Ginowan, Okinawa

Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler (or simply Butler Marine Base) is a United States Marine Corps base located in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. It was named after Marine Corps Major General and twice Medal of Honor recipient Smedley D. Butler.

Nakagusuku (中城村, Nakagusuku-son, Okinawan: Nakagushiku) is a village located in Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2016, the village has an estimated population of 20,030 and a density of 1,300 persons per km². The total area is 15.46 km². The ruins of a gusuku (Ryukyuan castle), Nakagusuku Castle, are also in this village. It is famous for its ancient Chinese dance, Tafaku, which has been handed down for generations. The village is well known among Okinawans as an agricultural farming village, with its staple crop being sugar cane (Okinawan: wuuji. Japanese: satokibi). It is also known for its white or yellow colored carrots. Ryukyu University is partially located within Nakagusuku, and partially in the neighboring town of Nishihara. Nakagusuku features one of the largest percentages of people of Okinawan descent who immigrated overseas out of all the districts in Okinawa.

Camp Foster, formerly known as Camp Zukeran (Japanese: キャンプ・フォスター), is a United States Marine Corps camp located in Ginowan City with portions overlapping into Okinawa City, Chatan town and Kitanakagusuku village in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa Island. It is part of the Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler complex.

The Nakagusuku Hotel site (中城ホテル跡, Nakagusuku Hoteru ato), also known as the Royal Hotel or Takahara or Kogen Hotel (高原ホテル, Takahara/Kōgen Hoteru), is an abandoned, unfinished hotel in Kitanakagusuku, Okinawa. It sits no more than 50 meters from the walls of Nakagusuku Castle.

The 1996 Padilla car crash was a notorious incident that occurred in Okinawa, Japan on 7 January 1996. Lori Padilla, a member of the United States Marine Corps in Okinawa, was speeding in a car which swerved off the road, killing Rojita Kinjo and her young daughters Mitsuko and Mariko. The crash sparked outrage in Okinawa and strengthened opposition to the American presence in Japan, occurring only months after the 1995 Okinawan rape incident.

Nakagusuku Castle (中城城, Nakagusuku jō, Okinawan: Nakagushiku) is a gusuku in the village of Kitanakagusuku, Okinawa, Japan. It is one of a number of castles built on the island of Okinawa by the Ryukyu Kingdom now in ruins. The legendary Ryukyuan commander, Gosamaru, built the fortress in the early 15th century to defend against attacks from the east by Lord Amawari of Katsuren Castle. Amawari attacked the castle in 1458 and defeated Gosamaru shortly before his own castle was attacked by Uni-Ufugusuku. The castle was visited by Commodore Matthew C. Perry in 1853, who noted that the walls seemed to be designed to absorb cannon fire. The six courtyards of this fortress with stacked stone walls make it a prime example of a gusuku. It was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2000. It is regarded as one of the 100 most famous castles in Japan. Less than 50 metres (55 yards) away from the castle is the Nakagusuku Hotel ruins.

Kubasaki High School (クバサキ高校, Kubasaki Kōkō) is a United States Department of Defense Dependents School on Okinawa. Kubasaki is the second oldest operating high school in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools system. Only W.T. Sampson High School (1931) at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba is older.

Kitanakagusuku (北中城村, Kitanakagusuku-son, Okinawan: キタナカグシク, romanized: Kitanakagushiku) is a village located in Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2016, the village has an estimated population of 16,040 and the density of 1,400 persons per km². The total area is 11.53 km². It is home to Nakagusuku Castle and the Nakagusuku Hotel ruins. The village has quite a few centenarians.

Nakagami (中頭郡, Nakagami-gun, Okinawan: Nakajan) is a district located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 169,332 and the density of 1,216.03 persons per km2. The total area is 139.25 km2.

Okinawa International University (沖縄国際大学, Okinawa kokusai daigaku, often abbreviated as (沖国大 Okikokudai), is a private university in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1959, and it was chartered as a university in 1972. The current President is Eiken Maetsu.

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma or MCAS Futenma (Japanese: 海兵隊普天間航空基地, Hepburn: Kaiheitai Futenma Kōkū Kichi)A (ICAO: ROTM) is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan, 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northeastB of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 3,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and other units, and has been a U.S. military airbase since the defeat of the Japanese Imperial Army in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Marine Corps pilots and aircrew are assigned to the base for training and providing air support to other land and sea-based Marines in Okinawa and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. MCAS Futenma is part of the Marine Corps Installations Pacific command. MCAS Futenma is situated in Ginowan City (pop. 93,661). The base includes a 2,740 by 45 m (8,990 by 148 ft)A runway at 75 meters elevation, as well as extensive barracks, administrative and logistical facilities. The air station is tasked with operating a variety of fixed wing, rotary wing and tilt rotor aircraft in support of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, the Japan U.S. defense alliance and many allies and treaty partners in the region. The base is also used as a United Nations air distribution hub facility for response to disaster or other crisis requiring air supplies due to the length of the runway and elevation.For years, the relocation of the base has been a major political issue for Okinawa, Japan and the US military and diplomacy in Asia.

The University of the Ryukyus (琉球大学, Ryūkyū Daigaku), abbreviated to Ryūdai (琉大), is a Japanese national university in Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1950, it is the westernmost national university of Japan and the largest public university in Okinawa Prefecture. Located in the Senbaru neighborhood of the town of Nishihara, its campus borders both the village of Nakagusuku and the city of Ginowan.