Japan Press Weekly

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2012 October 10 - 16 [US FORCES]

Okinawa governor, Ginowan mayor petition PM to withdraw Ospreys

Heads of Okinawa Prefecture and Ginowan City, which hosts the U.S. Futenma base, on October 9 petitioned Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko to retract the deployment of MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to the base.

The prime minister said that he takes into account the petition but avoided touching on reconsideration of the deployment.

Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu said that the base burdens on the prefecture have reached an unacceptable level due to the Osprey deployment. Ginowan City Mayor Sakima Atsushi expressed his firm refusal to shoulder further base burdens.

As a way to reduce Okinawa’s base burdens, Nakaima proposed to transfer 12 Ospreys from the Futenma base to other U.S. bases on mainland Japan. This, however, would not decrease Okinawans’ suffering.

In 2006, the U.S. forces transferred flight training of Kadena-based fighter jets to other U.S. bases on the mainland. After that, the number of U.S. military aircraft flying from other bases to the Kadena base sharply increased and the noise pollution level in the areas surrounding the base became worse than before.

Following Nakaima’s remarks, Defense Minister Morimoto Satoshi later on the same day said to reporters that it is necessary for the rest of the nation to share base burdens with Okinawa through various means, including transfer of military exercises. He also said that he has no intention to call on the U.S. government to reconsider the Osprey deployment.

The only way to ease Okinawans’ sufferings is the unconditional removal of the aircraft from Japan, not spreading the suffering nationwide.