2011 in review: Futenma fills year with political intrigue - JapanUpdate.com

2011 in review: Futenma fills year with political intrigue By: By Bill Charles Date Posted: 2011-12-30 Even before the little guy in diapers was ushering in the new year, Futenma Marine Corps Air Station was on just about everyone's tongue, wondering how the plans for relocating the controversial air base in Ginowan City would play out. After all, Japan was insisting the plan agreed upon by the U.S. and its Japanese hosts in 2006 to move Futenma from crowded Ginowan City to the sparsely populated Henoko district of Nago City, was on track despite local objections to the project. As the months flew off the calendar, more and more evidence that Futenma's relocation was in trouble became apparent, yet U.S. and Japanese authorities continued to insist all would be accomplished per the plan. But how was that to be, when Okinawa officials flatly insisted they'd never support the relocation? The central government in Tokyo was hinting that money was the answer, coupled with patience in explaining to Okinawa Prefecture leaders why they needed to go along with the plan that would remove 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, and lands now occupied by U.S. bases, including Futenma, would be returned as soon as the new airfield with its two V-shape 2,500-meter runways was complete. The plan began eroding and crumbling as spring came, and U.S. senators visited Okinawa to declare their opposition to moving Futenma to the Henoko district of Nago City. Senators Carl Levin of Michigan, John McCain of Arizona and James Webb of Virginia declared the Henoko option all but dead, suggesting instead that the controversial Marine base be consolidated with the Air Force 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base. Neither Air Force nor Marine leadership were in favor, but the idea continued to grow. And then the U.S. Congress spoke with another voice; the pen slashed millions from budget bills that would have created new infrastructure in Guam to accommodate the Marines' move with families. It became more complicated only days ago, when the Japanese government slashed 41.6% of the current year's budget earmarked for the Guam transfer, choosing to grant only ¥7.3 billion toward the project that would move Marines. The whole defense spending for U.S. forces in Japan is being cut in the coming fiscal year, including the entire $150 million for Guam preliminary operations. Japan's world radically shook, quite literally, at 2:46 p.m. on Friday afternoon, March 11th, when an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale struck 43 miles east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku in east-central Japan. As the quake rumbled, tsunami waves towering 40.5 meters / 133 feet began rolling across Tohoku's Iwate Prefecture. The quake was enough to move Honshu 2.4 meters / 8' east, while shifting the Earth on its axis by something between 10~25 cm / 4~10", causing meltdowns at three of the Futkushima Nuclear Power Plant complex' nuclear re actors. The National Police Agency confirmed the deaths of 15,842, injuries to 5,890, and 3,485 missing across 18 prefectures. More than 125,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged, millions left homeless. The World Bank's estimated economic cost is $235 billion, the most expensive national disaster in world history. The tsunami's waves were only five feet high when they lapped at Okinawa's coastline, but the power was humanitarian. Okinawans and Americans joined together to help, with Operation Tomodachi quickly gearing up by the U.S. military to send more than 140 aircraft, nearly two dozen ships and 19,703 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to the disaster zone. The USS George Washington and USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike groups were shifted into the area, and the III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa scrambled men and equipment. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma had both aircraft and helicopters in the disaster zone, performing search and rescue and disaster relief missions. In January, Miyu Kaname was known to nobody except her family. By the end of the month, as word circulated the 13-year-old junior high school girl needed a new year, everyone on Okinawa knew who she was. Fundraisers were held to raise more than ¥180 million needed to send her to New York for a new heart at Columbia University Medical Center. The surgery to rid the Kamimori Junior High School first grader of restrictive cardiomyopathy was a success, and Miyu is now back in Okinawa. Kevin Maher, on the other hand, wasn't a stranger to Okinawa news media, having served as the Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General Naha before being posted to the State Department Japan Desk in Washington D.C. It was there that he got in trouble, giving a lecture to American University students and declaring Okinawans were "lazy" and "greedy", and "masters of deceit and manipulation" as they pumped the central government in Tokyo for more money. That was enough to get Maher fired, despite his denials of what was said at the supposedly off-the-record lecture. Maher said "the Japanese people as a whole have an 'extortionist culture' " and noted "Okinawans…are masters at this." The murder of a 30-year-old Air Force Technical Sergeant at his off-base quarters near Camp Lester in Chatan Town sent ripples through the community. Curtis Eccleston, assigned to the 733rd Air Mobility Squadron at Kadena Air Base, was stabbed to death in February. His Brazilian-Japanese wife has already been convicted in Japanese court, and a 27-year-old airman, Staff Sergeant  Typhoon Songda launched the year's typhoon season, the first ever typhoon to hit Okinawa in May. It brought 155mph winds and heavy rains. The typhoon, on top of record breaking floods and landslides, kept officials worrying through May after the Aja River overflowed, flooding buildings in Nagata district, while Nishihara Town found the Kohatsu River overflowing its banks and causing more damage. And then came Typhoon Muifa in August, injuring 51 during a 40-hour visit. Muifa brought record rains and winds both, taking out power to more than 100,000 homes. The yen, Japan's currency, put the world on edge as it gained strength during the summer, frustrating both military and civilian realms. The yen slipped to ¥80 = $1 briefly before settling around ¥75 in the fall. Predictions of a doomsday scenario where the yen would strengthen to ¥70 by year's end haven't materialized. The stronger yen tends to make Japanese competitiveness weaken as exporters' overseas earnings are impacted. Okinawans heard the news in June that the MV-22 Osprey would be coming to Okinawa's Futenma Marine Corps Air Station. Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said there's little Japan could do to block the deployment of the vertical take off and landing tilt wing aircraft, which would replace CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters now at Futenma. The planes are due in September 2012, and while residents are expressing fear for their safety, the U.S. began planning a campaign to give rides to Japanese Self Defense Forces to demonstrate the Osprey's safety. Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima was unhappy at the news of the two dozen Ospreys coming to his island. He demanded explanations from the Defense Ministry, but together with Deputy Governor Yoshiyuki Uehara never got the answers they wanted. A new tunnel linking Naha International Airport and Naha City's Wakasa District opened this year, shaving a dozen minutes off travel through the capital city's downtown area. The three-kilometer road burrows beneath Naha Harbor for 800 meters, coming out and connecting by Tomari Grand Bridge. The tunnel's been in the planning stage since 1992, and is part of a project that ultimately will link Yomitan Village to Itoman City, a distance of 50 kilometers. Okinawa's professional basketball team, the Ryukyu Golden Kings, powered their way to the Basketball Japan League's Western Conference Title, easily hammering the Miyazaki Shining Suns and Osaka Evessa. The League title was a different story though, as the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix proved they were the powerhouse. The Phoenix won their second straight league title, outdistancing Okinawa 82-68. Okinawa won the title in 2008-2009 and finished third in 2009-2010. The television era went digital in Japan this summer, blanking the American Forces Network from the free airwaves and sending hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for decoders to tune in the new signals. Analog television was completely retired, leaving the nation in the fully digital age, with high definition signals promising to fully claim the screens within a couple years. An experiment on the nation's expressways was called off by the Transportation Ministry after concluding it was too costly. An election campaign promise by the Democratic Party of Japan to end tolls on the country's expressways was implemented once the DPJ took power, but it didn't last but a few months. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism called off the freebie, citing expense. The aftermath of the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami was said to be part of the reason, as the country's leaders searched for money that could be applied to rebuilding the nation's midsection. Did the U.S. military use Agent Orange in Okinawa? Good question, and thus far officials don't have good answers. The U.S. military's denied Agent Orange was ever used in the prefecture, but former soldiers have stepped forward to say otherwise. In August, a veteran charged that he helped bury the toxic chemical while assigned here between 1968-70. The 61-year-old veteran claims he helped load a boat with drums of chemical, and one broke. While tests were being run, to more soldiers stepped forward saying they recognized the smell while working at Makiminato Service Area. In the latest round of allegations, a veteran last month charged there was Agent Orange in the vicinity of the Hamby Army Airfield in Chatan, close to Camp Foster. The U.S. military continues to deny the allegations, and Japanese officials have said they'll run tests of their own. Threats of the Chinese military building strength and testing their power in Japanese waters has Japan more conscious of Chinese fishing boats, research vessels and Chinese military ships plying territorial waters. Since August, disputes have taken place in the Senkaku Islands area in southern Okinawa, and also in other regions of Japan. Several Chinese fishing vessel captains have been arrested, and several fined, but all have thus far been released. Prime Minister Naoto Kan hung on for months, signaling he'd step down, then backing off, then reiterating he had not plans to remain as the Japanese leader. In August, Kan finally stepped down, paving the way for Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda to win a runoff and become the country's seventh Prime Minister in six years. The 54-year-old Noda was one of five candidates for the PM position. Four women went through a 16-hour ordeal off Ishigaki Island in September after a snorkeling several hundred meters off shore when high winds snet the four women out to see on an offshore current. A high waves advisory was in effect at the time, and the women were able only to grab some debris to hang onto during their overnight ordeal. The women stuck together, clinging to a pair of 15" square Styrofoam tiles, while a third held onto a one-meter-long buoy. All four suffered from hypothermia when taken to an Ishigaki Hospital. Some 6,000 Okinawans converged on Naha and surrounding cities in October for the 5th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival The four0day event drew native Okinawans from North and South America, as well as other countries around the world. Since the first festival in 1990, when 2,400 participated from 41 regions in 17 countries, the numbers have swollen to this year attracting the largest number even. Most of Okinawa's 41 communities joined in sponsoring the Uchinanchu Festival. Proving that no politician is immune to stupidity, the senior defense official in Okinawa got his walking papers in November for making stupid remarks. Satoshi Tanaka, the Okinawa Defense Bureau Chief, had been drinking with reporters when he was asked about why the government wasn't being clear about when to release an environmental assessment report on Futenma. Tanaka's answer was that "before you rape a woman you cannot tell her you will rape her now." That was enough to get him fired by Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa.  Many outraged citizens were demanding that the Defense Minister himself be sacked, but Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told the Diet's Budget Committee "I would like Minister Yasuo Ichikawa to straighten up and perform his duties." After months of wrangling and wrestling with which was best for Japan's future, the Japanese 'Defense Ministry has chosen Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter as the country's next-generation fighter. The F-35 survived the competition between Boeing's F/A-18 'Super Hornet and Eurofighter GmbH's Typhoon. The F-35 will replaced Japan's aging F-4 fighter fleet over the coming few years. The fist planes will be delivered in fiscal year 2016, with a total of 40 ultimately hitting the Japan Air Self Defense Forces.

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Okinawa’s governor calms ruffled Chinese feathers

Date Posted: 2010-08-26

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima played diplomat, tourism promoter and goodwill ambassador over the past week as he and a team of top sales executives promoted Okinawa as a business and tourism destination to the Chinese.

Nakaima made both promises and assurances to China that he and Okinawa Prefecture will take steps to create new airport handling companies and expand Naha International Airport’s runways capabilities as a part of increasing tourism, while committing to get the Japanese government to reduce take off and landing fees. The governor, who along with Vice Governor Yoshiyuki Uehara, worked closely with Chinese aviation officials to get clearance for new flights between Hong Kong and Naha, found himself in a more touchy situation responding to Chinese demands that Okinawa abolish visa regulations for Chinese tourists.

Futenma relocation plans deadline pushed back

Date Posted: 2010-08-26

August will come and go with no decisions made by the U.S. and Japanese governments on details of the proposed northern Okinawa airfield intended to replace Futenma Marine Corps Air Station.

The two governments had committed to making decisions on the relocation--to include its exact location and details of runway design—before the end of August, but now a new report expected out soon will shelve the decisions until later, possibly sometime in 2011. The decision to delay isn’t exactly unexpected; political pundits have been talking for weeks that Japan and the U.S. would back off, at least until after the November 28th gubernatorial election in Okinawa. Bilateral consultations among experts from the two countries have been going on this past week in Washington.

The interim report addresses two “feasible options” for the new airfield, one with the long-planned two V-shape runways, and a second with only a single runway. The report still signals pressing forward with construction in Nago City’s Henoko district, with much of the new base on the existing Marine Corps’ Camp Schwab. The delays are seen as an assist to the Prime Minister, who inherited the office after Yukio Hatoyama resigned the end of May after a series of gaffs and unfulfilled promises to rid Okinawa of the controversial Futenma Marine Corps Air Station. Naoto Kan’s government has been trying to placate Okinawa’s political base, encouraging Okinawa to understand the security ramifications of having the base on Okinawan soil, while at the same time accepting the nation’s apologies and appreciation for bearing the burdens of hosting the bulk of American troops in Japan.

The United States is reportedly committed to the dual runway plan agreed to in 2006, while Japan is now hedging and pitching the single runway approach that would reduce the land reclamation footprint required for the project. Kan’s government hopes the antagonism over the proposed airfield will die down and Okinawans will accept the new airfield.

Hong Kong Airlines to fly Naha route

Date Posted: 2010-08-26

A second Hong Kong airline, Hong Kong Airlines, will begin regular flights between Hong Kong and Naha starting in September.

Hong Kong Airlines will make four round-trip night flights using a Boeing 737 aircraft on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The airline joins its sister company, Hong Kong Express, which already flies round trips to Naha on a daily basis. Okinawa’s Vice Governor, Yoshiyuki Uehara, has been in China discussing increased aviation business with that country. Uehara’s discussions included creating new business companies to provide aircraft maintenance as well as beefing up overseas tourism. He met with aviation officials, including those from Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airline, to increase flights frequency and inaugurate new services.

Okinawa Prefecture’s looking into ways to provide aviation and aircraft services directly to foreign airlines. Airport operations, to include check-in counters and baggage services, fuel supplies, aircraft cleaning and maintenance are currently accomplished by Japan Air Line companies. JAL, now working to emerge from bankruptcy, is reducing the numbers of its workers, and is unable to handle increased service requirements new charter or commercial scheduled flights would entail. The new company, Uehara says, will be best, and adds Okinawa Prefecture will invest in the new company, which it plans to ask All Nippon Airways to manage.

Tourism is growing, with 50 charter flights coming from Beijing carrying 8,000 tourists, and others are coming from Bangkok and other Asian destinations. Vice Governor Uehara says the increased travel numbers means the runway at Naha International Airport must be increased, and a new international air terminal must be built. Japan’s Transport Ministry says it’s hoping to get in on the expanded growth in the number of Chinese travelers. “We are planning regular flights by the carrier linking Hong Kong with Narita and Haneda airports,” a ministry spokesman says.

Marine, airman stir another set of misbehavior crimes

Date Posted: 2010-08-26

A U.S. Marine is in Japanese police custody charged with theft, while an American airman is behind held on drunk driving charges.

Naha City Police busted Andy Saladin, a 28-year-old airman stationed at Kadena Air Base after he was stopped at a drunk driving checkpoint and failed the sobriety check. Saladin insisted to police who nabbed him in the Matsuo area Tuesday night that he wasn’t drunk, but was testing positive because he’d been taking a cold medicine. Cops didn’t buy the excuse, and arrested him.

The Marine involved in the latest theft incident is stationed at Camp Foster, but was busted at a bar in Okinawa City’s Chuo area after other customers accused him of stealing money from a wallet at the bar. Britton Daniel Smith is accused of sitting at the bar and taking ¥6,000 from a wallet laying on the bar. The 22-year-old Marine began fighting with customers who made the accusation, bringing police to the scene. After the man owning the wallet told police his money was gone, Daniel Smith was arrested.

It’s official: Ginowan’s mayor jumps into gubernatorial fray

Date Posted: 2010-08-26

Ginowan City’s fiery anti-American bases mayor is telling supporters he will challenge Hirokazu Nakaima in November’s Okinawa gubernatorial election.

The 58-year-old Yoichi Iha has long been a leading opponent of American bases being in Okinawa, and has often called for the Marine Corps’ Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in his city to be closed and the troops and aircraft moved off Okinawa. After months of being wooed by the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, as well as the Okinawa Social Mass Party, Iha agreed to run for governor, promising “this will be an election for showing the will of the people of the prefecture to the Japanese and U.S. governments, who are trying to foist the base on Okinawa.” The central government in Tokyo has made agreements with the United States to move Futenma, now on a hilltop surrounded by densely populated areas of Ginowan City, to a new airfield site in northern Okinawa. Once that’s done in 2014, 8,000 U.S. Marines will move to Guam and various U.S. installations in central Okinawa return to Japanese control.

Nakaima, whose term as governor expires in November, has signaled the Liberal Democratic Party and the local business community that he will seek reelection. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan has made no announcements who it will select to run in the November 28th gubernatorial election, or if it will even put a candidate on the ballot. The DPJ opted not to field a candidate for last month’s Upper House of Councilors election.

Marines: Don’t go packing bags for Guam yet

Date Posted: 2010-08-19

The timeline for shifting 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam appears to be slipping again, but this time it’s the U.S. Department of Defense — and not Okinawans opposed to moving Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to northern Okinawa—that’s causing all the commotion.

A just-released final Environmental Impact Statement from the Defense Department’s Joint Guam Program Office contains a proposal to defer transferring Marines and their families to as late as 2020, in order to reduce the environmental impact on Guam from the massive series of construction projects necessary for relocating the combat troops now stationed in Okinawa. The Environmental Impact Statement puts forth two mitigation scenarios to ease the turmoil levied upon Guam. One, “force flow reduction”, calls for rescheduling the timelines for moving Marines and their dependents. The second concept is “adaptive program management” that would adjust the entire issues of construction tempo and construction projects to spread them farther out.

“Extending the arrival of the military population over a greater period of time would lessen the need for various infrastructure upgrades to meet peak load demand in 2014,” the EIS states, adding “the proposed force flow reduction mitigation measure would both lower the overall peak population and decrease the rate of short-term population increase resulting from the proposed action, thereby reducing demands on utilities and many island services.”

The EIS spells out proposals for deferring the movement of some 10,552 individuals –including 8,552 Marines from Okinawa -- to Guam until 2017 by reducing the number of arrivals each year. The impact statement proposes moving only 2,468 people to Guam in 2014. The government document also offers a second proposal for completing the transfer operations by 2020. It would have 2,019 troops move in 2014, then moving to 7,408 in 2017 by putting into effect both the flow reduction measures and the construction tempo adaptations.

In a move that appears different from what Japanese government officials were saying only a week ago, the Environmental Impact Statement said the Japanese government would pick up the costs for ¥65 billion ($740 million) in public infrastructure construction, including water and sewage. Japan indicated earlier this month it wouldn’t contribute or loan the money to the Guam Power Authority or Guam Wastewater Authority because if feared the companies were too insolvent, and would not repay the loans and leave Japanese taxpayers footing the bill.

The EIS noted that construction of the new U.S. facilities in Guam should be frozen until Tokyo actually provides funds. Japan has confirmed it received a copy of the Environmental Impact Statement before its public release, but a Japanese Embassy source in Washington D.C. says it contained no U.S. proposals for altering the 2014 completion date for troop relocation from Okinawa to Guam.

Okinawa’s governor still dislikes Tokyo plans

Date Posted: 2010-08-19

Japan’s central government continues to try selling the idea of Futenma Marine Corps Air Station’s move to Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Nago City, and Okinawa’s governor continues to tell Tokyo “it’s far from being acceptable.”

Governor Hirokazu Nakaima is standing firm that Futenma must leave Okinawa, and has been rebuffing efforts by Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama and others who’re trying to persuade him the base is necessary in Okinawa. Fukuyama says he understands Nakaima’s frustrations, and says of his meetings with the governor “unfortunately, I have the feeling my explanations are not satisfactory to the governor.”

Fukuyama is the latest in a string of government officials to make the trek to Okinawa to appeal for support for the new airbase, even as apologies continue for Okinawa having to bear the largest share of burdens involved with hosting U.S. forces in the country. Nakaima’s support is essential, as only the governor has the authority to approve land reclamation in Oura Bay that is needed to build the two V-shape runways called for in the 2006 Japan ~ U.S. agreement.

Despite their disagreements, Nakaima and Fukuyama say they’ll continue talking as they seek a solution. Fukuyama says he hopes to gain local understanding by thoroughly consulting with the prefecture about ways to ease the burden on Okinawa. Nakaima, for his part, says Fukuyama’s ideas are far from what he and Okinawans are willing to accept. Fukuyama continues to press Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s position that the central government is making every possible move to ease burdens on Okinawa, while pressing forward with the relocation.

Kagoshima Prefecture’s governor, Yuichiro Ito, and three mayors of that prefecture’s Tokunoshima Island, have continued their objections to relocating some of Okinawa’s U.S. military training on that island. This week’s petition is the first sent by Kagoshima Prefecture and Tokunoshima Island officials demanding the island be removed from plans for relocating U.S. military training since Kan took office as Prime Minister.

Governor Nakaima has also renewed his call for Futenma to be closed. “There are several ways technically to remove the current risks of the Futenma base as soon as possible,” Nakaima said on the sixth anniversary of a Marine Corps helicopter crash just after takeoff from Futenma. He once more proposed relocating U.S. military training now staged from Futenma to other locations within mainland Japan.

The August 2004 crash of a Marine Corps CG-53D heavy lift helicopter onto the campus of Okinawa International University adjacent to Futenma injured no Ginowan City residents. Three Marine Corps crew members were injured. The crash led to calls for removing Futenma, which sits atop a hilltop surrounding a densely populated city.

American-made baby monitors interfere with communication

Date Posted: 2010-08-19

Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has issued a warning to U.S. Forces in Japan to stop allowing use of baby monitors that people have brought from the U.S. in homes of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines because they interfere with taxi and trucking company radio transmissions.

Unauthorized radio waves are emitted by the American-manufactured monitoring units, above the permissible levels or on frequencies assigned to mobile phone and radio base stations. The ministry calls use of the baby monitors interference in violation of the law. A U.S. Forces Japan spokesman says the military commands are working to curb use of the baby monitors brought from the United States, using broadcast and command information channels to get the word out.

Okinawa has become a hot spot for detection of the illegal radio waves since a 2008 crackdown. Okinawa, which hosts the largest segment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, says the communications ministry’s local telecommunication office has been investigating illegal radio waves coming from American residential areas, and has determined the radio transmissions were coming from the baby monitors. Similar tracking in military and military family housing areas in Tokyo, and in Kanagawa, Yamaguchi and Nagasaki Prefectures all turned up the same illegal radio waves.

Government officials note, however, that Japanese have also been using foreign-made baby monitors and other illegal devices—including transceivers and cordless telephones—that don’t meet Japanese technical standards. “There are situations in which these signals could affect important communications,” says a ministry spokesman, “so we hope people won’t use products that don’t comply with Japanese standards.”

Two U.S. servicemen arrested over theft, traffic law violation

Date Posted: 2010-08-19

Police arrested a 19-year-old U.S. Marine on suspicion of stealing from a taxi and a 33-year-old U.S. airman for an alleged traffic law violation on Saturday night in Okinawa Prefecture in separate cases, the police said Sunday. Police arrested the lance corporal from Camp Kinser in for allegedly stealing some 3,000 yen from a taxi in Ojana in Ginowan around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Marine was apprehended on the spot by police officers who responded to a report from the driver, but denied the allegation. The taxi driver called police after the Marine, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, reached into the cashbox of the taxi when the car was at a hamburger drive-through in the city, police said, adding there were two other passengers in the car.

Meanwhile, police arrested Technical Sgt Atiba Gresham from the U.S. Air Force’s Kadena Base in Kadena for allegedly refusing to take a breath test for drunken driving in the city of Okinawa around 11:15 p.m. Saturday.

According to police, they stopped his car on the road in the city as he was speeding and asked Gresham to take the test as they smelled alcohol.

Government won’t challenge Futenma noise suit decision

Date Posted: 2010-08-19

A high court ruling that the Japanese government must pay ¥369 million in noise damages compensation to residents living near Futenma Marine Corps Air Station will be honored, as Japan’s central government opted not to challenge the July 29th ruling.

The Fukuoka High Court’s Naha branch has ordered payment to 390 plaintiffs living near the base. The high court had acknowledged that the residents suffered health hazards caused by low frequency sound waves from helicopters, the first time any court has admitted that sound waves had an effect on people. The high court ruling increased by 250% the amount awarded by a Naha District Court in 2008.

Meanwhile, ten plaintiffs have appealed the order to the Supreme Court themselves, demanding that morning and evening flights at Futenma be stopped. The plaintiffs had sought the action during their noise suit, but the high court upheld the Naha District Court decision not to interfere with Futenma’s flight operations.

Japan balking at picking up utility infrastructure loans

Date Posted: 2010-08-12

It’s more than politics that appear to be slowing plans for relocating 8,000 Okinawa-based U.S. Marines to Guam, as Japanese officials are preparing to reject providing Guam Power Authority and Guam Waterworks Authority with loans to beef up their infrastructure.

Japan’s commitment to loan the Guam utility companies $740 million [¥63.2 billion] was contained in the 2006 Japan ~ U.S. Agreement that calls for moving 8,000 Marines to Guam by 2014, once Futenma Marine Corps Air Station is relocated from Ginowan City to northern Okinawa. Guam’s existing infrastructure cannot handle the influx of military personnel and families, and requires a massive upgrade before construction and personnel movement can be accomplished.

The problem, Japanese sources say, is learning Guam’s two beleaguered utility companies would probably wind up defaulting on the loans if they were granted, leaving Japanese taxpayers footing the bill. They say the wastewater disposal improvement project, as now designed, is already forecast to lose money, so Japan is planning to step aside. There was discussion of Japan and Guam creating a separate company to operate utilities, but sources say that can’t work because Guam Waterworks Authority facilities would be required.

Of the $740 million, $415~435 million would fund a sewage project, while $160~165 million would improve the tap water system. The other $160~170 million would fund improvements to the island’s antiquated electrical power grid system. A U.S. Government report says Guam Wasteworks Authority is deeply in debt due to low revenues from sewage bills. It says GWA probably couldn’t repay sewage system-related portions of loans, noting “the ability of GWA to secure necessary funding remains a key concern and a potential impediment” to the Marines’ transfer.

If the loans do not go through, the U.S. Government report says it would be inevitable for the Defense Department to “delay or not issue construction contracts…until such time as the financing is received from the government of Japan.” Such a development, the report states, “would severely impact the construction pace and the ability of the U.S. Navy to complete required construction to support the Marine Corps relocation” from Okinawa to Guam.

Tokyo is now predicting that a combination of factors, including the utilities and other infrastructure and construction issues, could push the completion date to as far as the end of 2010. Japanese government sources say “loans, if carried out as currently planned, would hardly be collectible, and the government cannot help but refuse to make the loans.”

Kan’s fate to be decided in DPJ presidential poll

Date Posted: 2010-08-12

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has marked September 14th clearly on his calendar; that’s the day his Democratic Party of Japan will conduct a presidential poll to decide whether he should remain in office.

Kan thinks he should, but DPJ executives have expressed concern about declines in party ratings. The DPJ lost seats in July’s House of Councilors election, but did pick up a small victory in a Nagano election a few days ago. Kan has met with DPJ Diet members and told them he’s excited about remaining Prime Minister and leading the party.

Meanwhile, many are watching the former DPJ secretary-general, wondering what he’ll do in the run-up to next month’s election poll. Ichiro Ozawa, who has been vocal and critical of Kan’s leadership, has a strong hand with the largest of the DPJ’s intraparty groups.

Guam opposes expanding the U.S. military footprint

Date Posted: 2010-08-12

The government of Guam, which years ago agreed to the plan to relocate 8,000 American Marines from Okinawa to the island, is now sending signals to the U.S. Defense Department not to think about expanding its footprint outside of existing bases and training areas.

Guam officials say they’re prepared for the planned transfer, even though they’d like to slow the timelines to allow for proper infrastructure construction. What they’re opposed to, and what they’ve told the U.S. Navy in a letter to Jackalyne Pfannensteil, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment, is that the Pentagon will expand the existing zone to accommodate the marines’ transfer. Senior Guam officials point out that more than one-third of the island is already under U.S. military control.

Pfannensteil, in testimony to a U.S. Congressional panel, said the Marines’ transfer could be delayed beyond 2014 because of local infrastructure problems. The Defense Department more-or-less concurred, saying a completion in 2017 is an option.

‘One runway or two?’, that’s the Henoko airfield question

Date Posted: 2010-08-09

A 2006 agreement calling for relocating Futenma Marine Corps Air Station from congested Ginowan City in central Okinawa to a rural area of northern Okinawa has for four years addressed having a pair of V-shape runways extending on reclaimed land into Oura Bay, but now the Japanese government has tossed a new proposal into the mix, calling for a single runway that the U.S. military says probably would not be long enough to safely conduct its missions.

The working-level group of experts poring over the technical aspects of the airfield relocation are at odds over how to handle the runways. The Americans are sticking with the two runways plan, while Japan suggests a single runway that would reduce land reclamation requirements by 25%. Bringing the two plans forward would, the Japanese government hopes, placate Okinawans who hopefully will accept the single runway concept with less animosity.

The technical experts were to have completed their work and final decisions made on the new base at Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Nago City before the end of August, but Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s government has decided to postpone decisions until after the Okinawa gubernatorial election in late November. Okinawa’s governor has the authority to grant permission for reclamation in Oura Bay, but the question of whether Governor Hirokazu Nakaima will be victorious over his expected challenger, anti-bases activist and Ginowan City Mayor Yoichi Iha, has the central government concerned. Nakaima has in the past supported the Henoko plan, provided the U.S. agreed to move the two V-shape runways further into the bay.

The V-shape runways, each 1,800 meters long, would take up an area of 205 hectares, requiring reclamation of 160 hectares, and would avoid helicopter flights over land. That’s the preferred plan by Washington. Japan’s idea for a single runway would require 150 hectares, including land reclamation totaling 120 hectares. The single runway, Japan argues, would be environmentally more correct, but would then require flights over hotels and a nearby golf course.

The decisions won’t be made until December at the earliest. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has ordered the process put on hold until after elections in Nago City in September and Okinawa Prefecture in November. Sources in Tokyo say Washington has agreed to the delay, and also to discussing the two different runway proposals. Other sources say U.S. officials have already agreed to changing to the single runway concept, a move that many in Kan’s government hope will mollify Okinawans who want Futenma moved out of the Prefecture.

Japan may shoulder more of Guam move

Date Posted: 2010-08-09

Saying his government hasn’t heard anything from the United States about delays to the 2014 target date for moving 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, the Chief Cabinet Secretary says Japan is considering increasing the amount of money it is contributing to the relocation process.

Yoshito Sengoku stressed at a news conference that the move must be made on schedule, noting “Japan and the U.S. must strenuously engage on financial, technical and a range of other matters.” Sengoku was reacting to a request made in mid-June by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, that Japan pick up additional costs for the Marines’ move. “We hope to do this through mutual cooperation as promised,” Sengoku said, “and there has been no notification from the United States that it has given up on the 2014 transfer or stopped it.”

Japan earlier agreed to shoulder $6.09 billion of the estimated $10.27 billion relocation cost, but new figures developed by the U.S. government indicate that costs for developing infrastructure—facilities for electricity, water and sewage—were going to be higher than expected. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy in charge of Energy, Installations and Environment, Jackalyne Pfannensteil, testified before a Defense Department panel that “recognizes that Guam has existing infrastructure deficiencies that could affect the ability of DoD to execute the program on an aggressive construction schedule.”

Okinawa residents demand Futenma MCAS be removed

Date Posted: 2010-08-09

Okinawans marched through the streets of Tokyo Monday, heading to the Foreign and Defense Ministries to demand Futenma Marine Corps Air Station be kicked out of Okinawa.

The Okinawan residents, most of them plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Japanese government over noise pollution caused by Futenma, staged a sit-in demonstration near the parliament building to make their points. “The government and many indifferent Japanese who think it is better to inflict the burden of hosting the U.S. bases on Okinawa are largely responsible for Okinawa’s current situation,” says the group leader, Zenji Shimada. “Is it fair that only Okinawa bears a heavy burden?”, he asks.

Ginowan City Mayor Yoichi Iha joined the protesters in Tokyo, pointing out that noise restrictions agreed upon by Japan and the United States are largely ignored at Futenma, where he says flights continue after 10 p.m. “The U.S. Forces don’t follow the rules,” Iha said, “and the Japanese government is unwilling to make them do so.

The plaintiffs, who a few days ago won some elements of their case in a decision by the Fukuoka High Court, say they’re not satisfied, because the flights were not ordered stop by the judges. The plaintiffs were awarded ¥369 million in damages, but the court refused to order a stop to nighttime and early morning flights at the base.

Island's first golf course turned back to Japan

Date Posted: 2010-08-05

Awase Meadows Golf Course, built in 1948 to provide recreation for U.S. forces in Okinawa, is no longer in the hands of the American military.

The 47 hectares [116.1 acres] golf course initially operated by the U.S. Army and more recently by the Marine Corps Community Services, was turned over to Japanese authorities Sunday, the first step in a process that will see the landscape transformed to a sprawling shopping center complex starting in 2013. The Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Bureau took down the U.S. installation signs Monday, replacing them with new signs advising passers-by the land is “Under Control of the Japanese state”. The government will maintain responsibility until the land is ultimately returned to the individual landowners after golf-related facilities are removed.

The transfer is part of a 1996 agreement between Japan and the United States. In exchange, the Japanese government covered costs of constructing the new Taiyo Golf Club, an 18-hole course located in the U.S. Kadena Ammunition Storage Area of Okinawa.

Awase was popular both with the military and Okinawan communities, who played often. Japanese citizens were permitted to play Awase Meadows Golf Course when accompanied by U.S. personnel, or when the course wasn’t fully booked. The course was important to local golfers who wanted to play in the days before courses began sprouting up all across the island.

Kitanakagusuku Village says the new commercial facility will house one of the largest shopping malls in Okinawa, with construction to start beginning in 2013. Mayor Kunio Arakaki says “there might be important cultural assets left somewhere in here, so we’d like to inspect it. It will take a while, perhaps five years, but I’ll support landowners and developers to promote this as a model site for a former military installation.”

Guam bans ship filled with spiders

Date Posted: 2010-08-05

In a week when seemingly everything having to do with the relocation of American Marines from Okinawa to Guam could go wrong, more has, as Guam officials have banned a ship filled with spiders turned up at Hagatna Port carrying construction materials for the project.

The ship was carrying a load of insulation and beams for housing units that are slated to be built to house up to 18,000 workers building the facilities to accommodate 8,000 Marines who are supposed to move from Okinawa to Guam within the next five years, but stevedores unloading the M/V Altavia encountered thousands of small spiders and hundreds of large ones. They quit working and called agriculture officials, who ordered the cargo placed back on the ship and then ordered it out of the port.

Joseph Torres, the Department of Agriculture Director, says “When you get this many from this many various sizes, it’s definitely an infestation” that wasn’t wanted on Guam. “We don’t want it here.” The ship, arriving in Guam from South Korea, had initially been given clearance from Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency officials who boarded the ship and gave clearance for cargo to be unlocked for unloading. Bernadette Meno, the marking administrator for the Port Authority of Guam, says once port workers saw the spiders, the containers were placed back on the ship and it ws anchored in the harbor, away from the piers. Subsequently, the ship was banned from Guam and ordered out to sea.

GI driver crashes truck near Ginoza Village

Date Posted: 2010-08-05

A Marine Corps truck veered off the road after the driver lost control of the vehicle early Saturday morning, with the truck crashing into a tree near Ginoza Village.

Authorities say the incident happened when the American tractor-trailer unit was on its way back to Camp Hansen following an exercise near Ginoza Village. The truck was one of three in a convoy on Route 329 when the vehicle left the road and struck a tree and a light pole, tearing the tree out of the ground. The U.S. Marine Corps says there were no injuries or damage to housing.

The truck’s driver said he’d driven the woodland pass road many times, but not with a large trailer. The Ginoza Village Office says the woodland road is used often by the Marines.