Japan Press Weekly

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2022 April 27 - May 10 [US FORCES]

4 US military aircraft circle around above downtown Iwakuni City for 2 hours

An Iwakuni citizens' organization in Yamaguchi Prefecture together with the Japanese Communist Party Iwakuni City Assemblymembers' Group visited the city government on May 9 in order to demand that the city lodge a strong protest with the U.S. military over the circular-flight training exercise conducted four days ago over downtown Iwakuni City.

An Iwakuni city government official in charge of base issues said in response, "Right now, the city is not planning to lodge a protest against that," and expressed understanding for the U.S. side by saying that it was "necessary training". The official, however, added, "We hope that the U.S. military will take measures to alleviate the noise so that residents' base burdens will be reduced."

A representative of the citizens' group expressed displeasure with the city's response and said, "The U.S. military is strengthening functions at the Iwakuni base and expanding the scope of its training exercises without gaining residents' understanding."

On May 5, four fighter attackers assigned to the U.S. Iwakuni base repeated flying in circles above the downtown area of Iwakuni City. The U.S. Navy carrier-borne aircraft circled over Iwakuni's urban zone and Hiroshima Bay for about two hours from 4 p.m. People in the urban area witnessed the aircraft roaring in 1-minute intervals.

The city government said that it received 50 noise complaints from residents on this day.

Past related article:
> Appeals court increases compensation for noise pollution at Iwakuni base [October 26, 2019]