Gushiken says collecting soil from former battlefield is a “huge mistake” in MOD/MHLW meeting
Gushiken says collecting soil from former battlefield is a “huge mistake” in MOD/MHLW meeting
April 22, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo
There is currently a plan to use soil from the southern part of Okinawa Island, where the Battle of Okinawa was fought, in the construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF) in Henoko, Nago City. As concerns this plan, on April 21 Takamatsu Gushiken of the volunteer group “Gamafuya” for recovering the remains of war dead participated in a meeting at the National Diet for the first time with personnel from the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), and requested suspension of this plan. Gushiken emphatically said, “The Ministry of Defense is making a huge mistake,” and again urged that the plan be abandoned.
Also attending the meeting were an army soldier who fought in the Battle of Okinawa, and Wakako Yonemoto from Chiba Prefecture, who is a 25-year-old family member of a Japanese soldier who died in the Battle. Yonemoto mentioned that her grandfather’s remains have not yet been found, and said, “My grandfather is certainly in Okinawa. It will be as though he was killed three times over: killed in battle, killed by the digging contractors, and submerged in the sea in Henoko.”
Gushiken said, directed at the MHLW, that he hope for a return to the standpoint of accomplishing essential operations, and requested that the MHLW put pressure on the MOD to suspend the plan. The MHLW, together with the Okinawa prefectural government, has jurisdiction over projects for recovering the remains of soldiers fallen in the Battle of Okinawa. In response to Gushiken, a representative of the MOD repeated the opinion the MOD has held to this point, which is “We have not decided on soil procurement sites, including options within the prefecture and outside the prefecture.” A representative of the MHLW simply said, “As concerns recovering the remains of fallen soldiers, we want to devise a solution while observing the wishes of their families.”
(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)
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