usf4

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

Local concerns increase because of government failure to explain
Akahata editorial

The Japanese and U.S. governments will hold a Japan-U.S. security consultative committee meeting of the foreign and defense ministers (2+2) in late October to complete an interim report on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan with the view of announcing it when the Japanese prime minister and the U.S. president hold a summit in mid-November.

Realignment of U.S. forces will seriously affect local municipalities and residents concerned. The government, however, has given no explanations to them about the plans. Discontent and anxieties are growing within these municipalities.

Burdens become widespread

Contrary to the stated aim of reducing the burden that local residents have to endure, the realignment plans that are being contemplated will drastically strengthen the capabilities of U.S. forces, which in turn will shift greater burdens onto local governments and residents. For example, the government has put forward a plan to construct a base stretching out into the ocean from the barracks site at U.S. Camp Schwab in Nago City (Okinawa Prefecture) as a substitute for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City. Its construction will destroy seaweed beds and the rare sea mammal dugong's habitat, will cause excessive noise and expose local residents to the danger of aircraft crashes on eastern Nago and western Ginoza village.

A plan to allow U.S. military aircraft to use Self-Defense Forces' bases at Nyutabaru (Miyazaki Prefecture), Tsuiki (Fukuoka Prefecture), and Kanoya (Kagoshima Prefecture) is also under consideration. The plan will cause many hardships on the residents of these areas.

The U.S. Army I Corps headquarters to be relocated to Camp Zama (Zama and Sagamihara cities in Kanagawa Prefecture) will command integrated troops made up of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, and multinational forces in the event of a U.S. war based on its preemptive attack strategy.

Local residents are deeply concerned about having to coexist with such dangerous bases. The city governments and residents of Zama and Sagamihara are campaigning to prevent Camp Zama from accepting the U.S. forces headquarters that will drastically increase the base's operational capabilities or the Ground Self-Defense Force's Central Response Group in charge of the SDF's overseas dispatch. More than 200,000 signatures opposing the relocation of the U.S. Army Corps headquarters to Zama have been collected in these cities.

Another emerging issue is the plan to relocate the carrier-based aircraft wing from U.S. Atsugi Navy Air Station in Kanagawa Prefecture to U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The mayors of Iwakuni City (Yamaguchi), Etajima City (Hiroshima) and 8 other cities and towns near the U.S. Iwakuni base, hand in hand with their residents are joining forces to block this plan. UNESCO Association chairs of Miyajima, Iwakuni, and Hiroshima jointly sent a statement to Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro, expressing their opposition to the plan.

Known for its Itsukushima Shrine, Mijyajima Island is designated as a World Heritage site. Iguchi Ken, Miyajima UNESCO Association chair, said, "We, who are responsible for preserving this World Heritage site, will speak out." The statement expresses "serious concerns about damage from possible aircraft crashes and parts drops that may harm residents as well as the cultural heritage, in addition to the adverse effects from U.S. aircraft noise. "The relocation of the carrier aircraft units must be stopped."

The realignment of U.S. bases in Japan, if carried out, will seriously affect local residents and governments concerned. It is quite natural for Kanagawa Prefecture, the cities of Zama and Sagamihara, and other local governments to urge the Japanese government to release the details of the plan to realign U.S. forces in Japan.

However, the Japanese government only says that explanations will be made later when it is necessary to do so. Opposition is growing in some localities that are cited as options. The government is delaying offering explanation apparently to avoid adding fuel to the opposition movement.

The government has a responsibility to explain the plan to every local government that will be affected by the realignment. The government is just trying to impose de facto agreements of the Japanese and U.S. governments on local residents and governments. Doesn't this violate the constitutional principle of local autonomy?

The realignment of U.S. forces in Japan is designed to turn Japan into a foothold for U.S. preemptive wars. It will force local residents and governments to pay larger costs for militarization.

Let us increase our opposition to the ongoing U.S. military alignment plans while calling for the complete withdrawal of U.S. bases from Japan. -- Akahata, October 21, 2005