Japan Press Weekly

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2007 December 12 - 18 TOP3 [US FORCES]

6,130 file lawsuit demanding reduction in noise pollution at U.S. Atsugi base

Residents living in seven cities in Kanagawa Prefecture and Tokyo’s Machida City on December 17 filed a lawsuit at the Yokohama District Court demanding government compensation for the damage caused by the noise pollution from U.S. Atsugi Naval Station located in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Chanting, “Give us back our peaceful and quiet sky,” about 170 plaintiffs and supporters marched in demonstration to the courthouse from a nearby JR station in Yokohama City.

In this fourth lawsuit over noise pollution at the Atsugi base, the number of plaintiffs has reached 6,130, the largest ever. In the third lawsuit concluded in 2006, the Tokyo High Court ordered the government to pay the plaintiffs a total of four billion yen.

This time, 58 plaintiffs out of 6,130 filed not only a civil lawsuit but also an administrative lawsuit demanding suspension of the night flights (between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.) of U.S. and Japanese military aircraft at the base.

In a rally in front of the courthouse, Fujita Eiji who heads the plaintiffs’ group said, “Although court judgments found Atsugi’s noise level illegal, the noise level has never dropped. Let us win this case to open the way for getting back our quiet sky.”

Japanese Communist Party Machida City Assembly member Tonomura Ken’ichi said, “Students preparing for entrance exams are disturbed by the jet noise. U.S. jets are also flying over the municipal hospital. A U.S. military aircraft crashed into Machida’s shopping district in 1964. I joined in this lawsuit as a plaintiff to make Machida a peaceful city.”