Peace Caravan from Okinawa concludes nationwide march

A national Peace Caravan calling for "No new U.S. base in Okinawa" and "Save the rare species of dugong," which left Nago City in Okinawa on March 10, concluded its one and a half-month march on April 28 in Tokyo. The concluding rally of the Peace Caravan was held with about 500 citizens.

Addressing the rally, Higashionna Takuma (Save the Dugong Foundation secretary general) said that he wants an Okinawa where dugongs may coexist in peace.

Guest speakers included representatives of the Toba Aquarium in Toba City, Mie Pref., where dugong are raised, and a local organization on the Ehime Maru incident in Uwajima City, Ehime Pref., as well as Japanese Communist Party House of Councilors member Kasai Akira.

In Yausubetsu's rally, where the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa have been carrying out live-shell firing exercises with 155 mm howitzers, Aizawa Memi sang, "Don't give up and be courageous." She is an Okinawan singer and songwriter from Yomitan Village who tells the story of the Battle of Okinawa, the only ground battle in Japan in WWII, with songs and plays before tens of thousands of high school students who visit Okinawa on school excursions.

The peace marchers talked about recent successive scandalous incidents committed by U.S. soldiers in Okinawa. Many local governments they stressed the need for the revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

In Shimane Prefecture, where the U.S. Forces repeatedly made loud noise with their low-altitude flight exercises by aircraft from the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station, 23 local governments have adopted resolutions calling for SOFA's revision.

Activities of Peace Caravan in two routes

Tsuchiya Kimiyasu, the mayor of Yamato City in Kanagawa Pref. hosting the U.S. Navy Atsugi Air Station, told the caravan that Yamato and Nago share common tasks although Atsugi has a naval base and Nago will have a Marine Corps base. Local governments should not restrain their anger against the atrocities committed by the U.S. Forces, he said. The vice mayor of Misawa City in Aomori Pref., which hosts the U.S. Misawa Air Base, also met the caravan.

Takeuchi Keiko, a 'peace guide' of the Okinawa Peace Committee, stressed that Okinawa has 75 percent of all U.S. bases in Japan. Especially in areas close to U.S. bases, pupils during 12 years of school life have to spend almost two years in total without hearing what their teacher says. In response to her speech, 912 high school students and citizens signed petition papers in support of the caravan's calls.

Active participation by youth is another outstanding feature of the caravan. A high school student read about dugongs in a poem, "Thanks dugongs/ were it not for you/ wandering around the sea off Nago/ nature destruction by the military must have proceeded."

The one-and-a-half-month march with a big stuffed doll of dugong was a step toward increasing the struggle for "No new U.S. base in Okinawa," from Okinawa to throughout Japan and from peace organization members to citizens. (end)