Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2016 January 6 - 12 [POLITICS]

Ginowan citizens angry at city for turning over personal data to SDF

Citizens of Ginowan City in Okinawa are getting really angry at the city mayor for secretly providing local residents’ personal information to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

It has recently come to light that in May 2015, the SDF’s regional headquarters “asked” all 41 municipalities in Okinawa to provide the SDF with personal information on local residents aged between 18 and 26, with the aim of using the data for recruitment. Around that time, the Diet was embroiled over the Abe government-sponsored national security legislation designed to mobilize the SDF for U.S.-led wars abroad.

In response to this “request”, Ginowan City Mayor Sakima Atsushi, who is backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties, made a list of target residents, including their names and addresses, and gave it to the SDF.

The city’s ordinance for the protection of personal information prohibits city authorities from providing such data to anyone. The mayor, however, made an exception with the SDF request and gave them the private information even without conferring with the city department in charge of the data.

Among the 41 municipalities in Okinawa, it was the only two - Ginowan and Okinawa cities - that accepted the SDF demand. Later, the Okinawa City government apologized to its residents for its action, stating that it should have been more careful in dealing with the demand. On the other hand, Ginowan Mayor Sakima has continued to assume a so-what attitude on the matter, saying, “There was no legal misconduct in the procedure.”

Yamashiro Tamayo, 49, living in Ginowan City, has two sons in that age bracket. “The mayor is taking the lead in helping the central government to secure SDF personnel following the enactment of the war legislation. I cannot allow him to open the path to send young people to battlegrounds,” she said.

The Ginowan city mayoral election is scheduled for January 24. The major point at issue is the unconditional removal of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station which is located in the middle of residential areas in the city.