Tokyo says no to Okinawa’s funding request for ‘forever chemical’ cleanup

By Brian Mcelhiney and Keishi Koja | Stars and Stripes | November 14, 2025

Read the full article by Brian Mcelhiney and Keishi Koja (Stars and Stripes)

"Japan’s Ministry of Defense has rejected as “ineligible” a request from Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki to fund new filters designed to remove “forever chemicals” from a major water purification plant in central Okinawa. Tamaki delivered the request Wednesday in Tokyo to State Minister Masahisa Miyazaki, the ministry’s No. 2 official, a prefectural spokesman said by phone Friday. The letter, addressed to Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, sought “maximum support for the replacement and disposal costs” of granular activated carbon filters at the Chatan Water Purification Plant and urged the ministry to investigate the source of PFOS and PFOA contamination."