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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

U.S. Iwakuni base to get new facilities

The government plan to reclaim land for constructing aircraft shelters and munitions depots at the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, includes a dramatic increase in base functions.

Details of this plan were released by the Defense Facilities Administration Agency at the request of Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Akamine Seiken.

The base site will be extended by one kilometer offshore from the present line, allegedly to avoid noise pollution caused by U.S. military aircraft landing and taking off. The area of planned reclamation will be about 213 hectares.

The new air station will have another runway, a parallel pilot way, and a control tower. The existing runway will be left as a guide way.

Six state-of-the-art hangers meeting the latest Department of Defense standards will be constructed, each with the capacity to store three to five aircraft. A parking lot will also be built.

Several munitions depots will be integrated at a location near the new port facility. The port, with a depth of 13 meters (five meters deeper than the present facility), may be accessed by assault landing ships and other large warships.

Redeploying a U.S. carrier-based aircraft unit from the U.S. Navy Atsugi Air Station in Kanagawa Prefecture to Iwakuni could be part of transforming U.S. bases in Japan. Reinforcing Iwakuni's base functions may enable Iwakuni to receive such units.

The Iwakuni base extension project costs 240 billion yen, all paid by the Japanese government under the "considerate budgets."

The total base area will be 786 hectares, 1.4 times as large as the present area. -- Akahata, August 7, 2005