January, 9, 2019

Akahata ‘current’ column

The movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” has won the Best Motion Picture -Drama Award at the Golden Globes. This biographical film about the U.K. rock band Queen continues to enjoy box office success in Japan.

Queen guitarist Brian May recently on Twitter appealed for cooperation with the online signature campaign urging the White House to stop the construction of a U.S. base in Okinawa’s Henoko district. Aiming to protect the beautiful coral reefs and the precious natural environment in the sea off Henoko, May made the appeal after receiving an email from a Japanese fan who wanted to do something, according to an Okinawa newspaper.

May is also an astrophysicist and an enthusiastic conservationist. The reason why he responded to the call to protest against the notorious Henoko project which will destroy the rich wildlife there and damage democracy is supposedly due to his guiding principles and beliefs.

One month after the launch of the signature campaign, the number of signatures collected reached the 200,000 mark, far exceeding the initial target. This is a good sign pointing to the potential of a success in the upcoming prefectural referendum on the Henoko project.

Past related articles:
> Okinawa to hold prefectural referendum over Henoko base project in February 2019 [November 28, 2018]