U.S. Forces in Japan intensifying moves

Apparently as part of preparations for a U.S. military retaliation
against the terrorist attacks, activities of the U.S. Forces stationed in
Japan are getting busier amidst tight security around U.S. bases.

Residents near U.S. bases are not only suffering from noise caused by
U.S. aircraft and vessels, but are concerned that terrorists may attack
those bases. Due to frequent security checks, their movements in their
localities are restricted.

Akahata on October 2 reported:

The U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk on October 1 left Yokosuka Base in
Kanagawa after a short stay. It was a response to the operation code-named
"enduring freedom," according to the U.S. Navy in Japan Commander. Since the
end of September, oilers and sealift ships visited and left Yokosuka.

At the U.S. Sagami Supply Depot in Kanagawa, the front gate was enclosed
by sandbags in which an armored car sits with its machine gun facing toward
the JR Yokosuka Line and a shopping district just in front of the gate.

Representatives of the Japanese Communist Party Sagamihara City Committee
and ten other organizations on October 1 called on Mayor Ogawa Isao to again
make representations to the commander, demanding that such a way of guarding
the base be stopped immediately.

A U.S. submarine left the U.S. Navy Sasebo Base in Nagasaki for the first
time since Japan's Foreign Ministry stopped supplying related local
governments with prior information 24-hour ahead of port calls by U.S.
submarines at Japan's ports.

Fishing in Sasebo Bay has been strictly restricted. A fisher after a late
night fishing trip said that his ships was lit and repelled by a search
light of Japan's Coast Guide ship. Such an action has never happened during
his 50 years' fishing, even during the Gulf War, he said. (end)