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Court upholds compensation order over Iwakuni base noise

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Absolutely ridiculous ruling. They need to learn to live with it, bunch of complainers just out for money. If they don't like the noise they can move house, simple

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

While it is nice that they won, a little over $10,000 per plaintiff doesn't really so much to help if some people wanted to relocate.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Vince, why on Earth should they relocate? If the US insist on having bases, let them have bases on their own soil. Moving in Japan is a MAJOR operation.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

What about the rest of the bases in Northern Tohoku. They get no compensation and the noise at times even rattles the roofs and windows of new homes as well as older homes. I was told there really is no need for pilots to thrust the engines like they are taking off for a war all the time and can do softer take offs and landings. Is this correct information? I can understand a JAL or ANA big aircraft, but an F16 for F4 plane? Why doesn't the government build them airports out in the countryside for takeoff and landing training.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The only resolution to this military base problem and all other military base problems in Japan is to close all of them down and disband the JSDF. Also terminate the defense alliance with the US. No military, no problem. Not only would all difficulties with the civilian population go away but the Chinese would be quite pleased as well.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Wolfpack, actually, that could be done. IF we had politicians who could handle two way communication and who had communication skills and diplomacy. Military force doesn't solve anything. Diplomacy, PR and education could potentially solve it. The vast majority of people in any country on the planet don't want to fight.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

This reminds me of a similar lawsuit filed by 22,000 residents living near and around Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.

Tokyo's Yokota Base has a similar problem, too. Wherever a U.S. Air Force base may be installed on foreign soil, loud complaints of noise pollution never fail to accompany it. 

So, to deal with this problem and to allay complaints from so-called host-nation residents, the U.S. government seems to be letting the JASDF to jointly use bases with the USAFJ as much as possible. In the U.K., I hear they invented a nice catch phrase, calling U.S. base-derived noise pollution "the sound of freedom".

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Vance Black,

Absolutely ridiculous ruling. They need to learn to live with it, bunch of complainers just out for money. If they don't like the noise they can move house, simple

When you started your post by writing "Absolutely ridiculous ruling", I thought you would hit right on the mark in your opinion. But what you wanted to say was there shouldn't be any compensation for the victims of U.S. base-derived noise pollution whatsoever. 

It's mostly the U.S. aircraft that are the source of noise pollution at Iwakuni. So it's the U.S. government that is mostly responsible for paying the damages. But this is not the case. The ruling says the Japanese government is obliged to pay 735 million yen to the plaintiffs while night-time flight training by U.S. aircraft can continue the same as before without any hitch, stealing the sound sleep from many residents.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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