15-05-2025
Booming Okinawa marks anniversary amid challenges
Junglia Okinawa, a new theme park expected to boost local tourism, is under construction on May 3 in Nakijin, Okinawa Prefecture. (Tatsuya Shimada)
NAHA–Things are looking up for Okinawa's economy thanks to surging tourism as the prefecture marks its 53rd anniversary of its return to Japan on May 15, after 27 years of post-war rule by the United States.
However, the long-standing stigma of the heavy U.S. military presence persists, alongside the emerging challenge of a shrinking population.
Okinawa has seen a significant rebound from the economic blow of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 9.95 million tourists visiting the subtropical island in fiscal 2024, according to the prefecture.
This marks a 16.6 percent increase from the previous year, the second-highest figure on record after fiscal 2018.
The tourism sector is expected to receive a further boost in July with the opening of Junglia Okinawa in the northern part of the prefecture, a new theme park funded by local and national investors.
Driven by this recovery, personal consumption has risen and employment figures have improved, prompting prefecture officials to declare for the fourth consecutive quarter that 'economic recovery is gaining strength.'
However, the region's overreliance on tourism remains an economic vulnerability, as officials also worry about the effects of overtourism on residents' lives.
In addition, Okinawa is now facing a new challenge: a declining population.
According to the internal affairs ministry, the prefecture's population stood at 1.466 million as of Oct. 1 last year, marking the third straight year of decline.
Depopulation is particularly severe in remote islands and northern parts of the main island, where understaffed local governments are struggling to maintain essential services.
Despite the prefecture accounting for less than 1 percent of Japan's total land area, it hosts 70 percent of all exclusively U.S. military facilities in the country.
This has led to frequent incidents and accidents involving U.S. service members, including recent sexual assault cases that have sparked outrage among the public and local and prefectural officials.
In response, the prefectural assembly unanimously passed formal protest resolutions against both the U.S. military and the Japanese government in July and again this month.
In addition, just two days before the anniversary of Okinawa's return to Japan on May 15, 1972, a U.S. military helicopter accidentally dropped a gear bag containing a flammable item in a suspected civilian area, raising fresh safety concerns.
