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By TEI SHIMIZU
The Asahi Shimbun
In the two decades since a rare flightless bird was discovered in Okinawa Prefecture, it has been pushed to the northern edge of the main island by non-indigenous predators.
Mongooses, stray cats, jungle crows and human development projects have slashed the numbers of the yanbaru kuina, or Okinawa rail, and drastically squeezed the size of its habitat.
Researchers say that unless measures are taken now, the birds could soon become extinct.
The yanbaru kuina was discovered in 1981 on the northern part of the main Okinawa island.
In 1985, the former Environment Agency estimated the yanbaru kuina population at about 1,800. Researchers at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology said the population had plunged to around 1,220 in 2000.
Now, the number has tumbled even further.
In September, institute researchers returned to the Yanbaru forest. Led by Kiyoaki Ozaki, chief of the institute's Bird Migration Research Center, the team combed the area to determine the numbers and habitats of the midsized birds. The team found the birds in 85 plots of 1 square kilometer, down 23 percent from 116 they found in 2000.
The yanbaru kuina population had fallen at an even faster clip. Only 217 were spotted, down 31 percent from the 315 in 2000.
Ozaki estimates the total population "probably does not exceed 1,000."
The birds' retreating habitat is especially worrying, researchers say. In 1985, birds were found living in most parts of Ogimi and Higashi villages. Now, researchers say birds in these two villages have probably completely disappeared.
Overall, the birds' habitat had shrunk 40 percent by 2003 from 1985. Only an area in the northernmost village of Kunigamison remains habitable.
Mongooses, which were introduced to the island to control the poisonous snake population, and stray cats are believed to be the main culprits in the demise of the bird.
Despite efforts to decrease the number of predators, they are spreading. The Environment Ministry and the Okinawa prefectural government caught about 1,600 mongooses and about 230 stray cats from October 2000 to March 2004.
Experts say the yanbaru kuina are also falling prey to jungle crows. Motorists pose another danger.
But help could be on its way.
In late September, experts gathered in Tokyo to talk about the future of the rare rail.
Paul Wenninger, a researcher from the Aquatic and Wildlife Resources division of the U.S. Guam Department of Agriculture, noted the similarities between the Okinawan bird and the Guam rail, which is also endangered.
The Guam rail has been under attack since the 1940s when the brown tree snake was introduced to the U.S. territory.
With the species teetering on the brink of extinction, officials in the mid-1980s caught 21 of the birds and placed them in captivity in Guam and on the U.S. mainland. Artificial breeding went well, but plans to reintroduce the birds to the wild on Guam's neighboring Rota Island-an area free of the snakes-have yet to come to fruition. Despite an annual project cost of $16 million (about 1.8 billion yen), and the release of 684 birds, cats are now posing a danger, Wenninger says.
He says for the Okinawa rail to survive, predators must be eliminated. He also advocates artificial breeding to beef up the population. Human activity, such as road construction in or near the birds' habitat, must be kept to a minimum, he says.
Masako Izawa, an associate professor of the University of the Ryukyus specializing in wild cats, agreed that non-indigenous species should be exterminated.
"Measures for conserving the birds' environment should be taken along with artificial breeding projects, or they will have no place to return," she said at the September symposium.
Efforts are already under way. Village authorities in Ogimi, Higashi and Kunigami passed an ordinance in September that requires the registration of domesticated cats. They are also required to have identification microchips and must be spayed or neutered.
The Environment Ministry has begun developing artificial breeding techniques for the birds.
"We are not too late if we act now," said Satoshi Yamagishi, director of Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. "We want to take every measure to save the yanbaru kuina's environment and breed them." (IHT/Asahi: November 27,2004)
The Asahi Shimbun
November 23, 2004
NAHA-The streets are deserted in the main entertainment district of Kin, Okinawa Prefecture. Barstools remain empty well into the night, and the usual rowdiness and brawls are long gone.
The main clients are now fighting half a world away.
The U.S. military assault on the city of Fallujah in Iraq has had visible effects on areas in Okinawa Prefecture that are home to U.S. military bases.
The number of Marines stationed in Okinawa has been slashed by a third this year.
According to military sources, three infantry battalions and air force units-about 3,000 personnel in all-left Okinawa Prefecture for Iraq in February.
Reinforcements of 2,000 members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit were dispatched in August to the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
The absence of the Marines in the prefecture is both good news and bad news for the locals.
``Business is bad,'' said a 61-year-old proprietor of a restaurant in the Kin entertainment district, which sits in front of the U.S. Marines' Camp Hansen. ``Sales have dropped to less than a third.''
Usually there are about 26,000 to 29,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in the southernmost prefecture, of which 15,000 to 18,000 belong to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Some estimates now put the total number of Marines in Okinawa at about 10,000.
The reduction has made it easier on Okinawa police. In the first six months of this year, there have been only 22 suspected criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel, a 30-percent decline from the same period last year, according to Okinawa prefectural police.
And there have been no serious crimes, such as robberies, so far this year involving U.S. personnel. There were four such cases last year, the police said.
``What matters is that the overall number (of military personnel) has declined,'' a police official said.
A 51-year-old owner of a restaurant that is a favorite haunt of U.S. infantrymen in Kin said his establishment got fairly rough after the troops learned they were heading for Iraq.
``After the dispatch was decided, we began getting a lot of troublemakers who got drunk and rowdy. Fights broke out,'' he said.
Things have quieted down now. ``(But) I am worried they are going to go wild again after they return to Okinawa.''
Many of them will not return.
The Pentagon has reported 15 deaths of Okinawa-based servicemen in Iraq so far.
The U.S. battles in Iraq had an earlier effect in Okinawa Prefecture.
On Aug. 13, a CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter took off from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan and crashed at the adjacent Okinawa International University. Three servicemen were injured, but there were no casualties on the ground.
According to the U.S. military accident report, the maintenance crew had been swamped with work to prepare choppers for Iraq. One part got left off the helicopter, ultimately causing it to crash.
The report contained the following account: ``The accident occurred on the third day of a consecutive three-day, 17-hour shift.
``The mechanic on night duty was suffering from a lack of sleep and could not stop his hands from shaking. I took over and adjusted the back rotor, and told him to go home.''
According to Ginowan city, of the 56 helicopters normally stationed at the Futenma base, more than 40 have been sent to Iraq.(IHT/Asahi: November 23,2004)
By ROY K. AKAGAWA, Staff Writer
The time is ripe for Japan to push for a reduction of U.S. military bases so why isn't it happening?
This is the 21st in a series of interviews examining Japan-U.S. ties and their implications.
Re-elected U.S. President George W. Bush likely will be more accommodating toward Japan in discussing the global transformation of the U.S. military, giving Tokyo a prime opportunity to push for reducing the burden of bases in Okinawa, says Akikazu Hashimoto, professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
However, Hashimoto is less than confident that the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is prepared to take the initiative in coming up with a long-term vision for Japan's defense and foreign policy.
Hashimoto is also chairman of the Japanese side of the Okinawa Question U.S.-Japan Action Committee, a group of scholars and experts who have been discussing the Japan-U.S. military alliance from the standpoint of Okinawa.
* * *
Q: Your Okinawa Question forum put together a set of proposals in March on what has to be done about U.S. bases in Okinawa. Could you elaborate on the main points of the proposals?
A: We called the group Okinawa Question to symbolize our approach of thinking from the standpoint of Okinawa because we felt that perspective would naturally lead to thinking about what Japan's standing within the world should be militarily and diplomatically.
One of the main points we made in the report last March was placing priority on thinking about what has to be done to remove as quickly as possible the dangers inherent at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Nothing was done, and, as we expected, the helicopter crash during the summer pointed out just how dangerous that air base was.
The second proposal we made was to construct a temporary alternative to Futenma that could also be implemented as a realistic choice. We were not saying that the land for Futenma has to be returned immediately. That is a matter that has to be kept as collateral or the United States would never go along.
The recently reported Japanese government proposal asking the United States to remove some of the Marines from Okinawa was also an idea that came up last year during our Okinawa Question meetings.
`Unfortunately, Koizumi does not have the ability to come up with a long-term vision for those areas.'
Q: Will President Bush during his second term likely be more influenced by neoconservatives than before?
A: In terms of foreign policy, I believe Bush will try to accommodate the Democrats. That will be especially noticeable if (Secretary of Defense Donald) Rumsfeld remains in his post to complete the process of global transformation (of the U.S. military). In that case, the administration will have to listen somewhat to the Democrats and gain their approval if they want anything. Because Bush will become more interested in his place in history during his second term, he will not likely be influenced as much by his more staunch conservative wing of the Republican Party in terms of global transformation. He will want to leave behind a legacy in terms of global transformation that includes Japan.
Since that would also involve U.S. bases in other regions, Bush will also have to be more accommodating to European nations, such as France and Germany.
The next three months will be very important in determining the future course of what Japan and the United States will do about the U.S. bases in Japan. Therefore, Japan must make up its mind about what it wants and determine its future course in economics, foreign policy and national security.
Unfortunately, Koizumi does not have the ability to come up with a long-term vision for those areas. It is also unfortunate for Japan that there is no one to support Koizumi in coming up with such a vision. American intellectuals are also beginning to realize that Koizumi is not capable of coming up with such a vision.
Q: With British Prime Minister Tony Blair facing parliamentary elections next year, many people expect him to ask Bush to take into consideration some of his requests in exchange for standing by Bush for so long. Why can't Koizumi do the same thing?
A: It is often said that the two leaders that Bush trusts the most are Blair and Koizumi. One problem is that Koizumi does not have to face an election anytime soon. Because that is the case, Koizumi should actually state a position on Okinawa and U.S. bases, but for some reason he does not do so. In terms of the Liberal Democratic Party, he is of the opinion, ``If you think someone is better than me, then replace me.''
Japan has to take a much more global approach to how to carve out its future. That will involve improving relations with China and Europe. Japanese diplomacy now requires a sensibility that thinks on a global scale and is able to seek out answers from a multidimensional formula. But instead, the issues are all reduced to single issues, like the abduction issue with North Korea and Yasukuni Shrine with China.
Unless Japan sends out a clear message about what it wants to do for its people, then Europeans will only look at Japan as not moving beyond working closely in step with the United States.
Q: What are some of the major implications of the recent U.S. presidential election?
A: There is both good news and bad news. The good news is that there was a large segment of the anti-Bush vote for (Senator John) Kerry that could still lead to a recovery of the Democratic Party. Some experts in the United States described the defeat as devastating for the Democrats, but I don't think so. The United States could still change its course, depending on how this sector votes in future.
The bad news is that a Bush victory could lead European and Asian nations to struggle with coming up with a positive approach to working with the United States because they feel the same course will likely be followed. Many Europeans now believe the war against terrorism has become more difficult to deal with. Even if Bush should come out with a more cooperative stance with other nations, it will likely be viewed with skepticism by those European nations.
The high turnout in the presidential election is a sign that democracy in the United States can resuscitate itself. Those people who voted for the first time this year could come back and vote again. In contrast, in Japan there are no factors that could lead one to expect the turnout to increase.
* * *
Profile
Akikazu Hashimoto was born in 1941 in Wakayama Prefecture. He received his doctorate in law from Keio University. An expert on Japanese elections and voting behavior, he has served as a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California.(IHT/Asahi: November 15,2004)
Photo: Japanese soldiers bayonet Chinese prisoners in Nanking
By Colin Joyce in Tokyo
Last Updated: 1:57am GMT 12/11/2004
A popular Japanese comic announced yesterday that it would censor one of its own stories after nationalist anger about its portrayal of Japanese brutality during the Rape of Nanking.
Young Jump, which sells two million copies a week, halted publication of its long-running story, The Country Burns, in September after being inundated by phone calls and e-mails objecting to the latest episode.
The magazine ran an apology yesterday for illustrations showing Japanese soldiers bayoneting helpless captives, assaulting women and beheading civilians during the assault on the Chinese city in the 1930s.
The publisher also said it would delete 10 pages and amend another 11 when the story is released in book form. There is no precedent for such self-censorship in Japanese comics, which often have graphic war scenes.
The Country Burns relates the travails of a civil servant during the turbulent 1930s. It is written by the manga artist Hiroshi Motomiya, whose work contains serious social commentary.
Japanese apologists claim that the Rape of Nanking is a fabrication or that the number killed was small and not unusual for wartime.
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In October, the Right-wing Sankei newspaper denounced Mr Motomiya's account of "the fictional, so-called Nanking Massacre".
In fact, women, children and civilians were killed in a rampage that lasted for months. Most historians believe between 100,000 and 300,000 were killed.
Mr Motomiya studied contemporary pictures and accounts of the massacre. However, nationalists questioned the veracity of one particular picture he echoed in an attempt to cast doubt on the evidence and imply the massacre never happened.
Similar tactics were used against Iris Chang's 1997 bestseller, The Rape Of Nanking. A Japanese edition was cancelled after threats to the publisher.
Ms Chang was yesterday reported to have committed suicide in California after battling with depression.
IHT/Asahi: November 6, 2004
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi recently announced plans to ``advance the relocation of U.S. military bases in Okinawa Prefecture to the mainland.'' While Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine was quick to welcome the announcement, it seems most Okinawans are reacting coolly and taking the news with a grain of salt.
If the government really wants the mainland to share the burden of Okinawa, which hosts 75 percent of U.S. military bases in Japan, it needs to initiate a broad debate that includes the residents of communities where the bases will be relocated. But there is no indication that the government is seriously trying to form a consensus. The prime minister's words show no compassion and do little to alleviate the sufferings of Okinawans.
Come to think of it, Okinawa has had its hopes shattered many times in the past. In 1996, when Japan and the United States agreed on the return of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, Okinawans were overjoyed. However, it turned out that the promise only gave rise to a plan to build a new base off Henoko in Nago, in another part of Okinawa, to relocate Futenma's functions-a move that totally disregarded the wishes of Okinawans.
When a U.S. military helicopter crashed on the campus of Okinawa International University in Ginowan in August, how seriously did the people outside Okinawa take the accident? The government's response to the accident symbolically showed where Okinawa stands and has stood since before the prefecture reverted to Japanese control in 1972.
I am willing to set aside the fact that the prime minister turned down the Okinawa governor's request to meet him on grounds that he was on summer vacation. When U.S. military authorities refused the prefectural police permission to investigate the accident site, Okinawans raised objections that it violated Japan's sovereignty. But instead of taking action, the government merely repeated an empty slogan saying it would ``improve the application of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.''
Okinawans' outcry for the immediate removal of U.S. bases was totally ignored. Instead of squarely responding to the demand, the government sidestepped the issue and made it look like the greatest problem was to reach an agreement that takes for granted U.S. military bases are here to stay. It even tried to take advantage of the accident to expedite the construction of a new military base in Henoko.
A nationalistic outcry against the violation of sovereignty serves no purpose except to avert one's eye from the real problem. Okinawa's desperate cry for help takes on a completely different tone when it passes through a political filter. Ever since the end of World War II, Okinawa's assertions have been belied and used against it.
When I stood before the scene of the helicopter accident, I was bitterly reminded of the crash of a U.S. military plane on Miyamori elementary school in Ishikawa in central Okinawa in June 1959. The accident killed 17, including elementary school students. As a university student, I visited the crash site with my friends and wrote an article for a school newspaper.
``Something in the hearts of Okinawans was killed and disappeared. Just as our emotions were killed and our rational faculty disappeared,'' I remember writing as a way to express our frustration at not having the freedom to even file a protest against the U.S. bases at a time when Okinawa was still under U.S. jurisdiction. Nothing seems to have changed in the 45 years since then.
Grave markers of the more than 100,000 people who died in the Battle of Okinawa continue to haunt us today. The ``postwar'' era has yet to reach Okinawan shores in the true sense. The island prefecture is still ``at war'' serving as a military base for American soldiers fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Based on the Okinawa experience, we know that simply shifting the burden of U.S. bases onto communities in the mainland provides no real solution. The United States is currently advancing transformation of its military bases and personnel on a global scale. If Japan seriously wants to reduce Okinawa's burden, it should take advantage of this opportunity to re-examine the security system in East Asia and take the initiative to start a national debate on how the Japan-U.S. alliance ought to be.
However, Koizumi's recent comment seems to be focused solely on dodging public criticism by offering to reduce Okinawa's burden to accommodate U.S. demands to expand its presence in Japan. This is also evident from the fact that he makes no reference whatsoever to the immediate return of the Futenma air station that Okinawans want more than anything else.
Let me quote the following words of Fuyu Iha (1876-1947), a prominent Okinawan thinker: ``I pray that Okinawan youths be spared the mindset of slaves to easily bow to money and power for their own survival at the expense of fellow Okinawans.''
The speech made 90 years ago called on young people, on whom Iha pinned his hopes, to exercise self-discipline.
I urge the government not to bow to foreign ``money and power'' and remember that it takes more than shifting Okinawa's pain to the mainland to fundamentally settle the situation.
* * *
The author is professor of history of modern Japanese thought at the University of the Ryukyus. He contributed this comment to The Asahi Shimbun.(IHT/Asahi: November 6,2004)
PHILIP W. GRONE
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment
Mr. Philip W. Grone was appointed as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations & Environment on November 1, 2004, after having served as that post's principal assistant deputy since September 2001. Mr. Grone has management and oversight responsibilities for military installations worldwide, which have a land area covering over 46,000-square miles and containing 587,000 buildings and structures valued at more then $640 billion. His responsibilities include the development of installation capabilities, programs, and budgets; base realignment and closure; privatization of military housing and utilities system;, competitive sourcing; and integrating installations and environment needs into the weapons acquisition process. Additionally, he has responsibility for environmental management, safety and occupational health; environmental restoration at active and closing bases; conservation of natural and cultural resources; pollution prevention; environmental research and technology; fire protection; and explosives safety. Mr. Grone also serves as the Department's designated Senior Real Property Officer as well as the DOD representative to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Mr. Grone came to the Pentagon in 2001 with more than 16 years of Capitol Hill experience. He served as the Deputy Staff Director and the Assistant Deputy Staff Director for the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) from 2000-2001, where he managed all committee hearing, mark-up, floor, and conference activities, including the production of the annual defense authorization bill.
From 1995-2001, Mr. Grone served as Staff Director of the HASC Subcommittee on Military Installations and Facilities. In that position, he led the staff development of the annual military construction authorization bill. The legislative accomplishments of that subcommittee during his tenure included the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, the privatization of defense utility infrastructure, reform of the Sikes Act (concerning natural resource management on military installations), and various withdrawals of the public lands for military training and readiness.
Mr. Grone also served as the Subcommittee Professional Staff Member for the HASC Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; Professional Staff Member for the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress; and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Representative Willis D. Gradison, Jr. of Ohio.
Mr. Grone graduated from Northern Kentucky University, summa cum laude, with a B.A. and earned his master's degree from the University of Virginia.
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By TEI SHIMIZU
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