About 35,000 citizens took part in a rally in Ginowan City on March 5 to urge the Japanese government to listen to Okinawans opposing the plan to construct a new U.S. air base in the coastal area of Nago City in Okinawa Prefecture.
They demanded that the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City be dismantled and the U.S. and Japanese governments' plan to relocate it to the coastal area of U.S. Camp Schwab be canceled.
With many placards reading, "We won't yield an inch anywhere in Okinawa for a new U.S. base" in their hands, young couples with children, university students, and elderly people joined the rally held at a sandy beach.
Speaking on behalf of the rally's sponsors, Yamauchi Tokushin, former Okinawa Prefectural Government Treasurer, said, "Let us make the Japanese government realize that the magma is beginning to rise. This is what our rally is all about."
Higa Mikio, another co-chair of the organizers and a former vice governor under a conservative prefectural government, said, "Opposition to the plan to construct a new U.S. base in the coastal area is shared by almost all Okinawans. Let's unite and join actions until the central government accepts this!"
Five opposition Dietmembers elected from Okinawa made addresses. Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken stressed, "Constructing the base plan is the worst option for residents. Let us reject it."
Many local government heads, progressive and conservative alike attended the rally, including Azuma Hajime, Ginoza Village head; Shimabukuro Yoshihisa, Ogimi Village head; Noguni Masaharu, Chatan Town head; and Arakaki Kunio, Kitanakagusuku Village head.
Mayor Iha Yoichi of Ginowan City, where the U.S. Futenma base is located, said as follows:
"Since 1996 when the U.S. and Japan agreed on the complete return of the Futenma base site, the U.S. Marines in 2003 increased the number of flights by 10,000 a year.
In August 2004, a large U.S. helicopter crashed at Okinawa International University and burned. In order to eradicate such accidents, the U.S. forces must immediately stop flyings over the residential areas located around the base.
The danger of accidents we face must be removed by relocating the Futenma facility to outside Japan, including the U.S. mainland, not off Nago's Henoko.
Both governments must heed the earnest wish of citizens and the Futenma base be closed and returned without delay."
- Akahata, March 6, 2006
