Newspaper ad opposing relocation of Futenma Air Station within Okinawa put on New York Times website

Newspaper ad opposing relocation of Futenma Air Station within Okinawa put on New York Times website

Newspaper advertisement that demands immediate closure of Futenma Air Station and opposes relocation of the air station within the prefecture.


September 22, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

From September 21 to 22, volunteers from citizen groups opposing the relocation of the Futenma Air Station to Henoko put a newspaper advertisement in the international news section of New York Times electronic edition, the most popular American online newspaper website. In the ad they demanded the immediate closure of Futenma Air Station and opposed its relocation to any other site within the prefecture.

They timed this to coincide with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s four-day visit to the United States, which began on September 21.

Although the volunteers had put newspaper advertisements in local newspapers and national newspapers in Japan, this was the first time that they have put an advertisement in the electronic edition of an American newspaper.

In the advertisement, they pointed out that the U.S. Congress has drastically cut military spending in order to reduce the federal budget deficit, stating, “Futenma Air Station is putting America’s friends in danger. Closing Futenma will save Americans money and will create American jobs when the Marines come home.”

Ai Ikuta, one of the advocates for putting newspaper advertisement in the New York Times electronic edition, and the person who coordinated the volunteers, said, “We can get people all over the world to read our message by putting newspaper advertisement in the New York Times electronic edition. I would like our grass-roots movement to spread through the advertisement.”

(English Translation by T&CT, Mark Ealey)

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