Change in political situation on Okinawa’s remote island
July 27, 2013
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2013 July 24 - 30 [JCP]
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Okinawa’s Tonaki is the village where the Japanese Communist Party obtained the third largest share of votes among all municipalities in Japan in the proportional representation constituency in the July 21 House of Councilors election.
The village is located on Tonaki Island, a beautiful island surrounded by the blue sea and coral reefs, lying around 60 kilometers north-west of the main island of Okinawa. In the island of 435 inhabitants, people live comfortably without taxi and bus services, and without the presence of convenience stores.
In the latest Upper House election, the JCP obtained 49, or 22.2% of 221 valid ballots, the third highest rate among all the municipalities in the country.
Uehara Shigeharu, a 58-year-old JCP member of the village assembly, said that support for the JCP spread across the island by word of mouth, saying, “Stop the Liberal Democratic Party from overwhelmingly winning the election. We will face trouble if the JCP fails to increase its strength in the Diet.”
As there is a firing and bombing practice area on a nearby island, a focal point for voters was the U.S. military base issue, Uehara added.
The growing attention to the JCP led to a change in the political situation on a remote island in Okinawa.
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