July 9, 2022

A group of opposition party parliamentarians elected from Okinawa, including Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Akamine Seiken, on July 8 visited the Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau to protest against a stray bullet incident involving the U.S. military and submitted a written demand calling for the suspension of all live-shell firing drills at U.S. Camp Hansen

This action was taken in reaction to the incident on the previous day in which a stray bullet was found in the residential area adjacent to Camp Hansen.

The group’s written demand points out that in this area, similar incidents frequently happened in the past in which young children and women were injured by stray bullets from the base. The document stated that the Japanese and U.S. governments’ attitude prioritizing the U.S. military’s military training exercises over Okinawans’ lives and safety is totally unacceptable. It demanded a thorough probe into the latest incident, a swift and full compensation to the owner of the damaged house, and the withdrawal of life-fire ranges located near the residential area.

The opposition lawmakers’ group also made representations to the Foreign Ministry’s Okinawa office, demanding that the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement be revised as it prevents the local authorities from conducting investigations into the incident.