Okinawans to Hatoyama: "We have the right to say NO!"

Okinawan protesters demonstrated their resistance to his proposal at every stop on Hatoyama's visit to their island. A Kyoto Action member followed Hatoyama's trail today and posted these at his blog:

9 a.m. - 400 people gather at the Okinawa Prefecture Office

Prefectural Assembly members remind the Hatoyama Administration: "Keep your campaign pledges!"

Futenma Volunteer Group and Ti-da Organization oppose bases at Futenma

2 pm - 200 people young and old gather at Futenma Elementary school expressing outrage at Hatoyama's about face

4 pm - Protesters at Camp Schwab insisting, "We have the right to say NO!"

Meeting with Mayor Inamine at Nago City. 300 protesters watch the meeting through the glass (Hatoyama is standing to the left. Mayor Inamine made clear his absolute opposition to the Hatoyama proposal: "We absolutely cannot accept such a plan.")

Emergency Appeal to Hatoyama: Listen to the Voices of the Okinawan People

Today Kyoto Action held an emergency appeal to Prime Minister Hatoyama--urging him to listen to the voices of the Okinawan people.

Kyoto Action members gathered in front of Takashimaya Department Store in the busiest shopping district in Kyoto and distributed flyers about Hatoyama's trip to Okinawa, his first trip to the island prefecture since taking office. Although Hatoyama previously promised he would not permit the construction of new bases in Okinawa, he has since done an about face: proposing the construction of a new base on Tokunoshima island and also the expansion of Camp Schwab in Henoko.

The site Kyoto Action chose is the most difficult place in Kyoto to distribute information. Most passersby are preoccupied with shopping and tend to ignore protesters. However, today it seemed as though Kyoto Action members were handing away free newspapers. People approached them first--asking for more information about the situtation in Okinawa--rather than the other way around. Members succeeded in passing out 450 flyers with the following information in only an hour:

“We don’t need military bases!” rang the voices of over 90,000 people who participated in the Prefecture-wide rally on April 25th. Okinawan citizens raised their voices, demanding that Futenma, known as the world’s most dangerous military base, be returned to the Okinawan people, and that plans to move bases to other places in Okinawa such as Henoko or White Beach, be cancelled. According to a census, over 90% of Okinawa prefecture residents are opposed to the relocation of bases. 75% of US bases in Japan occupy Okinawa. We can not allow any more bases to be pushed on Okinawa and the lands which the bases occupy must be returned to Okinawa at once.

Ever since the Liberal-Democratic Party decided on a plan to relocate the Airfield at Futenma to Henoko 13 years ago, there have been movements in Okinawa in opposition. Why must yet another military base be built in Okinawa? While emphasizing how dangerous Futenma Air Field, they want to build another one in Okinawa? This irrational plan is what the LDP was trying to force onto Okinawa. Yet, despite pressure to accept the plan, the Okinawan people relentlessly struggled against it, and eventually the Henoko plan was retracted.

However, PM Hatoyama, while saying he will not build another base in Okinawa, is resurrecting the idea of constructing bases in Okinawa again after being denied by the U.S. government. These proposals are practically the same as the LDP’s.- to create a base off the shore from Henoko or at White Beach. This will end up destroying nature and building yet another dangerous base in Okinawa. This is absolutely ludicrous. “We are going to build a base even if Okinawans oppose it.” This seems to be the opinion of some members within the Democratic Party of Japan. We should not be listening to the U.S. government any longer. Isn’t it the voices of the Okinawan people who have been suffering under the pressure of the bases for 65 years since the end of the war whose voices need to be heard? We must join together and oppose the bases in Okinawa!

Today, after meeting with Governor Hirokazu Naikama, a pale-faced Hatoyama dressed in a yellow, short-sleeved Okinawan print shirt, told members of the media at a press conference that he owed an apologies to the Okinawan people for causing them to suffer while searching for a solution and asked for the Okinawan people's understanding in his inability to relieve the burden of the bases.

Prime Minister Hatoyama answering questions about the deterrent power

of the Marines at a press conference after meeting with Okinawan Governor Naikama

For a previous TTT posts about Kyoto Action, click here for a summary of the group's action and here for information about the April 25th Solidarity Demonstration and a video.

- Jen Teeter

Kyoto Solidarity Rally and Prime Minister Hatoyama to visit Okinawa Governor Hatoyama hopes to meet Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima May 4th

This just in: NHK just showed clips of Prime Minister Hatoyama, dressed in an light yellow Okinawan-print shirt, presenting his thoughts on bases in Okinawa after meeting with Okinawa governor Hirokazu Naikama. He emphasized the inevitability of some bases remaining in Okinawa and is suggesting that Futenma Airfield be relocated to Tokunoshima and Camp Schwab. In response, Nakaima stated that Hatoyama is clearly ignoring the voices of the people.

Over 100,000 people joined together in Okinawa to protest against U.S. bases this past Sunday, April 25th. Around 400 people participated in a solidarity open-air tea party, demonstration, and rally where community members could enjoy Okinawan food and music while discussing the occupation of U.S. bases in Okinawa. The following is a video with highlights from the event organized by Kyoto Action (For a previous entry on Kyoto action, click here):



More photos and information in Japanese can be found at the Kyoto Action website.

Coverage in Japanese can be found at Kyoto Shinbun, Asahi Shinbun, and the Mainichi Shinbun.

Despite Prime Minister Hatoyama's proclamation that he will not allow new bases to be built in Okinawa, he is now reconsidering those plans. He is meeting with 3 mayors from Tokunoshima in Tokyo when he returns. Kyoto Action wants to make sure that we all keep an eye on PM Hatoyama in his negotiations and make sure that bases are no longer pushed on Okinawa.

To that effect, there will be an emergency action today (May 4th) in front of Takashimaya Department Store in Kyoto from 5:30pm. Participants will get the chance to engage in dialogue about the bases, receive information, or help pass out information about the danger of U.S. bases and collect petition signatures. Here is a translation of the flyer for those who can not attend:

“We don’t need military bases!” rang the voices of over 90,000 people who participated in the Prefecture-wide rally on April 25th. Okinawan citizens raised their voices, demanding that Futenma, known as the world’s most dangerous military base, be returned to the Okinawan people, and that plans to move bases to other places in Okinawa such as Henoko or White Beach, be cancelled. According to a census, over 90% of Okinawa prefecture residents are opposed to the relocation of bases. 75% of US bases in Japan occupy Okinawa. We can not allow any more bases to be pushed on Okinawa and the lands which the bases occupy must be returned to Okinawa at once.

Ever since the Liberal-Democratic Party decided on a plan to relocate the Airfield at Futenma to Henoko 13 years ago, there have been movements in Okinawa in opposition. Why must yet another military base be built in Okinawa? While emphasizing how dangerous Futenma Air Field, they want to build another one in Okinawa? This irrational plan is what the LDP was trying to force onto Okinawa. Yet, despite pressure to accept the plan, the Okinawan people relentlessly struggled against it, and eventually the Henoko plan was retracted.

However, PM Hatoyama, while saying he will not build another base in Okinawa, is resurrecting the idea of constructing bases in Okinawa again after being denied by the U.S. government. These proposals are practically the same as the LDP’s.- to create a base off the shore from Henoko or at White Beach. This will end up destroying nature and building yet another dangerous base in Okinawa. This is absolutely ludicrous. “We are going to build a base even if Okinawans oppose it.” This seems to be the opinion of some members within the Democratic Party of Japan. We should not be listening to the U.S. government any longer. Isn’t it the voices of the Okinawan people who have been suffering under the pressure of the bases for 65 years since the end of the war whose voices need to be heard? We must join together and oppose the bases in Okinawa!

Charles Douglas Lummis on U.S. Military Expansion @Osaka (Tues, Dec 22) @ Kyoto (Wed, Dec 23)

Charles Douglas Lummis at a book signing event

Charles Douglas Lummis, a San Francisco born, resident of Okinawa who contributed extensively to the anti-Vietnam movement in Japan has been invited to speak in Kyoto and Osaka this week about U.S. military expansion. He is prolific author, most well-known for his book Radical Democracy and for his outspokenness about his experience in the U.S. Military as noted in his self-introduction at the Oakland Table:

I entered U.C. Berkeley in 1954 on a Navy ROTC contract, and accordingly, when I graduated in 1958 I entered the U.S. Marines for three years, the third of which I spent in a military base on Okinawa. (Much of my life since then has been spent trying to figure out how I could have let such a thing happen.)

In a recent article entitled Yes We Can (But We Won't): Obama, Hatoyama, and Okinawa, Lummis writes about the resilience of Henoko and Futenma residents in opposing U.S. military bases.

Tuesday, December 23rd, Osaka: The Relocation of Futenma & Okinawa's Burden

Two Kansai organizations, the Citizens Group Against the Imposition of Bases in Okinawa and Osaka Action to Prevent the Construction of Bases in Henoko have invited Lummis to share his thoughts on the burdens that Okinawans face because of U.S. military colonization.

The event will take place at the Hirao Okinawan Kaikan which is in the heart of the vibrant Okinawan community in the Taisho ward in Osaka. This Okinawan community was born after the further amplification of Japanese colonization during the Taisho Era (1912-1925) brought economic crisis to the Ryukyu islands. This period is otherwise known as the "sotetsu jigoku," or "Cycad Hell" because the cycad was the only food that many Okinawans could find to eat at the time.

Mass starvation forced many Okinawans to migrate to Osaka in search of work in factories, although they were often turned away from employers, many of whom displayed signs on their windows stating "Ryukyuans and Koreans need not apply!" Facing ethnic discrimination and difficulties finding work, Japanese assimilation policies wreaked havoc on Okinawan culture and language. However, after ownership of the Ryukyus was transferred to Japan in the 1970s, a grassroots movement in the Taisho ward gained strength and started a housing movement to address Okinawan homelessness while the community began revitalizing its culture making the Taisho district a hub for lovers of the Okinawan festival dance Eisa.

This event on such an important issue in a region so rich in cultural survival is one not to be missed.

To get to the Hirao Okinawa Kaikan, get off the train at JR or Subway Taishou (大正) Station and then take the bus at platform 4 or 5 to Hirao (平尾)
A map in Japanese can be found on this page.

Event start: 7pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)
Entrance fee: 1000yen

For more information about the Osaka event contact the Okinawa Bunko.
Telephone: (06)6552-6709

Wednesday, December 23rd, Kyoto: U.S. Military Realignment and Okinawa

The Kyoto Organization Against the Strengthening of the Imperial System has also invited Lummis to speak in Kyoto on Wednesday, December 23rd at the Kyoto Buraku Liberation Center which is located five minutes walk on foot to the north of Kuramaguchi Station.

Event start: 1pm (Doors open at 12:30pm)
Entrance Fee: 500yen

Mao Ishikawa- The people living around the U.S. Bases in Okinawa November 7-14th.

Kaze no Ne is hosting a photo exhibition of Mao Ishikawa's photographs of Okinawan islanders living around the US Bases from November 7th to November 14th.*.

Okinawawan photographer Mao Ishikawa, and author of Okinawa Soul (pictured below) is known to be one of the first female photographers to break into to the male dominated field.

According to Eyecurious:

Mao Ishikawa grew up on the islands of Okinawa, which meant a childhood where the US military was a major and unavoidable presence. Speaking about her relationship with the American military, she has said, “I have two hearts in one body,” describing her love for American soldiers and hatred of the American government.

 The 50 photos displayed at the exhibitoin, provide insight into the Okinawan self-determination movement to discontinue Futenma Airfield reconstruction plans.


At present, 75% of the funding for U.S. bases on Japanese territory comes directly from the Japanese government. This revenue would better serve Okinawan citizens if it were redirected to create a self-sufficient Okinawan economy, rather than relying on military colonization.


This exhibition marks the first time that Ishikawa's photos will be presented in Kyoto.

*Kaze no Ne is closed on the 9th and 10th.

075－721-4522

Japanese map available here. 

The event is brought to Kyoto by  Kyoto Action.