Nago continues to struggle against new U.S. base construction

December 21 marked the 5th anniversary of Nago City's referendum in which Nago residents clearly rejected the proposal for the construction of a new U.S. military base in the sea off the Henoko district of Nago City.

Ignoring the referendum result, the national government, Okinawa Prefectural government, and Nago City government have defied Okinawans' desire to see their islands without U.S. bases, pushing ahead with the construction plan.

Nago residents who oppose the new U.S. base construction take turns monitoring the sea almost everyday at their office located near Henoko Beach.

"By keeping our office open everyday, we want to show people from other parts of Japan our strong message of struggle against the base construction," said Kinjo Yuji, representative of the residents' group.

Various people visit their office everyday such as from a medical worker living in Hokkaido and a professor from Tokyo. The office has been playing an important role in connecting local and national struggles.

Nago City Assembly member Miyagi Yasuhiro, who headed the Nago Council against the Construction of U.S. On-Sea Heliport and for Peace and Democratic Nago City Administration when the referendum was carried out, said:

"Our victory in the referendum was so influential that during the last five years even a pile hasn't been driven into the ground of Henoko to construct the base.

"It is also due to the referendum that Nago Mayor Kishimoto Tateo has had to impose seven conditions for the acceptance of the base construction and that Okinawa Governor Inamine Keiichi has to continue demanding that a 15-year time limit be imposed on the use of the base, an impossible demand.

"We are driving the pro-base forces into a corner, not the opposite."

The 1995 schoolgirl rape incident gave rise to calls for a referendum, and led to a big anti-U.S. base movement in Okinawa, which pushed the governments of Japan and the United States into a corner.

Taking advantage of Okinawans' anger, the two governments planned to replace the old and decrepit U.S. Marines Futenma Air station with a new state-of-the-art base with 40 years operability and 200 years fatigue life, telling the public that the replacement of the bases will help reduce the people's burden.

During the campaign for the referendum, senior officials of the government and the Liberal Democratic Party, such as Nonaka Hiromu, then acting LDP secretary general, and Suzuki Muneo, Okinawa Development Agency director general, stayed in the city as leaders of the pro-base forces.

They deployed 300 Defense Agency employees to the city for door-to-door visits asking for a yes vote for the new U.S. base construction plan.

Despite such pressure, the citizens' movement calling on the people to decide this important matter for themselves overwhelmed the government maneuver.

The Inamine-led Okinawa administration, the first-ever government officially accepting the continued existence of U.S. military bases in the prefecture, is now falling deep into disarray. On the "15-year expiry date" set as a prerequisite of the use of the planned base in Okinawa, President Bush at a Japan-U.S. summit meeting last June asserted, "Limiting the period of use is difficult." Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman in February also stated that asking the U.S. for the limit is ridiculous. Thus, the U.S. administration clearly refuses the "15-year time limit" on the use of the base in Okinawa.

Furthermore, Governor Inamineﾕs campaign pledge for "military-civilian use of the airport" resulted in the new base being reinforced. An initial offshore-heliport plan the Okinawans refused in the 1997 referendum had a 1,500-meter runway, but a basic plan agreed to in August between the Japanese government and Okinawa Prefecture extended the runway to 2,500 meters, including runway clearance. The ratio of use between military and civil uses, however, will be ten to one.

The central government, Okinawa prefectural and Nago city governments in July, contrary to the people's wishes, decided to reclaim the coral reef in order to construct the new base. When the Nago City Assembly was about to adopt an opinion calling for a withdrawal of the plan, Okinawa-elected LDP members of the Lower House put pressures on the city government and eventually had the opinion deleted. An environmental-impact assessment will take place next year, and the government is now underway to push ahead with the construction of the new base.

However, what Okinawans wish is clear. A local newspaper survey shortly before the 30th anniversary of the return of Okinawa to Japan showed that 69 percent of respondents said no to a relocation of the Futenma air base to Nago City while only 19 percent said they were in favor (Okinawa Times, May 12). The opposition votes were up by 14 percent and the approving votes were 3 percent down from a survey conducted in September five years ago. Asked about a relocation site, 59 percent of respondents said the base site should be somewhere in the United States, 7 percent said it should be on Japan's mainland, and 18 percent said Nago City (Okinawa Times, November 12). The government is trying to mislead Okinawans with the alluring words of "economic stimulus package" or the "15-year time limit," but Okinawans' call to establish a "base-free peaceful Okinawa" is becoming more and forceful. (end)