Three university students urge pressure on government to protect remains of war dead
(From right) Yuto Ishikawa, Keigo Nishio, and Kazu Nakamoto explaining the “Urgent Action” campaign during a Zoom conference on April 14.
April 14, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo
Three university students started Urgent Action (Kinkyu Action), a public pressure campaign on the Japanese government to block a soil collecting project in southern Okinawa, where remains of the war dead from the Battle of Okinawa lay. Additionally, the campaign rallies support for Governor Denny Tamaki’s response against the mining contractor, which submitted a permit to operate in Itoman City.
The three originators of Urgent Action are Keigo Nishio, 22, a student at Yale University in the U.S.; Yuto Ishikawa, 22, and Kazu Nakamoto, 21, graduate students at Okinawa International University.
The urgent statement released by young people to support Takamatsu Gushiken’s hunger strike.
March 10, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo
On March 6, an urgent youth statement in support of Takamatsu Gushiken’s hunger strike and calling on the Japanese government to halt plans to obtain soil from the southern part of Okinawa Island was published online by a group of young people in their twenties both in and outside of Okinawa prefecture. Gushiken is a representative of the Gamafuya, a group of volunteers who search for the remains of war dead from the Battle of Okinawa. Gushiken went on a hunger strike to call on the government to abandon its plans of obtaining soil from the southern part of Okinawa Island, where there are remains of the war dead, for use in the construction of the new military base at Henoko. People who support the youth statement can add their signature at the site where the statement was posted. As of March 9, 60 students and other young people in and outside of Okinaw
Reclamation work is under way off the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, to build a new facility to take over the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
A long-running saga over costly land reclamation work for a new U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture took another twist after a prominent U.S. think tank researcher said the project is “unlikely” to ever to be completed as planned.
The project to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago, both in Okinawa Prefecture, has been plagued by repeated delays and alienated residents of the southernmost prefecture who vociferously complain they shoulder an unfair burden in hosting 70 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan.
US military aircraft also flying at low altitudes in Okinawa in southern Japan msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Reclamation work continues off Henoko point in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, to build a new U.S. military facility. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
NAHA The cost for three areas of reclamation work to build a U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture has soared by 60 percent to 41.6 billion yen ($383.7 million) in only two and a half years since the order was given.
The Defense Ministry has kept changing the contract without holding open biddings for the additional work.
A number of other murky aspects have surfaced over the overall project, including plans to use taxpayer money to build a bowling alley and dance hall, The Asahi Shimbun has learned.