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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| June 17, 2003 |
Okinawa, japan |
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| Kenichi Makishi delivering the first lecture of the 41st Global Voyage on the subject of US bases in Okinawa |
Okinawa is a popular holiday destination famous for its sparkling seas, friendly people, great cuisine and sub-tropical climate. It is also a militarily strategic part of Asia, and as a result of the strategic alliance between the United States and Japanese governments, it is home to nearly 30,000 US soldiers. Architect and native Okinawan, Kenichi Makishi, gave the inaugural lecture of the 41st Global Voyage on the issue of US military bases and their negative effects on the community and the environment.
Entitled "Okinawa will no longer be deceived", Makishi related to the mainly Japanese audience how the US military and the Japanese government have covered up plans to increase greatly development of US military facilities under the guise of "base relocations". The old bases are given back to Okinawa only once a new and often more expansive one has been built at the expense of Japanese taxpayers, the people of Okinawa and the World Heritage listed environment of this beautiful Pacific island. |
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| International student Ryan Amundson making a statement to the press about US bases in Okinawa |
Before 40 members of Peace Boat left the port of Naha to visit the people of the threatened Henoko bay area, Makishi and US international student, Ryan Amundson, made statements to the press. Ryan apologized that people should have to suffer the negative consequences of living so close to the bases, adding that the US should be working to return their troops home. The seven other members of Peace Boat`s International Student programme, from Israel, Palestine, Cyprus, Serbia, Bosnia, India and Pakistan also joined Ryan on the tour. |
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| Learning about the threatened "dugong" or "sea cow" |
The delicate ecosystem of Okinawa is under continued and increasing threat from decades of irresponsible base-related development. There are no longer any reservoirs on the northern island, mongooses have been driven to extinction because of increased road construction, and vast tracts of land lay scarred and bare with re-planting on the cleared land. But most striking of all were the photos of the "Bleeding Sea", where a once blue lagoon had been dyed blood red with eroded soil washed out from the rivers. These soil particles then settle on the reef and choke it of oxygen, killing the surrounding marine life.
Members of the Peace Boat study tour visited a lagoon near the US base, Camp Schwab, to learn about the elusive and rare "dugong" or "sea cow" that may become endangered if the plans to build a three kilometer long runway, which would form a key part of the proposed air base, should go ahead. |
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| The passionate Okinawan activist, "Ojii" campaigning about the destruction of the reef and his community |
Makishi led the tour to the beach of Henoko bay, where the local fishing community is demonstrating against the destruction of the reef caused by the extension of a base already considered by many to be dangerous. The Camp Schwab facility includes stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons' agents. Meanwhile the military attempts to reassure the local community with safety precautions including goats, which are kept to detect any signs of a poisonous leak.
The new runway and facilities would be used to test the newly designed Osprey helicopter, which has already crashed several times in the nearby area, close to homes and a junior high school, causing the deaths of US servicemen and risking the lives of local residents. Apart from the obvious consequences of test flying an aircraft over a residential area, the Japanese government is also ignoring the protests of the elderly fishing community of Henoko, who would lose their livelihoods if the reef were to be filled in with concrete. |
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| Members of the tour and "Ojii" in front of Camp Schwab and the Okinawan childrens' protest flags |
The community spokesperson, nicknamed "Ojii" (Japanese for "Grandpa") due to his being over 80 years old, gave a passionate and emotional speech in front of a line of handmade protest flags. The brightly coloured squares of material had been decorated by local schoolchildren in support of the Henoko people and strung up in front of the barbed wire boundary of Camp Schwab.
Ojii had told the children that he was ready to throw himself in front of the workers` machines in a last attempt to save the community that he and many others had lived in all their lives. He said that Peace Boat's support, and recognizing that the reef was the children's, gave him the energy to keep going and fighting for this cause. He spoke of living through World War II and how he believed that young people should not have to experience the terror of war. US international student, Ryan Amundson, stepped forward and again expressed his regret for what his government was doing to Ojii and his people. |
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| At the Sakima art museum, built on land reclaimed from the US Futenma base |
The final stop of the tour was a visit to the Sakima museum, built on the site of land reclaimed from the Futenma US base. This huge military city was buzzing with helicopters landing and taking off as the tour members were shown an example of the scale of current US occupation. From the museum roof, the contrast between the cramped city streets and the expanse of land that the base took up could clearly be seen. The flight-path of the thundering helicopters was again directly over residential areas.
Inside the museum, the works of art on display expressed the strong opposition to war, and the US bases that are so pervasive. Striking pieces included a tree stump hammered with rusty nails - showing what damage had been done to the land of Okinawa - and a charcoal screen painting of the final battles of World War II, battles in which thousands of innocent Okinawans had been killed. The picture, though an expression of events that had happened over 50 years ago, was a poignant image of an innocent people suffering as result of war.
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