Japan Press Weekly

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2012 February 22 - 28 [OKINAWA]

Residents protest PM’s visit to Okinawa

Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko on February 27 told Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu that building a new base in Nago City is the “only effective option” in the relocation of the U.S. Futenma Base in Ginowan City.

Opposing the prime minister’s first visit to Okinawa since he assumed his post, several hundred people waged a protest in front of the prefectural building in Naha City. This action was initiated by peace organizations, labor unions, and the Japanese Communist, Social Democratic, and Okinawa Social Mass parties.

After visiting the prefectural office, the prime minister boarded a Self-Defense Forces’ helicopter to view from above U.S. Camp Schwab, the planned base relocation site, without even bothering to visit Nago City Mayor Inamine Susumu.

On the same day, JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi criticized the prime minister’s visit to Okinawa, saying, “What he should do is meet with U.S. government officials and demand that they unconditionally return the Futenma base site to Japan.”