Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2015 September 9 - 15 [POLITICS]

Military use of Narita Airport violates agreement with local public

Narita Airport (Chiba Pref.) was used for “military purposes” during the period of the SDF dispatch to Iraq between 2003 and 2006 in violation of an agreement made with local residents.

During that period, civilian aircraft had used the airport five times to transport military equipment, including arms and ammunition.

People living in the vicinity of the airport exchanged a memorandum with the central government, the Chiba prefectural government, and the airport operator when Narita Airport was constructed. The four-party deal prohibits the military use of Narita Airport.

Japanese Communist Party legislator Tatsumi Kotaro at a House of Councilors committee meeting on September 10 criticized the transportation of munitions for having violated the promise agreed upon with the local public.

However, Senior Vice-Minister of Defense Sato Akira said, “The SDF went to Iraq to help reconstruct the country. So, military use doesn’t apply in this case.”

In the same committee meeting, a senior official of the Civil Aviation Bureau said that Japanese commercial aircraft cannot transport munitions under the Civil Aeronautical Act of Japan, but said that they can carry arms if relevant ministries approve it. The official, however, revealed that he cannot check if there was ministerial approval at that time because no records exist. This indicates the possibility of an illegal transport of arms by civilian airplanes.

Tatsumi demanded that the proposed war bills be scrapped, saying, “The war legislation will put civil airports, harbors, airplanes, and ships into danger of being targets of attack.”

Other than Narita, civil airports New Chitose, Kansai, Sendai, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Kumamoto were also used for ammunition transport during the Iraq dispatch period. Defense Minister Nakatani Gen late August admitted to the fact that civil airliners had even airlifted heavy weapons such as 84mm recoilless guns and 110mm antitank munitions.

Past related article:
> JCP Tatsumi criticizes war bills for dragging private sector workers into wars [August 27, 2015]