Japan Press Weekly

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2013 June 12 - 18 [US FORCES]

US ammunition lands outside training site

On June 11, it came to light that a 155mm projectile from the U.S. Marine Corps’ live-shell training exercise missed the target and landed on public land four kilometers away from a training site in Hokkaido.

This is the first incident in which a shell landed outside the training field, said a local peace group.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko on the same day visited the Defense Ministry to protest against the incident and demanded that the ministry urge the U.S. to stop the exercise, conduct an investigation of the incident, and provide full information to local governments and residents near the training site.

A senior defense ministry official replied, “We already called on the U.S. military to suspend the live-fire drill until the cause of the incident is determined. We will explain to local residents about the incident in coordination with municipalities.”

The U.S. Marine Corps is carrying out the live-shell drill at the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force Yausubetsu Exercise Field in Hokkaido from June 10 to 21. The drill used to be held in Okinawa.

The JCP Hokkaido Committee also made representations to the Hokkaido governor demanding that the prefecture request the national government to investigate the incident and halt the drill.