Three university students urge pressure on government to protect remains of war dead

Three university students urge pressure on government to protect remains of war dead

(From right) Yuto Ishikawa, Keigo Nishio, and Kazu Nakamoto explaining the “Urgent Action” campaign during a Zoom conference on April 14.


April 14, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

Three university students started Urgent Action (Kinkyu Action), a public pressure campaign on the Japanese government to block a soil collecting project in southern Okinawa, where remains of the war dead from the Battle of Okinawa lay. Additionally, the campaign rallies support for Governor Denny Tamaki’s response against the mining contractor, which submitted a permit to operate in Itoman City.

The three originators of Urgent Action are Keigo Nishio, 22, a student at Yale University in the U.S.; Yuto Ishikawa, 22, and Kazu Nakamoto, 21, graduate students at Okinawa International University.

The Okinawa prefectural government is currently reviewing legal options to block the contractor, which submitted a permit to operate in Yonesu, Itoman City. The trio is urging the public at large to send letters to the Japanese government to stop the sand and soil collection in the southern city, and to encourage Governor Tamaki to make the “right decision” in dealing with the contractor by the April 16 deadline.

Nishio asked for broad public support as he emphasized, “[The situation] is being framed as a prefectural conflict between the Okinawan government and the contractor. But the most consequential party is the national government, and the victims are the war dead and their bereaved families.”

(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki)

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