Japan Press Weekly

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2014 October 29 - November 4 [US FORCES]

JCP protests US military’s use of civilian port

Japanese Communist Party Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly member Mashita Noriko on October 28 made representations to the prefectural government, demanding that the governor urge the U.S. Forces in Japan to stop using civilian ports for military purposes.

In preparation for Japan-U.S. joint military training exercises in Hokkaido, the U.S. forces on October 21 unloaded the disassembled parts of a military helicopter from a private ship at a civilian port in Shiraoi Town in the prefecture, reassembled the helicopter at the site, and flew it to a training site. This is the first time that the U.S. military used a non-military port in Japan as an assembly site.

JCP member of the Shiraoi Town Assembly Saito Masanobu, who accompanied Mashita, pointed out to a prefectural government official, “The town was not informed of the flight route of the aircraft.”

In response to the JCP lawmakers, the official said that the local government sees no problem as the details of the drills are determined by the U.S.