Japan Press Weekly

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2008 May 21 - 27 [US FORCES]

Sit-in against U.S. base construction marks 1500th day

On May 25, about 300 people took part in a rally to commemorate the 1500th day of the residents’ sit-in against the construction of a new U.S. base in the sea off the Henoko district of Okinawa.

May 27 is the 1500th day since the sit-in protest in the Henoko beach started on April 19, 2004.

On behalf of the organizers, Ashitomi Hiroshi, representative of the Nago Council against the Construction of the U.S. On-Sea Heliport, spoke. He stated that it has become clearer that a new base must not be built, citing the U.S. Federal District Court’s decision ordering the U.S. government to consider the impact of the base construction on dugong, the endangered species living in the Henoko area, as well as the recent discovery of a colony of blue coral there.

Speakers included representatives of other organizations and Dietmembers.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken encouraged participants by stating, “The struggle in Henoko is shaking the Japan-U.S. military alliance.”
- Akahata, May 26, 2008