Japan Press Weekly

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2013 August 28 - September 3 [US FORCES]

Yokosuka citizens protest against US forces’ public exposure to guns

Members of peace groups in Kanagawa Prefecture on August 27 visited the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base to submit a statement of protest against citizens’ exposure to guns during its event open to the public.

They are members of five local peace organizations, including prefectural chapters of the Japan Peace Committee, the Japan Council against A & H Bombs, and the New Japan Women’s Association.

They were also accompanied by Yamazaki Masanori, who fought a court struggle demanding that the Japanese government compensate him for the killing of his wife by a U.S. sailor in Yokosuka City.

When the Yokosuka Base opened its gates to Japanese citizens for its annual Friendship Day event on August 3, U.S. Marine troops let them, including children, hold rifles.

The letter of protest states that allowing citizens to hold guns goes against the gun control law.

It also points out that U.S. troops showed their drills strangling an enemy’s neck and shouting, “Kill! Kill! Kill!” To publicly show such activities “severely infringes on the call of not only victims of crimes committed by U.S. servicemen but also citizens for the eradication of such crimes”, the statement expresses.

On the same day, the protesters also submitted open letters to Yokosuka Mayor Yoshida Yuto, who took part in the public event, and the Yokosuka City Board of Education director.

Suzuki Kazuhiro, secretary-general of the Kanawaga Peace Committee commented that letting innocent children hold guns is inexcusable.

Representing the Miura Peninsula liaison council against U.S. nuclear deployment to Yokosuka, Niikura Yasuo said that it is impermissible to publicly conduct assault drills in Yokosuka City, which frequently witnesses crimes committed by U.S. troops. He demanded that the city administration take a firm reaction against such actions.