—–Can we close the Futenma Marine Base

Without Constructing Additional Marine Bases in Okinawa? —-

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Hosted by Nago City & Network for Okinawa

When: Wednesday, February 8th 2012 11am-Noon

Where: 2456 Rayburn House Office

Who: Susumu Inamine, Mayor of Nago City, Okinawa, Japan

         John Feffer, Network for Okinawa, Institute for Policy Studies

What: A briefing with the Mayor of Nago-City, Okinawa and Japanese Parliament

Member to talk about U.S. military spending and closing the Futenma

Marine Corps Air Station

To RSVP, please send an e-mail to nagomayorvisit2012@gmail.com

★　Futenma Marine Corps Air Station

Okinawa, or the “Island of Military Bases,” stations 33 U.S. military

bases. Futenma is the most controversial base located in the center of

Ginowan City. In 1995, an elementary student was raped by three service

members from the U.S. Marines, and in 2004, a helicopter crashed into a

local university. These high profile incidents fueled much public unrest

and anger as well as media coverage within Okinawa.

On January 25, 2012, Representatives Barney Frank, Rush D. Holt, Barbara

Lee, and Lynn C. Woolsey sent a letter to President Obama requesting

that the U.S. Marines withdraw from Okinawa.

★　2006 Realignment Plan To Nago City

Under the 2006 Realignment Plan, the American and Japanese governments

have developed plans to build new military facilities in Henoko, Nago

City, Okinawa, as a precondition for closing the Futenma military base.

The relocation would destroy a valuable ecosystem including 400 species

of corals, endangered turtles and dugongs (marine manatees). Local

residents have staged a permanent protest that has lasted over 2,000

days. In fact, U.S. District Court judge ruled that developing these

plans without proper assessment in Henoko violates U.S. law.

★　Public Opposition

More than 90% of Okinawans want the Futenma military base closed without

opening any new bases in Okinawa. It is unlikely that any new facility

would be operationally feasible or politically sustainable. A strong

U.S.-Japan alliance requires a strong relationship between Tokyo and

Okinawa, but the controversy of U.S. military realignment has only

caused “turmoil and instability.”

★　Reduction in Military Spending

It is vital for the U.S. to make fundamental adjustments with regards to

our security strategy so that our military can continue to protect us as

effectively as possible while spending less federal money. Reducing our

troops in Asia without compromising our security is a necessary

condition.

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    For more information contact John Feffer at johnf@ipc-dc.org or 202-234-9382

                               www.CloseTheBase.org

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The University of Hawaii’s East-West Center in Washington is holding a seminar on Okinawa:

Futenma Relocation: The View from Henoko

Featuring:

Susumu Inamine
Mayor, Nago City, Okinawa, Japan

As the United States reaffirms its defense commitments to Asia and a “pivot” of American policy toward the Asia-Pacific, the matter of base relocation in Okinawa continues to be a contentious issue between Naha, Tokyo, and Washington. Under the 2006 base realignment roadmap agreed between the US and Japanese governments, the Marine Corp Air Station Futenma was to be relocated from its densely populated location near Okinawa’s capital to the more remote Nago City to the north. The local political situation in Nago has shifted against the relocation of the base to the city’s Henoko ward. Futenma remains in place while Japanese officials attempt to find an amicable solution that satisfies both the need for local buy-in and Japan’s security commitments within the US-Japan alliance. Nago City Mayor, Susumu Inamine, will discuss the relocation of MCAS Futenma from the local perspective.

Tuesday, February 7
10:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M.

East-West Center in Washington
1819 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, Sixth Floor Conference Room

This event is free and open to the public.

To RSVP, please click here:http://www.eastwestcenter.org/l59
Kindly send your reply by February 6.

Susumu Inamine was elected Mayor of Nago City, Okinawa in February 2010 after serving as a city official for 36 years. He graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of the Ryukyus, in 1971, and began working in the Welfare Division of the Nago City Office the following year. Throughout his career as a civil servant, Mr. Inamine worked in numerous departments and capacities, including serving as the Director of Planning and Coordination, the Manager of the General Affairs Department, and the chairman of the Nago City Board of Education. He resigned from his position on the school board in 2008 to run as an independent candidate for mayor, on the platform of opposition to the proposed relocation of the Futenma air base to Nago City’s Henoko district.

The East-West Center
The East-West Center in Washington

www.eastwestcenter.org/about-ewc/help/email-updates/

The East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue. Established by the US Congress in 1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and analysis on critical issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views, build expertise, and develop policy options.

In conjunction with the Okinawa delegation, and as means of showing solidarity with their work, a Okinawan newspaper has submitted an op-ed to the Washington Post online. The piece highlights the ongoing dangers, complications and substantial needs to close the base, and will be featured daily from Jan 23 until Jan 26, so be sure to check it out here: http://www.okinawaiken.org/washingtonpost.

Also be sure to attend the talk at the Washington DC bookstore, Busboys and Poets, tonight from 6:30-8:30. Details for the event are as follows:

Okinawan Delegation Visits DC for Base Closure

Washington, DC – A delegation of politicians, lawyers, activists and students from Okinawa, Japan, will travel to Washington, DC, from January 21 to January 27 to advocate for the closure of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma. The delegation of 24 Japanese leaders will hold a series of Congressional meetings and community events to raise awareness of the Futenma crisis.

Okinawa is home to approximately 65% of U.S. Forces in Japan (USFJ), including the controversial Futenma base in Ginowan City. The relocation of Futenma base has been in negotiation since 1996 and continues to cause significant political strain on U.S. Japan relations. Given the current political climate in Washington, the group hopes that foreign base closures may comprise a portion of proposed cuts to military spending.

Tactically, the activists from Okinawa share much in common with Occupy protesters. They have been “occupying” proposed base construction sites through vigils, sit-ins and demonstrations for over seven years. The delegation plans to host a teach-in in coordination with Occupy DC and Occupy Washington DC (see Event 2 below for more information and contact John Feffer above for forthcoming details).

Former Ginowan City Mayor Yoichi Iha is a major organizing force behind the delegation. Members will include National Diet (Japanese parliament) members from Okinawa, prefectural assembly members, lawsuit plaintiffs and lawyers, woman’s rights activists, environmental activists, sit-in protesters from Henoko and Takae, and students.

“The U.S. can bolster their presence in Asia at the same time they reduce their outdated footprint on Okinawa,” says Suzuyo Takasato, an organizer of the delegation. “The people of Okinawa are solidified in their opposition to the base. It is pointless to keep a military base open that does nothing but create animosity towards the United States.”

As the U.S. shifts its foreign policy focus to Asia, the delegation hopes this will mean a leaner military presence in Okinawa. “In this case, less is more,” says John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies. “Less Marines in Okinawa translates to more resources for combating 21st century threats like cyber attacks, and a drawdown could improve strategic mobility.”

Press is invited to attend the following events planned by the delegation:

Event 1

WHO: Partial delegation
*Speakers*
Ms. Keiko Itokazu, Member of Japanese National Diet
Mr. Osamu Makishi, Citizens’ Network for Okinawan Biodiversity
Mr. Toshio Ikemiyagi, Leading attorney of the lawsuit for the Kadena Air
Base’s noise pollution
*Moderator*
Mr. John feffer, Institute for Policy Studies
Prefectural legislators, peace and environmental activists, and students from Okinawa, Japan
WHAT: Panel discussion on environmental and civic rights impacts of US military bases in Okinawa
WHEN: January, 23 2011, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
WHERE: Langston Room, Busboys and Poets, 14th & Vst. N.W. Washington D.C.
WHY: U.S. military bases in Okinawa have been the source of dramatic controversy in Japan
and the US for decades. Many in Okinawa have criticized US bases for the dangers they pose, including military accidents, environmental and health damage, and crimes committed by US military personnel–most infamously, the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl.
PHOTO: Japanese members of parliament, prefectural assembly members, activists

Event 2

WHO: Partial delegation
WHAT: Occupy DC Tour, Information Exchange, Teach-In
WHEN: Wednesday, January 25, 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm (time tentative, contact Benjamin King
at 202-286-8856 on the day of the event for details)
WHERE: McPherson Square
WHY: In Okinawa, protesters have been conducting vigils and sit-ins at proposed base relocation sites for over 7 years. Occupy Wall Street and Occupy DC have pursued similar tactics. Members of the delegation will present background information about their struggle to close U.S. military bases. This is an opportunity for dialogue and information exchange between the Okinawan delegation and Occupy protesters. Great photo opportunities.
PHOTO: delegation members, Japanese activists, Occupy DC and Occupy Washington DC protesters

Event 3

WHO: Full delegation
Mr. Tokushin Yamauchi, Member of Japanese Parliament
Ms. Ms. Keiko Itokazu, Member of Japanese Parliament
Lawyers, prefectural legislators, peace and environmental activists, and students from Okinawa, Japan
WHAT: Press Conference
WHEN: January, 26 2011, 5:30 pm
WHERE: National Press Club (room # 1093)
529 14th Street Northwest Washington D.C., DC 20045
WHY: Members of the delegation will issue a statement to the press re: their visit to DC.
PHOTO: Japanese members of parliament, prefectural assembly members, activists

*Location*: Langston Room @ Busboys and Poets, 14th & V st  N.W. Washington D.C.
*Date*: January 23, 2011
*Time*: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
http://www.busboysandpoets.com/events.php

*Speaker*: The delegation from Okinawa
including Ms. Keiko Itokazu (Japanese Diet member) and
Mr. Hiroshi Ashitomi (Sit-in protester for nine years at the U.S.
construction site in Okinawa) etc..
*Moderator*: John feffer, Institute for Policy Studies

U.S. military bases in Okinawa have been the source of dramatic
controversy in Japan and the US for decades. Many in Okinawa have
criticized US bases for the dangers they pose, including military
accidents, environmental and health damage, and crimes committed by US
military personnel–most infamously, the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl.
Please join a delegation of Okinawan activists, students and politicians
to learn more about living with US bases and to engage in a constructive
dialogue about US-Okinawan-Japanese relations.
http://closethebase.org/

Contact:
John Feffer, Institute for Policy Studies
1112 16th Street, NW  Washington, DC, 20036
Phone: 202-234-9382
E-mail: johnf@ips-dc.org

Announcing the January 2012 Washington Delegation from Okinawa:
“Making Okinawan Voices Heard in America”

 
Purpose of Visit:

To promote awareness of enduring military base problems on Okinawa, Japan, and to propose the closure and consolidation of the 34 military installations on Okinawa as part of Congressional deficit-reduction plans to reduce defense spending by $1 trillion over the next ten years. The U.S. military built up its network of bases on the island by forcibly appropriating villages, homes and farmland in the wake of the Battle of Okinawa sixty-seven years ago. Highlighting the most critical problems facing Okinawans today, the delegation will demand:

1. The closure and return of U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station. Often referred to as the most dangerous base in the world, Futenma’s continued operations in densely populated residential areas of Ginowan City violate both US and Japanese safety standards. Planned deployment of the accident-prone MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to Futenma in 2012 faces strong opposition across Okinawa.

2. The cancellation of plans to construct a new Marine Corps air base at Cape Henoko, which involves massive land reclamation of a beautiful coral reef marine ecosystem and the habitat of the critically endangered Okinawa dugong (sea manatee).

3. The reduction of unbearable noise caused by air operations at Kadena Air Base, and the withdrawal of any proposal to integrate Futenma’s helicopter squadrons into Kadena’s operations. Kadena is already the subject of a lawsuit filed by 22,000 plaintiffs seeking to terminate nighttime flight operations at the base.

4. An end to the construction of six new helipads in the Yanbaru forest in northern Okinawa. This construction will result in the permanent destruction of forestland said to be comparable to a World Natural Heritage site, as well as the erosion of the quality of life for local residents of Takae.

5. The revision of the U.S.-Japan Status Of Forces Agreement, which will be demanded in particular by family members of Mr. Koki Yogi, who was killed by a civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force in January, 2011. The U.S.-Japan SOFA routinely obstructs fair trials and favors U.S. military and civilian personnel who commit crimes in Japan. Such crimes, which occur on a weekly basis, include fatal driving incidents, residential break-ins, taxi robberies, sexual violence, and other serious crimes against local citizens.

Tentative Meetings:

Federal agencies: National Security Council, Department of State, Department of Defense
Congressional committees and representatives: Senate Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Appropriations, and Subcommittee on Military Construction; House of Representatives Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs; the Sustainable Defense Task Force; Congress members seeking the withdrawal of US Marine Corps from Okinawa; Congress members seeking reductions in defense spending; Congress members from states and U.S. territories with Marine Corps bases, such as California, Hawaii, and Guam.

Think tanks: Brookings Institution, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Institute for Policy Studies, New America Foundation, Center for a New American Security, etc.

Peace and environmental organizations: Social Justice Ministries with United Methodist Church, Peace Action, Network for Okinawa, Center for Biological Diversity, etc.

Dates of visit:

Monday, January 23, 2012 – Thursday, January 26, 2012

Delegation Members:

Chairperson: Mr. Tokushin Yamauchi (member of House of Councilors)
Vice-chairpersons: Ms. Keiko Itokazu (member of House of Councilors), Ms. Suzuyo Takazato (representative of Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence), Mr. Hiroshi Ashitomi (representative of the Council Opposing the Helicopter Base)

Executive Director: Mr. Satoshi Tamanaha (Chairperson of Okinawa-ken High School Teachers and Staff Union)

Okinawa Prefectural Assembly members: Ms. Kyoko Higa, Mr. Taiga Teruya, Ms. Sueko Yamauchi
Municipal Assembly members: Mr. Isao Tobaru (Ginowan City), Mr. Takuma Higashionna (Nago City), Ms. Satoko Taira (Naha City), Mr. Naoya Kuwae (Okinawa City), Mr. Masaharu Teruya (Chatan Village)

Attorney at Law: Mr. Toshio Ikemiyagi (representative of 嘉手納基地爆音訴訟弁護団　[Kadena Aircraft Noise Lawsuit Plaintiff’s Group])
Represented organizations: 沖縄平和市民連絡会　[Okinawa Peace Network]、ヘリ基地反対協議会 [Council Opposing the Helicopter Base], 嘉手納爆音訴訟団 [Kadena Aircraft Noise Lawsuit Plaintiff’s Group] 、普天間爆音訴訟団　[Futenma Aircraft Noise Lawsuit Plaintiff’s Group] 、No Helipad Takae Resident Society　[高江ヘリパッドいらない住民の会]、Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence,　沖縄・生物多様性市民ネットワーク [Citizens’ Network for Okinawan Biodiversity], 与儀功貴君の遺族を支える会、合意していないプロジェクト [Project Disagree], 沖縄県高教組 [Okinawa-ken High School Teachers and Staff Union],　宜野湾市職労 [Ginowan City Labor Union]

Contact:

“Voices of Okinawa – Close the Base”
Space Yui
Room # 402, 3-29-41 Kumoji
Naha City, Okinawa, Japan
Tel & Fax: ＋81-98-864-1539

Mark Selden, editor of The Asia-Pacific Journal, notes that Okinawans have created the most vibrant and sustained grassroots movement for democracy and peace in the Asia-Pacific, comparable only to the Korean movement in intensity, longevity, and creativity.

Makoto Arakaki’s photographs of the late December sit-in at the Okinawa Prefecture’s administration building captures the intensity of not only this latest moment in history, but also of the breadth and depth of the entire Okinawan Movement, now in its sixth decade.

Okinawans, including prominent elected political leaders and journalists, successfully engaged in a 24/7 sit-in at the Okinawa Prefectural office to prevent the delivery of the proposed U.S. Marine Base Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before January 4, 2012 to the Okinawan Prefectural Government. Part of the EIA did reach the office in a surreptitious 4 a.m. backdoor delivery a few days before the end of the year, but not the entire document.

According to sociologist Masami Mel Kawamura, the Japanese government wanted “to rob the Okinawa prefectural government of precious time for preparation of “Governor’s Comments” on the EIS while distracting the media’s attention. According to the EIA law and ordinance, Governor’s Comments for the airport plan should be issued within 45 days after the submission of EIS while for the reclamation plan they should be issued within 90 days.”

Dr. Kawamura further explained, “During our sit-in, we found that the Ministry of Environment has a strict protocol regulating EIS submissions. It requires the project proponents (in this case, the ODB) to bring the EIS, in principle, to the concerned agency/governmental office (Okinawa Prefecture) during normal office hours. The ODB’s submission considerably deviated from this rule because of a delivery at 4 a.m.. There is no reason for Okinawa prefecture to accept the EIS.

“Our current goal is to prevent the ODB from completing the procedures required for a proper submission of the EIS by the end of this fiscal year (March). To reach the goal, we must make the Okinawa Prefectural Government acknowledge that the 90-day period for their review of the EIS (governing landfill and reclamation) will not start, according to administrative law until the ODB properly submits the complete EIS.

“On Jan. 4, Okinawa prefectural assembly members are coming to the sit-in site to observe the Okinawa Prefecture Government. We are now calling for people to join us at 8 AM to support these assembly members.”

The EIS alleges that the destruction of Oura Bay and Henoko to make way for offshore runways for military aircraft would not result in any significant environmental impacts to Oura Bay’s biodiverse sea life, including the federally protected Okinawa dugong.

Originally posted at Okinawa Outreach, a website managed by Masami mel Kawamura and Hideki Yoshikawa.

Save Takae ! Voice your opposition to the resumed US helipad construction !

On November 15, the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) returned to Takae in the Yanbaru forest to resume the construction of six new helipads for US military for the first time in 8 months.

According to Yamashiro Hiroji, a sit-in protester, about 70 people including 30 OBD staff members and 30 security guards showed up around 10:18 am in front of the Gate of N-4 Point with heavy machinery, demanding that the local residents and their supporters make way for them to resume the construction work.

Shortly after arrival of the ODB, about 40 people from various parts of Okinawa came to join the local residents and their supports to stage a larger sit-in protest against the ODB’s move.

The stand-off between the two sides became intensified as several construction crew members sneaked into the construction site. With the machinery kept outside the construction site, however, the ODB was unable to do much work.

On November 16 and 17, ignoring the local residents and supporters’ protest and call for dialogue, the ODB again returned to Takae in attempts to resume the construction work with force. They were however kept outside the construction site by the local residents and their supporters and were not able to conduct much work.

Isa Masatsugu, one of the members of No Helipad Takae Resident Society, said, “It is unacceptable that ODB resumed the construction work while the [Takae] lawsuit is still pending”[About Takae lawsuit, see the information pasted below] (Okinawa Times, Nov.16, 2011). He also said, ” I can’t understand why it is now that they came to resume the construction. I assume that they want to demonstrate to the US and Japanese governments that they are proceeding with their work” (Ryukyu Shimpo, Nov. 16, 2011).

In the background of Isa’s comment is a political context that the Japanese government is now facing deadlock in implementing the SACO agreement. In particular, while Tokyo wants to push forward the new US base construction plan at Henoko/Oura Bay by submitting Environment Impact Statement by the end of this year, Okinawa Govenor, Okinawa Assembly, Diet members from Okinawa and peace and environmental groups all strongly oppose the construction plan.

Since it is unlikely that the Japanese government can get Okinawan people’s acceptance, they are now placed under increasing pressure to show Washington they are moving forward steadily in implementing SACO. (Regarding EIS, please see this article from The Japan Times: “Ichikawa adds new Futenma hurdle:Defense chief now says Okinawa must approve base move before getting environmental report”)

Meanwhile, on November 16, to protest against the Japanese government’s treatment of Okinawa and to show solidarity with Takae, supporters, including members of Committee against Construction of US Military Base in Henoko, Yuntaku Takae and Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa, held a demonstration in front of the building of the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo.

We would like to call for your attention and action to support Takae people. Here are what you can do:

・Check Takae blog (in Japanese) and Okinawa Outreach Facebook Group for update on Helipad construction in Takae.

・Spread update on Takae to make the issue known to the world.

・Express your objection to the construction of helipads in Takae by writing to the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the Japanese government.

- Japan Ministry of Defense
infomod[at mark]mod.go.jp

-Okinawa Defense Bureau
Fax: 81-(0)98-921-8168

・Write to Takae people. Your words will encourage Takae people to keep on with their struggle to protect Yanbaru forest and their life. You can leave your comment on their blog.

[Information on Takae]

- Here is the youtube video clip of “Message from Yanbaru” with English subtitles (about 10 minutes). It is a short documentary on Takae’s nature, people’s life, and their struggle to stop US helipad construction.

- As for details of helipad construction and Yanbaru forest, please see the excerpt pasted below from the website of Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa (Feb.12, 2011)

[Yanbaru Forest]Located in the northern area of Okinawa Island, the Yanbaru forest (about 26, 000 ha) is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in Japan. It is home to over 1,000 species of highplants and 5,000 species of animals, including numerous indigenous and endemic species such as the endangered Okinawa Woodpecker and Okinawa Rail. It is also home to people who live in small and isolated communities. Takae is one of these communities.

The Okinawa prefectural government promotes the Yanbaru forest as a key areain its efforts to get the Ryukyu Islands designated as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. The Japanese government announced its intentions to designatethe Yanbaru forest as a national park during the 10th Conference of Parties to the Convention for Biological Diversity (COP10) held recently in Nagoya, Japan.

[Helipad Construction] Since 1957, the US military has been using a large part of the Yanbaru forest for training. Today, 30% of the Yanbaru forest is a US military training area. In this training area, there are already 22 frequently used US helipads, causing various problems to the environment and the nearby local communities. Thus, since the construction plan was revealed in 1999, local people, NGOs, and expertshave been opposing to the plan and expressing their concerns that the construction of new helipads in the Takae area will certainly further impact the Yanbaru forest and the Takae community.

After conducting its Environment Impact Assessment for the helipad construction plan, the Okinawa Defense Bureau has concluded that the construction and use of the helipads would have no impact on the environment and the community. While local people, NGOs, and scientific/experts have criticized theEIA for its lack of transparency, accuracy, and reliability, the Okinawa Defense Bureau has beenproceeding with the construction plan, based on the EIA’s “no-impact” conclusion.
International voices, meanwhile, have been loud and clear. The International Unionof Conservation for Nature (IUCN) has twice called for conservation of the endangered Okinawa Woodpaker and Okinawa Rail in the forest. On the occasion of COP10in Nagoya, the Guardian newspaper urged the Okinawa Defense Bureau to “consider alternative sites [for helipad construction] that will not impactOkinawa’s unique biodiversity.”

This is why the residents of the Takae community and many others have beenopposing the construction plan and calling for explanation and dialogue with the Okinawa Defense Bureau.（For info on actions taken by local communities, NGOs, and scientific communities, please see the list below).

[Okinawa Defense Bureau Filed Lawsuit] So far, the Okinawa Defense Bureau has shown no willingness to resolve the criticism and concerns. Instead, it has reacted to the local opposition by filing a lawsuit against residents of the Takae community for obstruction of traffic in November 2008, who were engaged in a peaceful sit in protestagainst the helipad construction.
In what many consider a “SLAPP lawsuit,” the court has ordered both the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the local residents to enter negotiation outside of court. Negotiation has not, however, has taken place as the Okinawa Defense Bureau keeps declining to negotiate.

It is in light of these developments that the Okinawa Defense Bureaumarched in and began felling trees in the Takae area of the Yambaruforest and the stand off between the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the protesters has intensified.

-For more English information on Takae is available on:
Voice of Takae (No Helipad Takae Resident Society)
No Military Helipads in Yanbaru Forest (WWF-Japan)

Yanbaru Forest Under Attack ECO vol.36-1. p.13 (Hideki Yoshikawa, Chief Secretariat, Citizens’ Network for Biological Diversity in Okinawa)

Originally published at Okinawa Outreach

Celebration of Earth, Life and Peace Continues in Okinawa

The 13th Mangetsu Matsuri (Full Moon Festival) will take place at Oura Bay in Nago, Okinawa on November 12 (Sat.) and 13 (Sun.). This year’s Mangetsu Matsuri is organized under the subtheme “Toward Communities without Military Bases and Nuclear Power Plants,” reflecting what happened in the Tohoku region of mainland Japan in March this year.

The Festival Organizing Committee would like to invite you to send a short message to the festival (okinawaor@gmail.com). Your messages, if received by Nov. ４, will be translated into Japanese, and your message and its Japanese translation will be posted on the message board at the festival site as well as they will be printed in the festival’s brochure.

The Mangetsu Matsuri started 13 years ago as a local music event to voice objection and concerns against the construction of a US military base in Henoko/Oura Bay. The area of Henoko/Oura Bay is one of the most biodiversity rich areas in Japan, and of course, a critical habitat of the Okinawa dugong.

The idea behind the festival was and continues to be simple: think and talk about earth, life and peace, while listening and dancing to good music, on the beach under the full moon.

Over the years, the Mangetsu Matsuri has grown into one of the most exciting and heartwarming and thought-provoking local events in Okinawa, attracting musicians, performers, and environmentalists from all over Okinawa, mainland Japan and even from overseas.

This year’s Mangetsu Matsuri will keep its tradition going. It will feature a variety of musicians, performers and artists, including Okinawan folk music legend Yutaka Umisedo, local dance group Setake Youth Eisa Dance Group. There will be plenty of good food and drink, as well as laughter, joy and sincere dialogue at the festival.

Please come join us in the 13th Mangetsu Matsuri by sending your message (okinawaor@gmail.com) !

Originally published at The Asia-Pacific Journal on Oct. 24, 2011

Futenma: Tip of the Iceberg in Okinawa’s Agony

By Yoshio Shimoji

Introduction

While well aware of strong local opposition, Washington and Tokyo as early as 1996 agreed to relocate the U.S. Marine air base at Futenma to Henoko, Nago, in northern Okinawa. Eventually, in 2009, in the final days of the Aso Taro cabinet, with the Democratic Party on the eve of power, a hastily concluded bilateral agreement of Februry 9, 2009 committed Tokyo to carry out the 2006 relocation plan.

On July 16, 2011, former Defense Minister Kitazawa Toshimi and newly appointed U.S. Defense Minister Leon Panetta held a telephone conference and again reaffirmed that “Tokyo and Washington will move forward with the plan to relocate the controversial Futenma base within Okinawa.”

On September 7, the Noda cabinet’s newly-installed Foreign Minister Gemba Koichiro, in an inaugural telephone call to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, assured her that Japan would “stick to the accord reached last year to relocate” Futenma to Henoko. Gemba also said at his inaugural news conference that he would do his best to persuade Okinawa residents to accept the bilateral accord.

How is he going to do this? By lavishly bribing Nago residents to consent? But recent elections in Nago, and throughout Okinawa, have confirmed strong opposition to the new base. Alternatively, Tokyo would have to resort to police force, invoking state power, an approach certain to result in bloodshed and social turmoil. Meanwhile, continuing to ramp up the pressure, Washington repeats its stock phrase: “It’s Japan’s domestic problem. It has nothing to do with the U.S.”

The meeting in New York on September 21 between Japan’s new Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session was the culmination of an array of such reassurances. Noda told Obama that he would do his utmost to implement the accord between Tokyo and Washington. And at an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on September 28, he expressed his desire to visit Okinawa as soon as possible.

Futenma’s history

Futenma Air Base (official nomenclature: U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma) was constructed toward the end of World War II to transport troops, supplies and ammunition in the forthcoming attack on mainland Japan （Operation Downfall）. But the war ended before that plan was executed. Futenma should then have been returned; but, instead, it has remained in the firm grip of the U.S. military all these years to this day.

The U.S. military seized the land in clear violation of Article 46 of The Hague Convention, which states: “Family honor and rights, the lives of persons, and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected. Private property cannot be confiscated.”

There are presently more than 3,000 so-called “military base landowners” for Futenma Air Base alone and more than 40,000 for all bases and installations in Okinawa (Cf. Registered members with the Federation of Military-Base Landowners Associations number 38,000 as of October 2011). These figures provide crucial information about how these bases came into being. For example, Futenma Air Base with a total land area of 4.806 square km, and with private land accounting for 93%, was constructed during the Battle of Okinawa and afterwards, while area residents were herded into concentration camps.

When they were finally freed and allowed to return home, they found that their villages and rich farmland had disappeared without a trace, incorporated within a vast air base. Reluctantly, they settled down outside the fenced-off compound in areas designated by the U.S. military as settlement areas with no regard to property rights of landowners.

Iha Yoichi, former Ginowan City Mayor and a native of Ginowan Village (now Ginowan City), writes in his book (Futenma Air Base is in Your Neighborhood — Let’s Remove It Together, p.15), that “when the war was over and people were allowed to go home, they found their villages had disappeared completely, the area transformed into a vast base.”

The area where the Futenma Air Base sits was an important traffic junction connecting the north and south of Okinawa. Along a beautiful pine tree-lined highway five villages formed Ginowan Village (now Ginowan City) with a total 1944 population of 12,994 — Ginowan, Kamiyama, Aragusuku, Nakahara, Maehara and Aragusuku. Ginowan was the largest with numerous houses and stores, where public offices including a post office, a school (Ginowan Elementary School) and the village hall, were located. They were all swallowed up into the 2,400-meter runway (later extended to 2,700 meters) and other facilities and appurtenances.

Some of the other U.S. bases and facilities in Okinawa, officially totaling 33, have a more or less a similar history. Iha says that more than 60 villages disappeared into U.S. bases in this way. Only Kadena Air Base has a somewhat different history in that it was initially constructed by the Japanese Imperial Army just before the invasion of the Allied Forces. After taking control of what the Imperial Japanese Army called Naka Hikojo (Central Air Base), the U.S. forces expanded it sevenfold, expropriating land in the surrounding area encompassing Kadena, Chatan and Koza (later Okinawa City) and renaming it Kadena Air Base (area: 19.9 square km). Adjoining the air base, just across the Okinawa/Kadena Route, is the vast Kadena Ammunition Storage Area (26.6 square km).

Okinawa as a U.S. military colony

Before proceeding, let me present some data on the bases from Kichi no Gaiyo (“Summary of Bases”) published by the Okinawa Prefecture Military Base Affairs Division.

As of March 2009, the total land area in the prefecture occupied by the 33 U.S. bases and installations was 229.2 square km. Since the area of exclusive U.S. military bases nationwide is 310.1 square km, Okinawa’s share accounts for 73.9%, nearly three fourths. In other words, U.S. military bases and installations predominantly concentrate in Okinawa, whose land mass is only 0.6% of the whole of Japan.

The following are some of the major bases and installations for exclusive use by the U.S. military (all in square km):

Northern Training Area（78.2), Iejima Auxiliary Air Base (8.0), Camp Schwab (20.6), Henoko Ordnance Ammunition Depot (1.2), Camp Hansen (51.2), Kadena Ammunition Storage Area (26.6 ), Camp Courtney (1.3), U.S. Army Garrison Torii Station (1.9), Kadena Air Base (19.9 ), Camp Zukeran including Camp Butler and Camp Foster (6.4), White Beach Naval Facility (1.6 ), USMC Air Station Futenma (4.8), Makiminato Service Area (2.7), US Army Fuel Storage Facility (1.6). [Subtotal: 225.8 square km]

Camp Seals (0.7), Camp Kuwae (0.7), Ginbaru Training Area (0.6), Naha Military Port (0.6), Awase Communications Facilities (0.6), Okuma Rest Center (0.5), Kin Blue Beach Training Area (0.4), Camp McTureus (0.4). [Subtotal: 4.4 square km]

The remaining 11 installations consist of 8 firing ranges, among which are Kitadaito Firing Range (1.1) in Kitadaito-Son and Kobisho Firing Range (0.9) in the Senkakus; Kin Red Beach Training Area (0.17 km2), Tengan Pier (0.31 km2) and Tsukenjima Training Area (0.2), etc., with the total area of 2.4 square km.

The grand total of the 33 installations used exclusively by the U.S. military amounts to 229.2 square km. [The figure excludes 5 joint use areas with the SDF.] However, U.S. military-only areas are not limited to those 33.

According to Executive Response No. 6 (October 10, 2008), in reply to inquiries submitted by Representative Kantoku Teruya, there are 19 water areas reserved for exclusive U.S. military use, some directly connected to installations on coastal land and others located farther offshore. There, according to the Okinawa Prefecture Military Base Affairs Division, commercial fishing and mozuku seaweed farming are prohibited and the areas are off limits during military drills. The total area of these 19 coastal water areas is 1172.6 square km. The others are water areas partially included in international waters with a total area of 53,755 square km.

In addition, there are 20 designated areas of airspace, including some exclusively for use by the USAF and others for joint use by USAF and JASDF. Executive Response No. 6 states that it is inappropriate as well as impossible to specify their area. But the map prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (see below) shows approximate sizes of the areas designated as USAF training airspaces.

Okinawa is thus contained and encroached by the U.S. military from land, sea and sky to a degree that one can call virtual occupation. Of course, these bases and installations were formally offered to the U.S. military under the bilateral agreement called the Japan-U.S. Mutual Security Treaty. Yet the situation is nothing more nor less than occupation or pseudo-occupation.

This continued pseudo-occupation of post-war Okinawa by the U.S. military does not stop at the hardware aspects like military installations; it goes beyond to the software, as well.

The Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) stipulates that the Japanese authorities cannot take a suspected U.S. service member into custody if he or she was “in the hands of the United States” or succeeded in entering a US military base, as was often the case.

When a CH-53D helicopter crashed on the campus of Okinawa International University on August 13, 2004, the crash site was immediately cordoned off by the Marines before Japanese police and fire fighters could act. This incident, together with the crash landing of a Kadena Aviation Club-owned small plane in a Nago sugarcane field in 2008, clearly attest to the fact that Okinawa (or Japan) is still under practical U.S. military occupation. In both cases, the area was cordoned off by the U.S. military and the wreckage was carried away while the Japanese police stood idly by.

Land Struggles and their Consequences

The regional tensions created by the Korean War (1950-1953) may have been a motive for the further expansion of the existing bases in the early 1950s. Land was requisitioned forcefully, often at bayonet point and by bulldozer. Jon Mitchell writes about how land was requisitioned in Iejima in 1953:

“With all of Okinawa under U.S. administration, the authorities started by tricking the landowners into signing voluntary evacuation papers… But then, when some families refused to leave, 300 U.S. soldiers with rifles and bulldozers dragged women and children from their beds, tore down their homes and slaughtered their goats.” (“Iejima: an island of resistance,” The Japan Times: May 22, 2011)

Isolated from the main island by the sea, Iejima islanders had no other means than marching across the length and breadth of Okinawa Island with straw mat placards in hands, appealing their plight, like a band of vagabonds.

The struggle in Iejima in 1953, however, was only one of numerous struggles against forceful land requisitions by the U.S. military in those days. That year, multiple forceful land expropriations were carried out by the U.S. military government (USCAR): first in Aja and Mekaru districts (the current Shin-Toshin area) in Naha City (April), then in Mawashi (now part of Naha City, also in April), then in Iejima (July) and finally in Oroku (now part of Naha City, in November). Two years later, in January 1955, the Isahama district in then Ginowan Village (now Ginowan City) experienced the same forced confiscation. All these land requisitions were executed at bayonet-point and by bulldozer, leveling houses and destroying farms in the face of protesting farmers, mothers, children and their supporters. (See Supplement to Okinawa Encyclopedia, pp. 168-170.)

Attempts at forceful land expropriation were also made on several occasions in 1966 for the expansion of the facility of Tengan Pier in Gushikawa (now part of Uruma City) but the plan failed in the face of a storm of local residents’ life-risking protest.

On January 7, 1954, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower made it clear in his State of Union Message that the U.S. intended to keep Okinawa indefinitely. Then, on March 17 of that year, Washington announced plans to make lump-sum payments to military base landowners for the requisitioned lands. On April 30, the Legislature of the Ryukyu Islands unanimously adopted a “Petition on Military Use of Land,” setting forth the following four principles: (1) no lump-sum payments, (2) appropriate compensation for lands taken, (3) compensation for damages, and (4) no new land expropriation.

Confronted with worsening public opinion on the land question, U.S. Congressman Melvin Price led an investigation team from the U.S. House of Representatives to Okinawa during October 23-26, 1955. In June 1956, the congressional team submitted their findings to the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, recommending that the U.S. acquire fee titles for the land used for the military purposes in Okinawa, approving and supporting Washington’s plan for lump-sum payments and betraying the Okinawa people’s high expectations. It was the last straw. On July 28, 1956, a “Prefectural Rally to Win Four Principles” was held in Naha with more than 100,000 angry participants from all over the island.

All these events, unforgettable for prefectural residents, are recorded in Okinawan memory as “Island-wide Struggles against Land Expropriation.”

As a consequence of this prefecture-wide movement to secure land rights, in 1958, USCAR (US Civil Administration of the Ryukyus) finally agreed (1) to raise land rents to twice the appraisal values of 1956 and (2) make payments in annual installments or 10 years’ advance payments if so desired by individual owners.

Concurrent with recovering sovereignty over Okinawa in 1972, the Japanese government took over responsibility for paying land rents to military base landowners for the U.S. government. In response to the Federation of Military Base Landowners Associations’ petition for a land rent increase, the Sato government raised payments 6.4 times to the surprise and deep satisfaction of the landowners (Okinawa Encyclopedia Vol. 1, p. 1014). Since then rents have been raised on a yearly basis, totaling 91 billion yen in 2011, an increase of 31 times from 1972 (disregarding inflation).

The central administration in this way succeeded in quenching the flames of the land struggle, thus guaranteeing the stable use of bases by the U.S. military as stipulated under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. It goes without saying that Washington has been quite satisfied and pleased with the measure with all payments by the Japanese government.

What then would become of military base landowners if the bases were completely eliminated or moved out of Okinawa? Certainly, there are quite a number of landowners who are uneasy about how the current Futenma problem will be resolved. I have the personal experience of being called by a Yomitan military base landowner, who loudly criticized my call for the reduction of the U.S. military footprint. What he and others like him ignore is the the fact that the military base landowners owe much to the general public, which strongly supported their cause at the time of the 1956 prefecture-wide struggles, making it possible for them to retain their property rights intact to today while receiving extraordinary rent increases from the Japanese government.

Some military-base landowners call attention to economic ill effects that would result from reduction or removal of military bases. Condoleeza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, echoed a similar caveat in the face of a mounting call for Futenma’s unconditional closure.There may be some truth in what they say. But it is worth noting that, since the total withdrawal of U.S. Navy and Air Force from the Philippines, the former sites of Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark Air Base (both closed in 1991) have become thriving business centers (renovated as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and Clark Special Economic Zone), creating far more jobs than when there were the bases. The return of Okinawa’s most fertile and central land areas could result in similar or greater gains that would not be limited to the military base landowners.

Indeed, some areas that were returned at the time of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan have become thriving business districts: for example, the Shin-Toshin business center in Naha the site of a sprawling U.S. military housing area until 1972. The areas, under the old names of Aja and Mekaru, and Mihama District in Chatan-Cho are now sites of recreation centers, shopping malls and gourmet restaurants. Naturally, land prices there are now much higher than before.

Futenma must be moved out of Okinawa immediately

For more than fifteen years Japan and the U.S. have agreed to close the Futenma base. The base must not only be closed, it cannot be transferred to Henoko or anywhere elsewhere in Okinawa. On this point, the Okinawan people across party lines are unified and have made plain in successive elections at every level and in repeated demonstrations of massive scale.

It is up to governments in Tokyo and Washington to recognize this political reality and search for an alternative solution, whether to move the base to the Japan mainland, Guam, elsewhere in the Pacific, or, preferably, to the U.S. mainland.

U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma sits dangerously in the heart of the crowded housing area of Ginowan City. The Bush administration’s Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, when he visited Okinawa and observed the base from a helicopter in November 2003, cautioned that “there’s an accident waiting to happen” there any time. His worry proved correct when the CH-53D helicopter crashed on the nearby campus of Okinawa International University on August 13, 2004.

The time has come to close this hazardous base.

Certainly, there is no basis for reclaiming the pristine coastal waters off Henoko to construct a new fortified military complex that includes port facilities for the U.S. Marines. The U.S. violated international law when its military encroached upon private lands with impunity and built the base. On what legal and moral basis, then, can it demand its replacement?

Yoshio Shimoji, born in Miyako Island, Okinawa, M.S. (Georgetown University), taught English and linguistics at the University of the Ryukyus from 1966 until his retirement in 2003.

(U.S. military bases located on property belonging to more than 40,000 Okinawan landowners)