「沖縄県知事選 敗北の要因は/今後はラジオをやりたい！？」ゲスト：玉城デニー (前沖縄県知事)【2026.10.24 OA】

First Real-Time Appearance Since Leaving Office

About one month after stepping down, former Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki made his first appearance on a real-time media platform. He joined remotely from a friend's office in Okinawa while a typhoon-related power outage affecting roughly 14,000 households continued across the Sakishima islands (Miyako and Ishigaki). Host Puchi Kashima (プチ鹿島) had traveled to Okinawa to cover the gubernatorial election four years earlier, and that personal connection was part of why Tamaki chose this particular program for his return.

"Carrot and Stick" — Eight Years of Budget Negotiations with Tokyo

The first topic on the show was the recent dismissal of an agriculture minister who had threatened to cut road-project funding — something Tamaki described as "completely normal in Okinawa." He exposed a structural problem: although the Cabinet Office's Okinawa bureau is supposed to advocate on Okinawa's behalf, it was independently trimming the roughly ¥300 billion annual development budget request before formally submitting it to other ministries. Officials offered no explanation, saying only that they had "followed the proper procedures." Tamaki also cited local newspaper reports that lobbying visits to Tokyo were met with the response, "Change the governor first — then we can talk," confirming that pressure tying budget allocations to political stance had become routine. He further touched on a U.S. military murder case and PFAS contamination that the Japanese government had not disclosed despite U.S. military awareness of both, saying with evident frustration: "The government always says it protects the lives and property of the people — but is Okinawa an exception?"

Defeat Analysis ① — Social Media, Generational Shift, and Opposition Split

Tamaki cited three main reasons for losing to Genja Koja by approximately 147,000 votes. The first was a massive wave of negative social-media posts: more than 90% originated from outside Okinawa Prefecture, and fake content or out-of-context clips spread relentlessly. With AI tools such as ChatGPT now widespread, the volume and severity were "on a completely different order of magnitude" compared to four years ago and impossible to stop. At street-level campaign events nobody hurled abuse, making the gap with the online environment so extreme that it was difficult to read how the mood was shifting.

Generational change was another major factor. People born after the 1972 reversion of administrative rights now make up more than half of the population, and voters in their 40s and 50s with no memory of U.S. military rule formed the new governor's core support base. Tamaki cited young voters' sentiment — "if the bases aren't going to change anyway, at least pick someone who might improve the economy a little" — and acknowledged that the narrative "Denny only opposes the bases; the economy goes nowhere under him" had taken hold among younger generations. He has long argued that base workers and landowners are Okinawan citizens too, and that "the base issue is also a livelihood issue," but admitted that message was not getting through. Finally, the opposition split — Kokumin Minshuto, which had previously endorsed him, this time backed Koja — eroded his support base. About a week into the campaign he sensed something was wrong from early-voting trends and the tone of online discussion.

Defeat Analysis ② — The Henoko Capsizing Accident

A joint analysis of YouTube videos posted during the campaign period — conducted by six regional outlets including Hokkaido Shimbun, Kahoku Shimpo, and Ryukyu Shimpo — found that roughly 60% of videos mentioning Tamaki were negative in content, with approximately half of those referencing the capsizing accident. One individual even traveled all the way to Okinawa carrying a sign reading "Denny Tamaki is a murderer."

Tamaki explained the circumstances: the accident occurred during a school excursion's ocean-viewing tour when weather suddenly and severely deteriorated. Because the boat captain was also a Christian pastor, the booking had been arranged through a personal connection with the school, and it later emerged that travel agencies and other parties had not shared safety information with each other. Within two days of the accident, his office issued safety-confirmation notices to travel industry groups, but primary safety responsibility lay with the school and the captain, and Okinawa Prefecture had no authority to dispatch its own investigation team. He reflected that an emotional narrative placing "full responsibility on Okinawa Prefecture" had been constructed around the accident, and revealed that attempts to send condolences to the bereaved family during his term had been unsuccessful. He also expressed concern that the accident had triggered a wider backlash against peace education itself, with schools growing reluctant to include peace-learning in field trips as the Ministry of Education emphasizes "political neutrality."

Thoughts on Peace Education and Plans After Office

When TBS director Tadahiko Sako (佐古忠彦) asked about the meaning behind his cry of "Don't forget the 30 years of struggle!" near the end of the campaign, Tamaki explained that he was moved by a participant holding a placard referencing the 30-year trajectory of the Henoko issue — which traces back to the 1995 assault case and the 1996 SACO agreement.

On peace education, he emphasized that visits to facilities such as the Himeyuri Peace Museum and the Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum are valuable, but that immersive experiences — like entering gama (cave shelters used during the Battle of Okinawa) — give children a genuine, felt understanding of history that no classroom can replicate.

As for life after office, he said he "hasn't thought about anything yet," but acknowledged his interest in podcasting and said he wants to host "frank, apolitical radio." He smiled and readily accepted the show's standing offer to appear as an on-the-ground Okinawa reporter. On the broader issue of online harassment, he expressed deep alarm that it is "destroying Japanese language culture," and argued that net-literacy education must be strengthened in public schools so that children become neither perpetrators nor victims.