Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 31 - August 13 [US FORCES]

Okinawans protest against resumption of additional Osprey deployment

Citizens in Okinawa on August 12 staged a protest against the U.S. Marine Corps’ resumption of an additional deployment of MV-22 Osprey aircraft to the U.S. Futenma base in the prefecture.

The U.S.M.C. on August 5 announced a postponement of the further deployment of the tilt-rotor military aircraft in the wake of a HH-60 helicopter crash during a training exercise at Camp Hansen in Okinawa. Only a week later, the U.S. Forces restarted the deployment without completing the investigation into the fatal accident.

Japanese Communist Party Member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken took part in the protest action held in front of the Nodake Gate of the Futenma base. He said, “We cannot live in peace with Ospreys stationed at the Futenma base. Okinawans continue to fight against such unilateral actions,” and called on the protesters to work hard to put pressure on the U.S. military to redeploy all of the Ospreys back to the United States.

The U.S. Forces on July 30 unloaded 12 Ospreys at the U.S.M.C. Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture. When the deployment plan is completed, the number of MV-22s at the Futenma base will increase to 24.