, from a construction area on Camp Foster, Okinawa, shown here Dec. 19, 2020.

Unexploded WWII anti-tank rockets close construction site at Marine base on Okinawa

Spokesman says removal of the 15-by-4-inch rounds went forward “without any trouble.”

Prosecutors, not police, decide formal charges under Japan’s criminal justice system.

Marine faces charges for alleged assault on Okinawa taxi company employee

Police say the lance corporal entered through an unlocked door shortly after 2:40 a.m., snuck up on a 73-year-old man working inside and began choking him.

Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force fire a Type 12 surface-to-ship missile in this undated photo.

Long-range missiles for Okinawa should come with local buy-in, experts say

The Japanese Ministry of Defense by 2026 plans to base Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles at three Japan Self-Defense Force bases in the Ryukyu Island chain.

A photo of several U.S. Marines walking on a roadway in Higashi village appeared in the Okinawa Times newspaper, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022.

Okinawa villager, chasing stray US Marines, attempts to take rifle

A Japanese woman attempted to take a rifle from a member of a squad of U.S. Marines who strayed off a military training area and into a local village on Friday, according to an Okinawa Defense Bureau spokesman.

Okinawa prefecture sampled 46 sites surrounding U.S. military installations between July and September as part of a biannual groundwater survey, according to a Dec. 1, 2022, statement from the environmental division.

Okinawa prefecture finds high PFAS levels, seeks further tests on US military bases

The Environmental Preservation Division requested base access for further testing, an official said.

A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force soldier works security alongside U.S. Marines during a beach raid exercise in Kin, Okinawa, Feb. 9, 2020.

Strengthened Japanese brigade on Okinawa would act as China deterrent, experts say

The Self-Defense Force plans to add another infantry regiment to the one already based at Camp Naha and put a general in charge, according to a report.

Air Force Lt. Col. Matthew Schlittler, 38, and Senior Airman Shane Pentkowski, 27, of the 31st Rescue Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, were recognized by a local fire chief Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, for saving a fisherman who had fallen into the sea at Cape Zanpa.

Air Force pararescuemen honored on Okinawa for saving fisherman swept out to sea

A pair of Air Force pararescuemen were recognized for saving a fisherman who had fallen into the sea at Cape Zanpa, an Okinawa tourist attraction.

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