military6

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

Ginowan residents continue to suffer 10 years after Japan-U.S. agreement on 'return' of Futenma base

Ten years have passed since the Japan-U.Ｓ. Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) on April 12, 1996 agreed to return to Japan the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station site "within five to seven years," but U.S. forces are still continuing their flight exercises over the residential areas near the base everyday.

In 2003 the number of flights using the base was 10,000 times more than that in 1996. In August 2004, flight training over the residential areas was voluntarily stopped due to a large helicopter crash, but the ban was soon lifted.

On April 12, four FA-18 fighters and four AV-8 vertical take-off and landing Harrier fighters flew in from U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and U.S. helicopters based at the Futenma base carried out exercises. From 4:06 a.m. to 11:26 p.m. on the day, at Futenma Junior High School, a prefectural monitoring post, 134 incidents of excessive noise were recorded, registering as high as 106.8 decibels.

The Futenma base is situated at the center of Ginowan City. That day, the city office received a deluge of calls complaining about the noise, saying, "Frightened at the noise, my child began crying," and so on. The city lodged a severe protest with the U.S. Marine Corps command in Okinawa by fax, demanding that the U.S. stop all flight training exercises over residential areas.

The Japanese government and Nago City have recently agreed to construct a U.S. Marine Corps air base on the shoreline of U.S. Camp Schwab in Nago in order to relocate the Futenma base. Referring to this, Mayor Iha Yoichi of Ginowan City stated to Akahata, "Given the fact that at the Futenma base U.S. forces carry out exercises over the residential areas almost everyday, it is wrong to argue that the new U.S. base will not pose serious adverse effects on residential areas in Nago."

The mayor stressed that he will continue to call for the Futenma base to be closed without delay and for the base site to not be relocated within Okinawa.
- Akahata, April 16, 2006