usf

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

Stop the night-time touch-and-go exercises

Former Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Hatano Kimie visited the U.S. Atsugi Naval Air Station on October 11 to make a protest about the unbearable noise caused by military aircraft from the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk in their night landing practices. Hatano was accompanied by JCP members of the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly and local assemblies of affected cities.

The U.S. Forces in Japan have announced that the touch-and-go exercises will be carried out from October 18-21 in the densely populated area with a population of about 1.5 million.

Hatano, a JCP candidate in the House of Councilors by-election in Kanagawa, pointed out that angered residents made 2,301 calls to the prefectural and municipal offices between April and August this year. The U.S. forces in Japan must stop all flight exercises, including NLPs, she stressed.

The JCP representative delivered a letter to the U.S. Atsugi base commander, demanding an end to the homeporting of U.S. aircraft carriers at Yokosuka Port in Kanagawa Prefecture, and a withdrawal of the plan to use the Yokosuka Port as the homeport for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. -- Akahata, October 12, 2005