NAHA —

A group of 18 intellectuals in Okinawa issued a joint statement Thursday opposing a Japan-U.S. plan to build a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futemma Air Station. Kunitoshi Sakurai, president of Okinawa University, Moriteru Arasaki, professor emeritus at the university, Masaaki Gabe, professor at the University of the Ryukyus, and prize-winning novelist Tatsuhiro Oshiro, were among the group that issued the statement at a news conference at the Okinawa prefectural government office in Naha.

The group said it will send the statement to U.S. presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama of the Democratic Party and Sen. John McCain of the Republican Party. ‘‘Construction of a new military base would destroy mountains and kill the sea,’’ the group said in the statement. ‘‘Okinawa does not need such a facility,’’ it said. The concentration of U.S. military facilities in Okinawa Prefecture is based on the logic that troublesome facilities are permissible in the prefecture, which is located far away from Japan’s four main islands and the population of which accounts for less than 1 percent of Japan’s total population of 127 million, it said. The group said it plans to hold a number of symposiums on the issue of military bases in Okinawa. Japan and the United States have agreed to relocate the Futemma base from densely populated Ginowan in the southern part of Okinawa Island to Camp Schwab in Nago in the northern part of the island. But it is not clear when the relocation will be realized due to difficulties in talks between Japan’s central government and the Okinawa prefectural government over the replacement airfield to be built in Nago.

Kyodo

11 Comments

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  Anung at 08:09 AM JST - 15th August

  Adding another base in Okinawa? I don't think there's enough land left on that island to build another Mcdonalds let alone a base? Isn't there enough bases there already? Besides the level of conflict between the Americans and Okinawa natives is at an all time high. Doing this would be a death sentence per say; between American and Okinawan relations. Besides the mainland government could careless about the island, as long as they keep the bases off the mainland.

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  OssanULTRA at 08:12 AM JST - 15th August

  I don't understand where this is coming from. I thought moving troops from Okinawa to Guam was to avoid this.

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  Farmboy at 08:51 AM JST - 15th August

  18 intellectuals? Did they have to pass a test? I have to agree that building another military installation would be insane.

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  burikko at 09:29 AM JST - 15th August

  There live dugongs(sea cow) , in the sea of Nago. Construction of a new military base would exterminate them.

  U.S. people should realize that.

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  burikko at 09:31 AM JST - 15th August

  Save the dugong.

  http://www.sdcc.jp/e/E-top.html

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  sk4ek at 09:41 AM JST - 15th August

  Here is a link to another hard-working organization opposing the creation of a new base at Nago.

  http://www.fhan.org/

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  techall at 09:56 AM JST - 15th August

  This is not a new proposal. This has been in the planning and discussion stage for years. The plan is to replace Futenma air station and return the land that Futenma occupies to the prefecture.

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  IchyaParadise at 10:37 AM JST - 15th August

  Like techall said, this has been in the works since late 1990's. This is also to lower the noise pollution and traffic within that area as it is. The sites had been previously picked and this is nothing new. Moving troops to Guam only helped in decreasing the military presence in Okinawa. The only people who are gonna be hurt from this are the local shops.

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  bamboohat at 11:15 AM JST - 15th August

  NIMBY

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  def at 11:57 AM JST - 15th August

  The only people who are gonna be hurt from this are the local shops.

  Absolutely untrue. The economy around the bases is poor. When the bases disappear, the land is used by the locals and the economy thrives (like Shintoshin, which was a base 20 years ago, and is now the most prosperous area of Naha). The sooner America leaves Okinawa, the better.

  North Okinawa is a beautiful, bases will only destroy that.

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  teaabe at 04:15 PM JST - 15th August

  i knew a Guam/Chamorroh dude at work. says he finds the us base in guam a disgrace.

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