May 29, 2010NAHA -- Okinawa residents expressed outrage Friday over a Japan-U.S. agreement to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa Prefecture without their consent, calling the agreement "invalid" and vowing to step up protests.
A joint Japan-U.S. statement on the relocation released Friday stated that the base would be relocated in the Henoko area and adjacent waters in the Okinawa Prefecture city of Nago.
The same day residents held an emergency meeting on the grounds of the Nago City Hall in protest against the statement. Organizers said the city-sponsored meeting, which was held outdoors in the rain, attracted about 1,200 participants.
"We are boiling with rage like magma," said a 70-year-old farmer representing residents. "Can you call someone a prime minister after doing something like deceiving you?" Making a reference to Hatoyama's political philosophy of "fraternal love," he added: "Wouldn't true fraternal love be to reach out to the people who are suffering over the base issue? Our real fight starts from here." His comments drew applause from the crowd.
At the end of the gathering, protestors adopted a call for the abolishment of the Japan-U.S. joint statement, saying, "An agreement that forces yet another base on Okinawa is nothing more than discrimination against Okinawa."
A separate protest was staged in the square in front of the Okinawa Prefectural Government offices in Naha, with about 1,500 in attendance, according to organizers. Diet members from the prefecture and Okinawa Prefectural Assembly members addressed the protesters, calling for the abolishment of the Japan-U.S. joint statement and other action.
Chobin Sugeran, a Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) member of the House of Representatives who is from Okinawa Prefecture, said the joint statement was meaningless.
"The DPJ on the mainland and the DPJ in Okinawa are different. A joint statement that has no local consent has no meaning," he said to applause.
Protesters ended the gathering with chants of, "Prefectural residents do not accept the Japan-U.S. agreement," and "Stop passing bases around the prefecture."
(Mainichi Japan) May 29, 2010
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