(From right) Hiroko Mizuguchi, Akino Miyagi and Kanna Mitsuta announce
the submission of an open letter to U.S. President Obama asking him to
oppose helipad construction on December 7 at the Foreign Correspondents’
Club of Japan in Tokyo
December 8, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo
(Tokyo) On December 7, more than 100 Diet members, academics, artists, civil society groups and the like submitted an urgent open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama demanding a stop to the construction of helipads in Okinawa with disregard to the environmental burden and the will of the people. The helipads are being built in conjunction with the return of roughly half of the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area, which spans Higashi Village and Kunigami Village. The letter calls for an immediate halt to the construction, stating, “Time is running out for Takae. We request you to make an honorable decision as soon as possible.”
As of December 7, signatories to the letter include film director Isao Takahata, Doshisha University professor Noriko Hama, nonfiction writer Satoshi Kamata, and sociologist Chizuko Ueno.
The idea to submit a letter was proposed by Uchinada Town Councilwoman Hiroko Mizuguchi, 68, of Ichikawa Prefecture. On the 7th, she announced the letter at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo. Uchinada Town was the site of the “Uchinada struggle”, one of the earliest anti-U.S. base construction movements on the Japanese mainland in the 1950s, which led to the closure of a U.S. military firing range. Councilwoman Mizuguchi, who takes part in activities to teach younger generations about the struggle, revealed her reason for wanting to send the letter to President Obama, saying, “Bases became concentrated in Okinawa because of the spread of the anti-base movement [on the mainland]. It was a shock.”
The letter explains that the Japanese government is hurrying to finish the helipads and their process lacks consideration for environmental conservation, pointing out that “Suppression by riot police has therefore become increasingly violent and persistent.” It calls on President Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, saying, “The Japanese government shows little interest in [Okinawans’] plight. As the President of the United States of America, you are now the only person who can save the Takae district in Okinawa.”
Also present at the press conference were Kanna Mitsuta of the international NGO “FoE Japan” and Akino Miyagi, who studies animal and plant life in the Yambaru forests.
(English translation by T&CT and Sandi Aritza)
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More than 100 send letter to US president asking for stop to Takae helipad construction
December 8, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo拝啓米大統領「高江中止の英断を」 識者ら１００人超が書簡
2016年12月8日 07:30
ヘリパッド建設に反対するよう求めるオバマ米大統領への書簡提出を発表する（右から）水口裕子さん、宮城秋乃さん、満田夏花さん＝７日午後、東京都の日本外国特派員協会
【東京】東村と国頭村に広がる米軍北部訓練場の過半返還に伴うヘリコプター着陸帯（ヘリパッド）建設を巡り、国会議員や学者、文化人、市民団体など２７団体１００人以上が７日、オバマ米大統領宛てに環境負荷や民意を無視して強行される工事の中止を求める緊急公開書簡を提出した。書簡では「高江には時間が残されていない。誇りある仕事の締めくくりに一刻も早い栄誉ある決断を願う」などと工事の即時中止を訴えた。
７日現在、書簡の賛同者には映画監督の高畑勲さん、同志社大学大学院教授の浜矩子さん、ノンフィクション作家の鎌田慧さん、社会学者の上野千鶴子さんらが名を連ねている。
書簡提出を発案した前内灘町議の水口裕子さん（６８）＝石川県＝が同日、東京都内の日本外国特派員協会で会見を開き発表した。内灘町は１９５０年代の日本本土で米軍基地建設反対運動の先駆けとなった「内灘闘争」が起き、米軍の砲弾試射場の撤収につながった。闘争を語り継ぐ活動をしている水口さんは「基地反対運動は広がり沖縄に基地が集中した。ショックだった」と書簡を送ろうと考えた理由を明かした。
書簡では日本政府がヘリパッド完成を急いでおり、環境保全の配慮に欠け「建設に反対する市民を排除する行為がより暴力的になっている」と指摘。ノーベル平和賞を受けたオバマ氏に「日本政府の理解が得られない今、高江を救えるのは大統領のあなたなのではないか」と投げ掛けた。
会見には国際環境ＮＧＯ「ＦｏＥ Ｊａｐａｎ」の満田夏花理事、やんばるの森に生息する動植物などを調査する宮城秋乃さんが同席した。
英文へ→More than 100 send letter to US president asking for stop to Takae helipad construction
