Apr 19 09:56 PM US/Eastern
TOKYO, April 20 (AP) - (Kyodo) — A 49-year-old man is sitting in near parliament house in Tokyo on a 72-hour hunger strike to oppose a relocation within Okinawa Prefecture of the U.S. Marines Corps Futemma Air Station.
Atsushi Shimoji, a member of an anti-base movement who hails from Okinawa and works in Tokyo, began his hunger strike Monday at noon. He said he plans to consume only water until midday Thursday.
"I had high expectations for the change of government, but is it really going to thrust the base on Okinawa after all? It's infuriating," said Shimoji, who has taken paid holidays to stage his first hunger strike. "I cannot stand for this."
"Local communities in the candidate sites are divided between pros and cons," Shimoji said, referring to the government's reported plan to relocate Futemma's helicopter unit to an island to be reclaimed off Okinawa Island or Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, after temporarily moving it to Nago, also Okinawa.
"I want Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to make good on his pledge to move it at least outside of the prefecture," he said.
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