Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 18 - 24 [POLITICS]

Planned US base in Okinawa will increase noise pollution: Yamashita

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Yamashita Yoshiki argued on March 17 at an Upper House Budget Committee session that a new U.S. military base to be built in Okinawa’s Nago City will further increase the noise pollution caused by U.S. Osprey transport aircraft.

The Abe government is pressing forward with a project to “relocate” the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station located in the densely populated district in Okinawa’s Ginowan City to the Henoko coastal area in Nago City, claiming that it will contribute to protecting the safety of local people.

Yamashita showed a map of more than 50 U.S. military helipads spread across the main island of Okinawa. “If a new base is completed, many Ospreys will fly between the base and these helipads frequently. This will inevitably worsen the noise pollution caused by the aircraft,” he said.

Defense Minister Nakatani Gen said in response, “We will appropriately address the issue by confirming the necessity of installing soundproofing.”

Yamashita emphasized that it is totally wrong to transfer the danger associated with a U.S. military facility from one place to another within Okinawa. He demanded the immediate closure and removal of the Futenma base.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo rationalized the relocation plan by saying, “Japan needs the deterrent provided by the U.S. military.”

Yamashita pointed to the fact that about 4,000 U.S. servicepersons stationed in Japan are dispatched to Iraq and Afghanistan every year and that the helicopters from the Futenma station are usually deployed overseas for over half a year. “The U.S. Marine Corps in Japan are essentially a forward-based rapid deployment force for aggressive interventions,” he stressed.


Past related article:
> Local citizens want removal of US base, not its ‘relocation’ [February 19, 2015]