JCP in Kanagawa requests Foreign Ministry to investigate U.S. military accidents

Japan Press Weekly

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

JCP in Kanagawa requests Foreign Ministry to investigate U.S. military accidents

Japanese Communist Party representatives in Kanagawa Prefecture visited the Foreign Ministry on February 20 to protest about a recent series of accidents in Kanagawa Prefecture caused by U.S. forces in Japan, including a drop of parts from a FA-18 fighter jet from the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington and a collision between the U.S. Aegis destroyer Lassen and a fishing boat.

Hatano Kimie and Kasagi Takashi, JCP candidates for the House of Representatives election in the prefecture, requested that the ministry urge the U.S. Forces in Japan to fully investigate the cause of the accidents and take preventive measures.

As regards the parts drop case, they said, "Although there was no human injuries, dropping anything from aircraft on densely populated residential areas could cause a serious incident."

In Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, many cases of items falling from aircraft have taken place in the past several years; bullets from a U.S. anti-sub helicopter in Yokohama City in July 2004; parts from an F/A-18 in Fujisawa City in December 2004; an emergency ejection hatch on Tanzawa Mountain in May 2006, and other items from various aircraft..

As regards the recent collision case, JCP members warned that the collision near Yokosuka Harbor in the Tokyo Bay "could have been a catastrophe," and requested the ministry to urge the U.S. side to make detailed information available to the public and to closely cooperate with the Japanese team investigating the case.

A foreign ministry officer in charge of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces in Japan Agreement answered that the ministry requested the U.S. side to fully cooperate with the Japan Coast Guard team investigating the collision and to take preventive measures to avoid falling parts from aircraft.

- Akahata, February 21, 2009