Chinese Buyer of Okinawa Island to Make Visit in Summer

Beijing, Jan. 18 (Jiji Press)--A Chinese woman who came into the spotlight two years ago by claiming on social media to have bought an island in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa plans to visit the island this summer, Chinese media have reported.

The woman is reportedly preparing a trip to the island for employees of a company she runs in July or August.

The island she claimed to have purchased is Yanaha Island, an uninhabited island, in the village of Izena in Okinawa. According to the village office, a Chinese consulting company based in Tokyo has been owning about half of the 740,000-square-meter island since February 2021.

The woman told Chinese media that she bought the island through direct negotiations with its owner after learning by chance that it had been put up for auction. She did not made public how much she paid for the deal. She said she decided on the acquisition since the island is uninhabited and close to the city of Qingdao in the Chinese province of Shandong, her birthplace.

The woman said that she hopes to preserve the nature of the island as it is, adding that she may help the development of the island if a proper developer is found, but that she will otherwise pass the island to the next generation.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]