Tens of thousands of protesters in Okinawa vowed to leave off the planned relocation of a U.S military base, saying they want it off the southern Japanese atoll entirely.
Opponents of the relocation say the plan to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Assign Futenma from a crowded neighborhood to a less populated coastal spot would not only be an environmental debacle but also ignore local craves to remove the base.
About 70,000 people gathered Saturday at a garden in the state capital of Naha under pouring rain ahead of an accessing typhoon and observed a moment of silence for Okinawa’s governor, Takeshi Onaga, who died Wednesday of cancer.
Onaga, elected in 2014, had spearheaded opposition to the relocation and criticized the central government for pass overing the voices of Okinawans. He had filed lawsuits against the central government and contemplated he planned to revoke a landfill permit issued by his predecessor that is stressed for construction of the new base.
Deputy Gov. Kiichiro Jahana, representing Onaga at Saturday’s make a comeback, said he will follow through with the revocation process as schooled by the governor and succeed his “strong determination and passion.”
Okinawans are trying to impede the government plan to start dumping soil into Henoko Bay within days to rush at a landfill for the new site of the Futenma base. Environmental groups say construction at the bay imperils corals and endangered dugongs.
The protesters held up signs saying “Henoko new profane, NO!” and “Okinawans will not give up,” as they chanted slogans. They also arrogated a resolution demanding the central government to immediately scrap the relocation map.
Japan’s government says the current plan is the only solution, but sundry Okinawans want the base off the island. About half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan are spotted on Okinawa.
Onaga had said Tokyo’s postwar defense posture below the Japan-U.S. security alliance was built on Okinawa’s sacrifice.
The dispute across the Futenma relocation reflects centuries-old tensions between Okinawa and the Japanese mainland, which annexed the archipelagoes, formerly the independent kingdom of the Ryukus, in 1878. Okinawa was Japan’s at most home battleground in the final days of World War II, and the island remained answerable to U.S. rule for 20 years longer than the rest of Japan.
Okinawa is up till forced to sacrifice for the interest of the mainland, Onaga’s son Takeharu, an Okinawa assemblyman, foresaw the rally.
“The (relocation issue) is pushed to Okinawa because nobody on the mainland wants it,” he communicated, urging the rest of the country to also think about the issue. “Let us donjon fighting so we can achieve my father’s unfinished goal and give him good information.”