News Archive LAST UPDATE  May 3, 2010
April 29, 2010 A day of action for a base-free Okinawa
Japanese citizens continue to protest against the US Military bases in Okinawa. (Photo courtesy of Takeda Mayumi, PangeaSeed)
On April 25, tens of thousands of people gathered in Okinawa from all over the prefecture, Japan and beyond to call for the closure of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the return of the land, and to oppose the construction of an alternative base elsewhere in Okinawa.
 
Media reports estimate that close to 100,000 people convened in Yomitan, Okinawa. Among them figured local leaders and representatives of all major parties, including Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu, Mayors from Nago, Ginowan and Uruma, as well as Policy Chief of the DPJ's coalition partner Social Democratic Party Abe Tomoko.
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More than 1,200 people joined together for the Candle action in Tokyo’s Meiji Park to share their message “NO BASES OKINAWA”! (Photo courtesy of Takeda Mayumi, PangeaSeed )
Various actions for a base-free Okinawa were held simultaneously all over Japan, including in Tokyo, where 1,200 people gathered for a candle event co-organized by Peace Boat at Meiji Park. The simultaneous day of action was called for by a coalition of well-known Japanese individuals, including university professors, authors, artists, lawyers, educators, commentators, musicians and Japanese NGOs such as Green Peace Japan, WWF, PangeaSeed and Peace Boat.

Events were also held in the cities of Nagoya, Kyoto, Oita, Nagano, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagano, and Ueda. Internationally, events took place in the United States (including in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Hawai’i) to join voices together with Okinawa in solidarity to oppose new base construction in Okinawa.
Citizens including from all over Japan, from Korea, the US and more hold signs to promote a base-free Okinawa onboard Peace Boat’s 69th global voyage. (Photo courtesy of Mizumoto Shunya).
To express support for this Citizens Rally, Peace Boat and the US for OKINAWA Peace Action Network organized a gathering onboard Peace Boat during its current 69th Global Voyage for Peace. During the gathering, a school teacher from Okinawa described how bases such as Kadena were built by force of bulldozers and rifles, and were imposed upon local people against their will at a time when their homes and livelihoods had been destroyed by war, and opposition was impossible. Now, however, she emphasized, the people of Okinawa will never allow another base to be built in the region. This is not only because of the heavy burden they place on Okinawan people, she added, but because military bases are places where attacks are planned on other countries—attacks that deprive people of their lives and right to live in peace. She noted that Kadena Air Base was used to launch attacks on Da Nang, Viet Nam, a port Peace Boat had left just two days earlier, and a place where many Peace Boat participants had the opportunity to directly meet Agent Orange/Dioxin victims and others who are still suffering the effects of the Vietnam War today.
Members of the NARPI steering committee show their solidarity with Okinawa. (Photo courtesy of Seo Jungki)
Peace Boat members visiting Seoul for a meeting towards the launch of the Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute ( www.narpi.net ) also coordinated a simultaneous action, sending a statement in solidarity with Okinawa together with representatives from

Earlier this month, the US for OKINAWA Peace Action Network successfully completed a four-day study programme in Okinawa to learn firsthand about US military bases and their impact on the people and environment of Okinawa. Participants of the programme were shocked at the large swathe of land the military sites occupy and their proximity to schools and habitations.

Indeed, all of these US bases are surrounded by adjacent facilities - including training grounds, military personnel housing units (many of them standing empty), ammunition storage areas, shopping complexes, clubhouses, golf courses, guest houses, and schools just for US military personnel and their families. They are taking up vast tracts of land and are hardly populated. Meanwhile, the local people squeeze homes and businesses into the remaining free areas and bears with the noise as well as the fear of an aircraft accident occurring in the area, as happened in Ginowan in 2004.

Citizens from all around mainland Japan, as well as from the US, England, Canada, Australia and Spain joined Okinawans in calling for peace to be built on Okinawa rather than military bases. (Photo courtesy of Rose Welsch, Peace Boat)
US for OKINAWA members met with local activists and governmental authorities such as Mayor Iha, who is involved in opposing US bases, and learned about the history of their non-violent struggle. They participated in a peace candle night in front of Camp Schwab, standing up for justice, democracy, peace and environmental sustainability in Okinawa.
 
Throughout the programme, participants voiced their demand to close Futenma and their opposition to its relocation anywhere else inside or outside Japan. Instead, they called for peace and security to be developed through non-militaristic means, including through the creation of an East Asian Community, the establishment of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone, and the promotion of peace constitutions in the region.  

As a positive action aimed at encouraging their governments to replace the US-Japan Security Treaty with a US-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty, participants initiated a symbolic treaty at the citizen level. This coming September they plan to organize another study programme in Okinawa that focuses on the environmental issues the island is facing and the protection of the fragile ecosystem and biodiversity in Oura Bay. For more information about the study program, anti-base initiatives and activities, visit US for OKINAWA's website www.us-for-okinawa.blogspot.com.