Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 March 14 - 20 [OKINAWA]

Rightist gangsters intimidate sit-in protesters in Okinawa

Right-wing gangsters on March 17 showed up at the residents’ daily sit-in action opposing the plan to construct a new U.S. base at Henoko off Nago City in Okinawa.

The construction of the new base is planned in the name of “relocating” the U.S. Futenma base.

The gangster group told residents that they came from Tokyo. Unfurling the “Hinomaru (Rising Sun)” flag, they threatened the activists camping in a tent and told them to move out, saying that everyone else supports a Henoko base. The threats and intimidation lasted for an hour, but the residents and their supporters were united and would not allow the gangsters to enter the tent.

The sit-in camp is on land owned by the city. The sit-in action has taken place since 1996 when the new base construction plan came out, but no one complained about the sit-in action at that time. However, since anti-base Inamine Susumu was elected Nago City mayor two years ago, local pro-base groups have begun to call for the tent to be withdrawn, alleging that the presence of the tent was a nuisance to the citizens.

Anti-new base movement representative Nakamoto Koshin said, “I was surprised to see the ‘Hinomaru’ above the tent. The gangsters, trying to please both the pro-base forces irritated at the prefectural people’s consensus to reject any new base in Okinawa and the Democratic Party of Japan government, have provoked the residents, claiming that the citizens want the tent withdrawn. Resisting such pressure, we will tell the Japanese and U.S. governments that the majority of Okinawans are objecting to any new base in Okinawa.