Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 August 29 - September 4 [US FORCES]

Activists rally to join forces against Osprey deployment

Anti-U.S. base activists throughout Japan on September 1 and September 2 held a rally in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture and agreed that they will further develop the movement for the withdrawal of the Osprey deployment in solidarity with various groups and local governments, particularly in Okinawa.

Iwakuni City hosts the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station where the MV-22 Ospreys have been deployed since July 23.

The rally was organized by the Central Action Committee against the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty (Anpo-Haki), and 90 people from 23 prefectures took part in the rally.

On the first day, Anpo-Haki Secretary General Higashimori Hideo gave the keynote speech, stating that the Osprey deployment was planned to create conditions under which the U.S. Forces can swiftly take military actions in the Asian-Pacific and Middle East regions and has nothing to do with defending Japan. The deployment plan will bring the risk of crashes and excessive noise, he stressed.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi also delivered a speech.

The next day, more than 10 activists from Kochi, Nagasaki, Shiga, and other prefectures reported on their local struggles.

After the rally, participants went to a tour around the Iwakuni Base to see the present conditions there firsthand.