Brig. Gen. John Gallemore, commander of the 18th Wing, poses outside his headquarters after speaking with reporters about America Fest at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, April 7, 2026. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
An Okinawa newspaper and two Japanese press unions have accused the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Wing of violating press freedoms after barring reporters from a recent on-base news conference over a disputed headline.
The wing denied access to two reporters from the Ryukyu Shimpo at an April 7 briefing by Brig. Gen. John Gallemore about the upcoming America Fest open-base event, according to the paper.
Airmen from the wing’s public affairs office handed the reporters a document in the visitor center parking lot at Gate 1 shortly before the briefing, the paper’s deputy editor in chief, Shoichiro Yonamine, said by phone Thursday.
The notice cited what the wing described as an inaccurate headline published April 5 about airmen deploying to U.S. Central Command in support of operations in the Middle East.
“Due to the inaccurate headline from Ryukyu Shimpo on 5 April that states, ‘Commander explains USAF at KAB deployed to Iran to support military operations,’ Ryukyu Shimpo will not be able to attend the America Fest Press Conference until this headline is corrected,” the document states.
Yonamine emailed a photo of the document to Stars and Stripes on Thursday.
“To make it accurate, it should say, ‘Commander explains USAF at KAB deployed to CENTCOM to support military operations,’” the document states.
Yonamine said the paper has not changed the headline and has not received follow-up communication from the wing.
“The location of their deployment is unknown, so it’s unclear, and it’s not something that can be fixed without an explanation,” he said. “We are asking about it, but there is no clear answer.”
The 18th Wing in an unsigned email Monday said it had “no additional information to provide at this time.”
“The outlets involved have been informed of the circumstances regarding press conference access, and we’re glad to have had the opportunity to speak with so many media members during the press conference,” it said.
The Ryukyu Shimpo, with a daily circulation of about 123,000, is one of Okinawa’s largest newspapers.
Two Japanese press unions on Wednesday sent a protest letter to Gallemore, accusing the wing of violating press freedoms guaranteed under Japan’s constitution and calling for a reversal of the decision and an apology.
The letter, provided to Stars and Stripes, was signed by Kazuki Furugen of the Okinawa Prefectural Mass Media Workers’ Union Council and Makoto Nishimura of the Japan Mass Media Culture Information Workers’ Union Conference.
The unions called the decision to bar reporters “extremely unfair.”
“If the wing had doubts about the article’s content or headline, they should have simply communicated this to the Ryukyu Shimpo and requested an explanation,” the letter said.
Ryukyu Shimpo editor in chief Takumi Takimoto also sent a protest letter to Gallemore on April 8, calling the decision unacceptable.
“The method of issuing this denial on the spot was abrupt and unacceptable,” he wrote in the letter. “Discussions about the content of an article and media coverage should be considered separately.”
A separate Okinawa newspaper, the Okinawa Times, received a request from the wing to correct a similar headline but was not threatened with denial of access, deputy editor in chief Masao Tajima said by phone Thursday.
AloJapan.com