At external affairs symposium, former Kwansei Gakuin University professor Narahiko Toyoshita and others discuss Okinawa as cornerstone of disarmament

At external affairs symposium, former Kwansei Gakuin University professor Narahiko Toyoshita and others discuss Okinawa as cornerstone of disarmament

Speakers discuss their views on the Henoko issue and potential resolutions on the afternoon of May 18 at the second-floor auditorium of the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum in Omoromachi, Naha


May 19, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 18, the Okinawa External Affairs Study Group held a 20th anniversary symposium titled “The Imaginative Power to Stop Henoko” at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum in Omoromachi, Naha. Former Kwansei Gakuin University professor Narahiko Toyoshita gave the keynote speech, in which he spoke of the need to call for demilitarization from Okinawa in response to global militarization as seen in the Okinawa base issue and the friction between the U.S. and China.

Toyoshita argued that “800,000 Okinawans were thrown into an abnormal state in which they were governed by no constitution and had no nationality” in April 1952 as a result of Article 3 of the Treaty of San Francisco. He stated that even when the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960, “making Article 3 a dead letter, the [Japanese] government made no protest to the United States, and the U.S. blue-sky policy, whereby ‘the United States will rule Okinawa until the sky over East Asia is cloudless and blue,’ remains in effect today.”

“Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told President Putin that U.S. military bases will not be installed on the two islands even after their return” during Japan-Russia negotiations over the Northern Territories, said Toyoshita. “He announced that Japan has veto power under the Status of Forces Agreement.” Therefore, “[Abe] must certainly be able to demand that the United States conform to the Civil Aeronautics Act with respect to eliminating the dangers posed by Futenma Air Station.”

The tension between the U.S. and China has caused many nations to arm themselves more heavily, and in 2018 global military expenditure reached 203 trillion yen. “They say that militarization occurs because there are threats, but militarization is itself the threat. We must focus on how to turn that realization into popular opinion,” emphasized Toyoshita. He discussed the United Nations’ Agenda for Disarmament, which lays out an action plan for disarmament, and said, “Okinawa should become a cornerstone of disarmament.”

After the keynote speech, experts discussed issues with the Henoko new base construction and possible resolutions. Okinawa External Affairs Study Group representative and University of the Ryukyus professor Masaaki Gabe facilitated the discussion.

(English translation by T&CT and Sandi Aritza)

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