[Nago] On December 22, the Emergency Protest Rally Demanding the Removal of the Defective Aircraft Osprey took place following the crash-landing accident of the U.S. military vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft MV-22 Osprey at the coast of Abu of Nago City. The rally was held at the 21st Century Forest Park Gymnasium in Nago, and about 4,200 Okinawans attended. Participants appealed to the public during the rally. They said that Okinawa will work with Governor Takeshi Onaga to prevent leaving behind a seed of chaos for the next generation. Okinawans will also continue to fight with the governor until: Ospreys are removed, the Futenma Air Station is closed and removed, and the construction on the new base in Henoko is abandoned.
During the rally, Governor Onaga spoke in Shimakutuba, an endangered Ryukyuan language, for part of his speech. He said, “If we don’t let them construct the new Henoko base, then we can also remove the Ospreys. We must not let them construct the base.” He also touched on the construction of the helicopter landing strips, or helipads, in the Northern Training Area (NTA), and criticized the situation. He said, “The Ospreys operating close to Takae of Higashi Village is a grave issue. The government forcing through with the land return ceremony does not make them seem at all considerate of Okinawans.”
Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine also spoke in Shimakutuba, and opposed the construction of the helipads in the U.S. military NTA. He said, “The new base in Henoko and the helipads in Takae – no means no.” He also severely criticized the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) for merely repeating what the U.S. military says regarding the Osprey crash accident. He said, “(The ODB) has zero ability to serve as the party in charge. We’d be better off if they weren’t involved at all.”
Suzuyo Takazato, joint-representative of the All-Okinawa Council, which hosted the protest rally, also made a comment. She pointed out, “The Japanese government permitted the operations of the Ospreys to resume without conducting a strict investigation. You could say that this accident was caused by the Japanese government.”
During the rally, one speaker said, “Conservatives and reformists must work as one to stop the construction of the new base in Henoko and Ospreys from flying.” Another said, “Okinawan people’s anger has reached a boiling point, and they can no longer be patient. We must join forces to confront both the Japanese and U.S. governments” Yet another said, “We will continue to fight as long as the bases exist.” Participants showed their determination toward the battle that is to come in removing the Ospreys and preventing the construction of the new base in Henoko of Nago.
Six Diet members elected by Okinawa from the opposing party of the government also participated in the rally.
The rally was arranged to take place around the same time as the Northern Training Area Land Return Ceremony, which was held at the Bankoku Shintryokan Okinawa Resort MICE Facility in Nago.
(English translation by T&CC and Chelsea Ashimine)
On December 22, at the Prefectural Assembly’s final regular meeting of the year, the protest resolution and written opinion proposed by the ruling party passed by majority. As a strong protest to the Osprey crash on December 13, the resolution demands the withdrawal of Osprey deployment in Okinawa, abandonment of Futenma Air Station relocation within Okinawa, and the withdrawal of the Marine Corps from Okinawa, among other requests. The LDP’s proposed resolution and written opinion failed to pass a majority vote.
In regards to top commander of the U.S. Forces in Okinawa Lawrence Nicholson’s response to the incident, such as his comment that Japan should be “grateful” the Osprey did not cause damage or harm to the local residents or homes, the passed protest resolution also requests a replacement for Nicholson as Okinawa Area Coordinator.
The ruling party’s resolution passed with 26 votes supporting, 15 votes against, and 6 absences. The LDP’s resolution received 15 votes supporting, 26 votes against, and 6 absences. Four Komeito members and two Japan Innovation Party members had walked out on the vote.
On the afternoon of December 20, the Second Petty Bench of the Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Kaoru Onimaru, dismissed Okinawa’s appeal in the lawsuit brought against Okinawa by the national government to have Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga’s cancellation of approval to reclaim land in Henoko, Nago City declared illegal. The Supreme Court accepted the national government’s claims and reaffirmed the ruling by the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court that Onaga’s cancellation of the approval was illegal. In light of the ruling, Governor Onaga is expected to “cancel” the cancellation before the year ends, and the national government intends to resume land reclamation construction as early as the beginning of next year. Meanwhile, Governor Onaga has expressed his intention to maintain his stance of blocking construction of a new base in Henoko, and the confrontation between the prefectural and national governments over the new base construction has entered a new phase.
Car transporting Okinawa’s representatives into the Supreme Court around 2:20 p.m. on December 20
In the first trial in the lawsuit to have the Okinawan governor’s “inaction” declared illegal, the Naha Branch of the Fukuoka High Court ruled on September 16 that Governor Onaga’s cancellation of the approval was illegal, its ruling accepting the claims of the national government, which called on the court to confirm the illegality of the approval cancellation, in their entirety. The Okinawa prefectural government objected to the ruling and appealed on September 23. On December 12, the Supreme Court determined that it would reach a verdict without holding any hearings, and used a portion of the prefectural government’s petition for acceptance of final appeal regarding judicial precedents and violation of laws and regulations as the subject of its deliberations.
Regarding the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko, then-Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima approved the Okinawa Defense Bureau’s application for approval of land reclamation on December 27, 2013. Governor Onaga, who was elected campaigning on the promise to block the Henoko new base construction, cancelled the approval on October 13, 2015. After the national and prefectural governments came to an out-of-court settlement in a separate “proxy execution” lawsuit where the national government sought a court ruling permitting it to approve the land reclamation in place of the prefectural government, the national government filed the present “declaration of illegality of inaction” lawsuit at the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court on July 22, 2016.
December 11, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
Washington Special Correspondent Sakae Toiyama reporting
Veterans for Peace (VFP), a peace organization created by retired military service people with 120 chapters throughout the U.S. passed a pair or resolutions concerning military base construction in Okinawa on December 10. The first resolution called for a halt on the construction of new facilities in Henoko in Nago as part of the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma. The second was an emergency resolution calling for a halt on new helipad construction in the Takae area of Higashi as part of the partial return to Japan of the majority of the land in the Northern Training Area (NTA). Representatives from each VFP chapter initially passed both resolutions in August at their annual convention, however this time the resolutions were officially ratified by a majority vote of all VFP members.
Douglas Lummis, representative of the VFP Ryukyu-Okinawa Chapter (VFP-ROCK) which proposed the resolution, and lecturer at Okinawa Christian University, commented, “We can encourage various chapters to take action against the problems in Okinawa.” With the passage of this resolution, VFP-ROCK will continue to work with assemblies throughout the U.S. to pass additional resolutions opposing new base construction.
In the written resolution opposing this new construction in Henoko, the VFP stressed that both Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga and Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine oppose the construction. Additionally, it requested that each chapter work towards with bodies such as local legislatures to pass resolutions calling for: 1. the withdrawal of all Marines of the Futenma 1st Marine Aircraft Wing 2. Revoking plans for new base construction, and 3. Removing all of the Osprey helicopters from Okinawa.
On December 1, Toshinobu Nakazato, a member of the Lower House, and members of “9.29 Kenmin taikai ketsugi wo jitsugen saseru kai” (the association for realizing the resolution adopted at the 9.29 prefectural people’s rally) held a press conference at the prefectural press club in Naha. Nakazato stated that the description of “forced mass suicides” in the Battle of Okinawa has been revised and mentioned in the Yamakawa Publishing Company’s high school history textbook “Detailed Japanese History B Revised Edition.”
Advisor to the Association and Chairperson of High School PTA Federation Haruo Nakanishi welcomed the change, and said, “We feel that a part of a large mountain has moved.” Since the ambiguity of the compulsion of the Japanese Imperial Army and the absence of the description of “residents’ massacre” have not been revised, the association intends to keep requesting the revision to the company.
According to the association, the description of “forced mass suicides” will be included in the main high school history textbook with the correction this time.
At the press conference, Nakazato suggested that he would submit a memorandum on questions to seek the views and ideas of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on this additional correction.
The amendment of the textbook verification criteria added, “The description should be based on the government’s unified viewpoint and precedents of Supreme Court” when dealing with modern history.
Based on that the Oe-Iwanami trial has confirmed that the military involvement in the “forced mass suicides,” Nakazato will ask about the attitude of the Ministry that approved applications for correction of Yamanaka Publishing.
A major travel arrangement website in UK called Skyscanner announced “top holidays destination,” and Okinawa ranked as the sixth in the top seven destinations. Okinawa is only place ranked from Asia, described as “the most beautiful and mysterious beaches.” According to the prefecture it is the first time Okinawa was selected in the rank.
The Rakuten Travel, a domestic trip arrangement service, also announced Okinawa as the first rank in the popular domestic travel destinations on December 15. The popularity of Okinawa as a tourism destination has been dominant.
In the Skyscanner’s recommended travel destinations, the first rank went to the Mediterranean island country, Malta. An autonomous state of Spain, Asturias State, was selected for the second as well as a Caribbean island country of Barbados as the third in the ranking.
In 2016, the number of searches for flight tickets to Okinawa increased by 44 percent on the previous year. The popularity of Okinawa as a major travel destination was attributed to the opening of global-brand hotels such as Hilton and Hyatt, as well as to the island’s coral reefs, which provide great diving and snorkeling, including a “wonderful cave experience”.
Skyscanner is the top travel website in Europe, the US, Asia and the Pacific regions, enabling customers to easily compare the costs for flights tickets and hotels sold in various travel websites. 60 million people use the website monthly, and the website provides the service in 30 different languages.
In the Rakuten Travel domestic travel destination ranking, an increase in tourists to northern Okinawa, Miyako Island, and Irabu Island helped boost Okinawa’s popularity.
On December 15, the Board of Governors of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) selected Dr. Peter Gruss from Germany to be the next president of OIST Graduate University, succeeding Dr. Jonathan Dorfan who has served as the current President. On December 15, Dr. Gruss held a press conference at the Cabinet Office and shared the potentiality and visions of OIST.
Dr. Gruss is a prominent scholar in fields of gene regulation and developmental biology. He has experienced in managing research institute that includes serving as the president of the Max Planck Institutes, which has a high reputation internationally from 2002 to 2014.
At the meeting, Dr. Gruss stressed that “OIST has very high potentials to become established one of the great research universities in the world.” He also said, “OIST carries out basic research and then gradually passes on to applied research in stages. It will lead to start businesses, and OIST can contribute to developing traditional industries.”
His vision is placed on the importance of recruiting outstanding faculty and develop scholarly research by ensuring the research fund.
In light of the crash accident of an MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft from Futenma Air Station, residents of Higashi Village and Takae Ward came to the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) to request the removal of Osprey on the morning of December 20. Ward Chief Kumiko Nakamine said that after this Takae residents will be forced to live their daily lives surrounded by helipads, and lives burdened with even more noise and anxiety of aircraft crashes. She went on to say that the only way to ease Takae residents’ anxiety and implement base burden reduction is to remove Osprey.
Director-General of the ODB Koichiro Nakajima made an apology about the accident and spoke in regards to helipad construction. He said that he is aware of the further anxiety residents will feel due to new building of helipad, but asked that residents allow the ODB to make its best efforts.
On December 16, Vice-Minister of Defense Kenji Wakamiya visited the Nago city office to apologize to Mayor Susumu Inamine after an MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft belonging to the Futenma base in Ginowan crashed into shallow water off the coast of Abu in Nago. Wakaminiya said, “The accident really worried local citizens. I have deeply apologized for that. I have requested the U.S.military take all the usual care to avoid this kind of accident.”
Inamine strongly condemned the crash saying it could have threatened the safety of local citizens.
“I will demand that the governments of Japan and United States should immediately withdraw the osprey, close Futenma Air Base, and cancel all Osprey flights,” he said.
Wakamiya said, “I am requesting that the commander of U.S. Forces in Japan identify the cause of the accident, release it as soon as possible, and stop osprey flights until the issue cleared.”
On October 26, 2016, the aircraft was sighted flying over the city office. An object that appeared to be a hose used for aerial refueling could be seen. Pointing this out, Inamine asked, “Have the military been carrying out flight training not only on the sea but also on the land?”
MV-22 Osprey aircraft belonging to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan City took off the base and resumed the full flight operation at 1:58 p.m. on December 19. The MV-22 vertical takeoff and landing aircraft’s flight operations had been suspended after the crash at the coast of Abu, Nago City in the night of December 13.
An MV-22 Osprey, which had been parked at the Iejima auxiliary airfield of Ie Island, took off at 2:32 p.m. on December 19.
The U.S. military explained that the reason for resuming flight on July 19 was to return the Osprey, which was parked at the Iejima auxiliary airfield, to Futenma.
It was confirmed on the afternoon of December 18 that an MV-22 was parked at a helicopter-landing zone (helipad) near the landing zone “LHD deck” of the island.
The aircraft had been flying to Ie Island before the accident took place on December 13, but the date and reason for its operation have not been revealed.
It is confirmed that trucks were coming and going at the Iejima auxiliary airfield before noon on December 19 for resuming its flight.
The bulk of the wreckage remains without being able to recover at the crash scene of the aricraft.
In the situation that the recovery operation for the plane’s fuselage is not completed six days after the crash, resuming the flights of the MV-22s could fuel the prefectural people’s protest further.
At the Futenma base, an Osprey began rotating its propeller blades at about 1:43 p.m., and another 1:50 p.m. on the same day.
The Okinawa Defense Bureau officials conveyed the information on the resumption of the flights for the Osprey aircraft to the prefectural government and the concerned municipal offices, including Nago City on the morning of the same day.
On December 15, the wreckage of the MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft from Futenma Air Station that crashed on the shore in Abu, Nago, was moved to a separate beach about 800 meters away from the actual crash site. In order to ensure passage for carrying out the wreckage between the beach and a waiting lot for military trucks, the U.S. military singlehandedly put up restriction tape around an expansive area of the beach. After this, upon Nago City Council members coming to observe and protest, the soldiers reduced the restricted area by 30 square meters. By taking initiative and moving the wreckage from the actual crash site and setting up restriction tape singlehandedly, the U.S. military did not observe the rules set forth in guidelines concerning U.S. aircraft accidents.
The Guidelines Regarding Off-Base U.S. Military Aircraft Accidents in Japan have established procedures for restricting access to a crash site. These set forth that the “inner cordon” in close vicinity to the crash site will be jointly manned (by the U.S. military and Japan’s law enforcement authorities) “except in extraordinary circumstances.” They do not stipulate that the U.S. military will singlehandedly control access restriction to the site. The U.S. military is only able to regulate “spectators” until the arrival of the Japanese police or coast guard.
Generally under these guidelines, the Japanese authorities will establish an “outer cordon” around the inner cordon. However, on the beach there was only one line of restriction tape, which about 20 prefectural riot police officers guarded after the U.S. military had put it up.
In regards to the U.S. military using restriction tape, the Nago police said they understood the U.S. military’s temporary measures to put the wreckage on the shore, but they could not confirm precisely why the U.S. military went so far as to put up its own restriction tape.
Webcam(Kokusai Street)
