Japan Press Weekly

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2009 March 25 - 31 [OKINAWA]

Ishigaki mayor calls on U.S. president to cancel warships’ visit to local port

Mayor Ohama Nagateru of Ishigaki City in Okinawa Prefecture on March 24 sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama requesting that the planned entry to Ishigaki Port by U.S. military ships be cancelled.

Informing the president that Ishigaki Port is always crowded with civilian vessels, the mayor stated that the plan “is causing grave concerns among them (residents) and bringing much anxiety and disturbance to my city.”

“Ishigaki City, with the pursuit of a lasting peace as its fundamental policy, has adopted ‘the Southernmost City of Nature and Culture in Japan’ as its slogan, and ‘the Declaration of a Peaceful and Nuclear-free City’ and ‘the Declaration of a Peaceful Port’ were both signed by its people,” the letter stated.

Mayor Ohama on March 25 met Foreign Ministry officials and told them that the city cannot permit U.S. warships’ entry into the port, which the Japanese government has repeatedly urged the city to agree to. He also called for revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which is used by the government as a pretext to demand that the city allow U.S. warships to visit its port.