"We're really interested in seeing how the rest of the UK and the international community react if Scotland does vote for independence," said Masaki Tomochi, a professor of economics at Okinawa International University and a leading figure in the independence movement. "Scotland has every right to be independent and to take decisions about its own future. That's what people all over the world want, including the people of Okinawa." Tomochi and his colleagues, along with a reporter from the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper, will tour Scotland meeting voters, academics and Scottish National party officials. Their group has posted a condensed Japanese version of the SNP's Scotland's Future manifesto on its website.

Activists from Japanese island hope growing anger over a controversial US military base will boost support for making the southern Japanese island an independent nation.