Japan Press Weekly

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2010 December 15 - 21 [OKINAWA]

Prime minister must appeal to US not Okinawans

About 250 Okinawan residents on December 15 held a rally in protest against Prime Minister Kan Naoto’s planned visit to Okinawa in front of the prefectural office building in Naha City.

The rally was organized by a residents’ group opposing the base relocation within Okinawa, which consists of 12 organizations, including the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party.

Participants also expressed their objection to a remark made by Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku Yoshito at a news conference on December 13. He said that the government wants the people of Okinawa “to accept having a new base in Okinawa.”

Iha Yoichi, who had been a candidate for the latest Okinawa gubernatorial election, said, “Okinawan people’s firm consensus is to oppose the plan to move the U.S. Futenma base to somewhere in the prefecture. We reject the new U.S. base construction. The government stance is to force residents to endure the hardships caused by U.S. bases by ignoring our demands. The government is making a mockery of democracy.”

Chair of the Nago Council against the Construction of the U.S. On-Sea Heliport, Ashitomi Hiroshi said, “Let’s raise a storm of protest and shout, ‘It’s not Okinawans but the U.S. government that (Prime Minister Kan) must persuade’.”

In an appeal adopted by the rally, participants showed their determination “to stage a large-scale protest in order to show Okinawans’ indignation if the prime minister goes ahead with his planned visit to Okinawa.”
- Akahata, December 16, 2010