Residents submit request to not allow JSDF forces use of airports on Miyako and Shimoji Islands

Residents submit request to not allow JSDF forces use of airports on Miyako and Shimoji Islands

Okinawa civil engineering and construction section head Kunisada Uehara (2nd from the left) receiving the written request from the ‘We don’t need a missile base Miyakjima resident liaison council’ – September 23, at the Okinawa Prefectural Office


September 24, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

The “We don’t need a missile base Miyakojima resident liaison council,” (Seihan Nakazato, representative) which is made up of citizens groups from the Miyako region, submitted a request to Okinawa Prefecture asking the government to not allow the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to use Shimojishima airport, in accordance with the “Yara Memorandum,” which designates it solely for private use. Okinawa Prefectural Government’s Civil engineering and construction section head Kunisada Uehara said, “We will continue to use [the airport] while respecting the Yara Memorandum, and our previous policy will not change,” reaffirming their policy of not allowing the airport for use by the military.

The Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) National Congressional Defense Alliance asked then-Minister of Defense Taro Kono to allow the JSDF to use Shimojishima Airport in August, to which the liaison group indicates, “Allowing the JSDF to use Shimojishima airport necessarily also includes an influx of the U.S. military onto Miyako Island.”
With Shimojishima’s new project of equipping the airport with the capability of operating as a spaceport, there was worry that the sub-orbital flight technology could be diverted for military use. Uehara said, “Through and through it will be for private space flight,” indicating that it would not be diverted for military use.

Group representative Nakazato praised the prefectures response, saying, “We received a reassuring answer.” The appeal was also attended by Councillors Yoichi Iha and Tetsumi Takara, Representative Tomohiro Yara, and members of the prefectural assembly. A similar petition has been submitted to the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly.
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

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