Takeshi Onaga

(2 October 1950 – 8 August 2018) was a Japanese politician and the seventh Governor of Okinawa Prefecture from 2014 to 2018. Onaga served as a member of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly from 1992 to 1996 and four terms as mayor of Naha, the capital and largest city of Okinawa Prefecture, from 2000 to 2014 before being elected governor as an independent. Onaga's governorship was characterized by his opposition to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa. Onaga died in office aged 67 from illness in August 2018 and was succeeded by Okinawa 3rd district representative Denny Tamaki. Early life Takeshi Onaga was born on 2 October 1950 in Naha, Okinawa, at the time under American military administration after Japan's defeat in World War II. His father, Josei Onaga, was a politician who was once the mayor of Naha, and his mother, Kazuko, was a merchant. According to his biographer Koji Matsubara, Onaga was interested in politics since his childhood. When he was 12 years old, Onaga told his classmates that he wanted to run for mayor. Onaga pursued higher education at Hosei University in Tokyo, but because Okinawa was still under American occupation unlike the rest of Japan, he required a passport to go to Tokyo.