Protest over bombs to shut Yokosuka gate Thursday

By Allison Batdorff, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, July 24, 2008

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Yokosuka’s main gate will close Thursday afternoon for the third scheduled demonstration on Route 16 in two weeks.

Carney Gate will be closed to foot traffic and outbound cars between 2:15 p.m. and 3 p.m., base spokesman Chief Petty Officer Eric Hannah said in an e-mail. Everyone will be rerouted over to Womble Gate near Mikasa Park, he said.

Photo: Protesters from an anti-nuclear organization and other peace groups stage a demonstration at a park in near the US Navy base at Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture on July 19, 2008 to protest the scheduled deployment of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington. Some 15,000 participants joined the rally, the organizers said, to protest against the USS George Washington, which will become the first nuclear powered carrier to be based in Japan. CVN refers to "carrier vessel nuclear".

The only difference between this demonstration and others held in recent days is that "base personnel will be working" at the time of the demonstration, but it likely will be over by the time the workday ends, Hannah said.

"The only suggestion for Yokosuka personnel would be to try to refrain from exiting the base at the time of the demonstration because of the traffic," Hannah said.

A Yokosuka policeman said Tuesday that the demonstration is part of an annual march against atomic and hydrogen bombs and that they expect about 200 people to attend. The rally will then travel to another part of the country to demonstrate.

The last two weekend rallies, with organizers estimated 25,000 people attended, were shows of opposition against the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington being forward-deployed to Yokosuka later this year.

Stars and Stripes’ Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.