Japan Press Weekly

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2011 May 11 - 17 TOP3 [US FORCES]

Integration of Futenma with Kadena is a challenge to Okinawans

Influential U.S. senators on May 11 published a statement proposing the integration of functions at the U.S. Futenma base with the U.S. Kadena base, both in Okinawa Prefecture.

The senators are all members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Chairman Carl Levin (Democrat), the ranking minority member John McCain (Republican), and Jim Webb (Democrat).

In the statement, they criticized the current Japan-U.S. government plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station to Henoko of Nago City in Okinawa as “unrealistic, unworkable and unaffordable.”

They proposed examining a plan to disperse a part of the assets at the U.S. Kadena Air Force Base to Guam and other locations in Japan and to integrate Marine Corps assets at the Futenma base with the Kadena base.

The Japanese Communist Party Okinawa Prefectural Committee on May 12 issued a statement, saying that the senators’ proposal is a challenge to Okinawans’ consensus opposing a transfer of the Futenma base within the prefecture.

“I’ve had it! It’s the fourth time such a proposal has come up. In Kadena Town, the residents, the assembly, and the mayor, none of us will ever accept (the proposal), no matter what reasons and conditions we may face,” Kadena Town Mayor Touyama Hiroshi expressed his anger.

Touyama went on to say, “For the past 66 years, since the end of the war, the townspeople have suffered from the extreme aircraft noise from the Kadena base. One in three town residents have decided to join a lawsuit demanding the suspension of flights of U.S. military aircraft. The U.S. Kadena base occupies 83% of Kadena Town’s land. We can’t endure this situation anymore.”

He added, “In order to reduce Okinawans’ base burdens, they propose that the functions of the Kadena base will be enhanced. It doesn’t make sense to us.”