Fishermen in Aomori in boats protest U.S. F-16 fighter crash

Some 150 fishermen in Misawa City, Aomori Prefecture held an on-sea demonstration on April 9 with 60 fishing boats on the Pacific Ocean, protesting at the U.S. Forces F-16 fighter's crash of April 3. This is the first on-sea demonstration to be organized by the Misawa City Fishery Cooperative Union.

The sea in which the F-16 fighter crashed is a rich fishing ground, but fishermen have been unable to fish due to the oil spill and the floating wreckage.

"It is already six days since the crash, but the U.S. Forces have made no apology or explanation as to how they will clear the wreckage," a cooperative union leader said angrily.

Representatives of the Japanese Communist Party, the Peace Committee, and the Action Committee against the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty expressed support for the demonstration.

The F-16 fighter from the U.S. Misawa Air Base crashed in the Pacific Ocean off the U.S. Amagamori firing range during an exercise dropping mock bombs. The Amagamori firing range is about ten kilometers from the Rokkasho village nuclear fuel processing plant.

This was the eighth F-16 fighter crash since they were deployed at the Misawa base in 1985.

The JCP Aomori Prefectural Committee and the JCP Aomori Prefectural Assembly Members Group requested Aomori Governor Kimura Morio on April 4 to demand that the U.S. Forces and the Japanese government investigate into the cause of the crash, stop the exercises, and remove F-16 fighters from Misawa. They also sent protest letters to the U.S. Misawa base and the Defense Facilities Administration Agency Misawa office.

An executive of the prefectural government in a meeting with the JCP representatives said, "The prefecture has taken this matter seriously." The prefecture called on the U.S. Forces, Foreign Ministry, and the Defense Facilities Administration Agency to stop flight exercises, investigate the cause of the crash, and take steps to prevent such a crash from taking place again. (end)