Japan Press Weekly

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2018 June 13 - 19 [US FORCES]

Kadena Town Assembly protests against US military commander's refusal to meet with local representatives

The Kadena Town Assembly in Okinawa on June 18 unanimously adopted a statement in protest against the refusal to meet with local representatives by the U.S. commander of the Kadena base 18th Air Wing.

The Kadena Town mayor and all of the Kadena assemblypersons visited the Okinawa Defense Bureau on the same day and handed the statement to Takagi Kenji, a vice-chief of the bureau. Takagi said in response, "We will take your statement seriously and would like to coordinate a meeting."

The 18th Air Wing met with town representatives for the last time in November last year. The town assembly has protested more than 500 times since 1990 against U.S. military-caused accidents and incidents in Okinawa, including the recent crash of a Kadena-based F-15 fighter jet.

Given this background, the statement proclaims, "Is this a situation in which they can rightly call themselves good neighbors? We cannot help but become angry at being neglected." Speaker of the assembly Tokuzato Naoki said, "Why does the U.S. military refuse to meet with us for talks?" Kadena Town Mayor Toyama Hiroshi said, "Refusal to hold discussions with local representatives is a serious issue."

Past related article:
> US F-15 crashes into sea off Naha in Okinawa [June 12, 2018]