U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington deployed in Yokosuka

only 500? guess that "CVN 73" manga really did the trick

Yeah not that many people out protesting, they have several scheduled. They are coming in groups, its not going to make a bit of difference. More people means more money for the area stores and business's, we pray that they are responsible adults, but you know there are bad apples in every family. One doesn't make it all....remember that to alot of the anti-us posters here.

What is the point of stationing a carrier here? Isn't the airforce enough to "protect" Japan? Is one American carrier enough of a symbol of power to deter a determined China and Russia?

USNinJapan2-Good post.

fatloser- Yes it is. Are we gonna fly small jets that far from Yokota and back all the time? Plus the carrier can move around more and carry supplies and troops. But I do not want to break down "barney style" for you. Look it up, maybe you will learn something about forward deployment.

Just got to hope for the best. All we know is they got a lot of family over here already and the city of Yokosuka is about to be paid. Probably Roppongi too, if they let them out.

Hundreds of protesters can't stop what millions condone.

you mean millions who dont have any say or didnt bother too?

simple question to japanese taxpayers. do you want to change your constituion and rearm your military including billions of yen in defense budgets? Or, continue to pay the US a fraction of that cost and put up with their presense in Japan/

Bush is already wasting US tax payers money now we will be contributing our share too!!!

you mean millions who dont have any say or didnt bother too?

Everyone has a say, some don't bother to join the hundreds of protesters. Don't try to twist the meaning of my words, MWT.

Not sure if US military is making Japan safer or not..or may be attracting uncessary atttention from Anti-US countries..

Actually, you will be suprised how many people want the U.S. forces here MWT. They are just not going to show support out right, because they do not want to lose business with those that are against the U.S. military presence. They do not want to lose that money that is being brought their way. The other JN's could care less because it does not affect them in anyway. Only people really protesting out here are the people being bused here. Almost all old people who think disaster could strike at any minute. But hey, that is helping their economy. They want to pay to come out here and protest, by all means do it. Stimulate your economy and spend that yen.

irabujapanu- The 7th fleet is not just responsible for Japan. Yeah, it is forward deployed here, but it's area is the Pacific region. Is it's job to police the Japanese streets? No. That is for JP to do and we all know that is going great. Is it here in the case something happens, say with North Korea or something...yeah, I think they got a good react time.

Just watch out for all of the new drivers!!!! I already saw 3 people driving the wrong way on base and the ship just got here!!!

I am pretty sure that it's not the guys off the ship driving.

simple question to japanese taxpayers. do you want to change your constituion and rearm your military including billions of yen in defense budgets? Or, continue to pay the US a fraction of that cost and put up with their presense in Japan/

Japanese taxpayers will blindly and obediently follow their government.

Irashaimase, bubbas!

USAR

Jmills... I seen one as well, but I agree with CM, but with an adjustment.. I don't think it's the NEW guys off the ship, I think it's those that haven't been here for a while and spent a bit of time in the states with the HAWK before joining the GW. Trying to get back in the groove of driving can be daunting. I guess.

I work on Yokosuka, about 100yards from the front gate, and about 10yards from the walking gate behind ATG. If there were any protests, they were REALLY quiet and well behaved. Which is, of course, to be expected here in Japan.

The carrier might be American, but from what I've heard lately the nationalities of the men on board are quite diverse. Nigerian, Philipino, Irish, etc. It seems that not that many US citizens are inclined to serve in the all-volunteer military in time of war, whereas non-citizens see it as a stepping stone to citizenship.

beelzebub, do you have any clue what you are talking about? what makes up america? who are the americans? that's right. people from countries OTHER THAN AMERICA! aside from that, perhaps immigrants from other countries feel compelled to serve the country that accepted them. i don't know. just a thought.

"George Washington"

A great president, and a great aircraft carrier.

...and within TWO posts proof is provided. Stay on base and away from US. Get it? USAR = United Socialist American Republic?

YangYong at 07:47 PM JST - 25th September

Well, we all know what floats on water. Lets hope it stays on base and away from where we live.

Anything that has boyant.. Like ships, wood, dumb post like yours, etc etc etc

That'd be 'buoyancy', the property of being buoyant, a thing that floats, a floater... which brings us full circle. No Spelling Bee for you Japan GO.

Surprised there weren't more protesters. Wife and I used to love to collect our 10,000 yen and obento, they'd give us our sign which we threw in the moeru gomi, smile and call it a day. Can't believe the Japanese are turning down that free money and lunch. Welcome to Yokosuka GW, looking forward to working with you.

'It seems funny', only 'seems'? My dear boy it IS. There is something rotten in the Kingdom if you can't read that. Plus, I am hardly an 'enthusiast' when I quite clearly state, "Lets hope it stays on base..." that points directly to a dislike of that which, well, floats... see?

Moderator: Back on topic please.

Japanese taxpayers will blindly and obediently follow their government.

If this were true then you woldn't have a constant change of adminstrations.

Ossan: The admin doesn't change, just the front face.

Someone mentioned foreigners on the GW. Nothing new. We've always had a few foreigners in our navy.

As for crimes by crewmen, I suspect there will be more committed among 6500 nationals than among 6500 crewmen of GW.

Ossan: The admin doesn't change, just the front face.

Irrelevant to the use of taxpayer obedience.

-Get it? USAR = United Socialist American Republic? -Which brings us full circle. No Spelling Bee for you Japan GO. -The admin doesn't change, just the front face. -USdoingJapan: Boo hoo? Why?

Does anyone really know what the F this guy is talking about?

Local residents, who are worried about a possible nuclear accident, see the situation as being equivalent to having a nuclear power plant in the vicinity of a heavily populated national capital.

The Nuclear Power Plant is the LEAST of your worries..what about the Nuclear Bombs and Missles on board?...Oooops I forgot this is a secret..

The GW will not be bringing additional "foreign" Sailors to Japan. The ship is comprised of two main commands: GW ship's force (~3200 Sailors) and the Atsugi based airwing (~2000 Sailors). Per USN regulation, all Sailors assigned to ship's force of a nuclear powered vessel must be United States Citizens. Any "foreign" or more accurately stated non-U.S. Citizen Sailors would have to be part of the airwing and they were already here serving on the USS Kitty Hawk. The airwing on GW is the same one that was on KH - Carrier Airwing Five.

Nuclear bombs? Where are you getting your information from? With all the talk about people hating that the ship is here. It was really quiet. I guess it is not as bad as people made it out to be.

For the most part all the pieces are set in place and the G-DUB is not going anywhere, so might as well flip the topic to something that people can actually do something about.

It was kind of funny while i was walking to the trainstation last evening, half the people in the protest weren't even speaking, just walking like zombie's. There was one guy who caught my wife and my attention. He was yelling at the top of his old man lungs, "GO HOME AMERICA, GEORGE WASHINGTON GO HOME, GO HOME YANKEE!", funny thing...I've seen this guy when the base opens its gates, coming on eating and drinking with the rest of us.....so funny.

CMEANDU26- That was just a lame way to get attention. Some people need it more than others. Not sure what time the next protest is gonna be, but it will be civil and peaceful just like the other ones...unnoticed.

khemet- They can hope, but that is about all that is gonna happen. People need to understand that the G-dub serves a purpose and like it or not, it is here to stay.

The Nuclear Power Plant is the LEAST of your worries..what about the Nuclear Bombs and Missles on board?...Oooops I forgot this is a secret..

why don't the japanese start worrying about their own screwed up nuclear power stations in the vicintiy of tokyo, or wherever they are before they start worrying about a navy who's never had a nuclear accident with one of their ships? haven't the japanese been releasing heavy water in the the environment along with radioactive steam, and pulling shennanigans like allowing underage temp workers to run inspections on their power plants?

why don't the japanese start worrying about their own screwed up nuclear power stations in the vicintiy of tokyo, or wherever they are before they start worrying about a navy who's never had a nuclear accident with one of their ships? haven't the japanese been releasing heavy water in the the environment along with radioactive steam, and pulling shennanigans like allowing underage temp workers to run inspections on their power plants?

??? What makes you so sure that they don't? The people that are complaining are the local residents. I'm sure if there was a plan to build another nuclear power plant in anytown, any-prefecture, you're surely going to get some protest from the residents of that vicinity.

nigelboy

Can you show us a documented instance where Japanese citizens protested the safety of Japanese nuclear power plants at even a fraction of the intensity at which they protest American sea-going reactors? And I don't mean some concerned-looking housewife in curlers interviewed on the afternoon news saying, "Hai, fuan desune..." Good luck.

USNinjapan2

http://shimabito.net/hantaiundou.htm

When my brother-in-law was attending Japanese university he said one way of making money available to students was to attend rallys. It didn't make any difference what the cause was or if you were for or against it, it was just a way for the rally sponsors to get the numbers up. Get paid to march and hold a sign, pump your fist in the air on cue, then go have a beer.

nigelboy

I've got to hand it to you, I'm surprised you were able to find an example. However, here's my take on these protesters. They are only (futily) protesting to prevent the construction of a nuclear power plant in their local area and once it is built (which is inevitable) all activity will cease because it is nothing more than NIMBY. In otherwords they will not protest the unsafe practices of the Japanese civilian nuclear program in principal but only their neighborhood. The people who are protesting the GW (except for the minority hard-core anti-nuke crowd) are claiming safety as the primary reason for their protest. They claim that they don't want a dangerous nuclear reactor so close to Tokyo. If safety of nuclear facilities is really their primary concern then their efforts and protests should start at the top of the list of potentially dangerous nuclear faciltities in Japan, not with the two safest reactors (the GW's)at the bottom of the list.

USNinJapan2

Read my first response to the thread.

"The people that are complaining are the local residents. I'm sure if there was a plan to build another nuclear power plant in anytown, any-prefecture, you're surely going to get some protest from the residents of that vicinity."

You countered by citing that I should give an example which I did. (And it was easy, btw)

And no. I'm not going to make an argument whether they should protest the whole concept of nuclear facilities in general because each of these protesters' concerns are different (companies not performing the required tests prior to building, land allocation disputes, payment disputes, etc.) just as the local residents of Yokosuka believes that there is a legitimate concern over stationing such nuclear reactor in such a dense populated area ( nuclear facilites in Japan are located in less populated area. ) Furthermore, in order to build a nuclear plant in Japan, they have to go through two referundum among the locals and four application/inspection procedures from the government before they can operate. This is a process that GW did not go through.

nigelboy

You countered by citing that I should give an example which I did. (And it was easy, btw)

Just curious, what other examples did you find? As detailed as the list of events was, none of the link on the page work so I couldn't look into any of the background story.

Furthermore, in order to build a nuclear plant in Japan, they have to go through two referundum among the locals and four application/inspection procedures from the government before they can operate. This is a process that GW did not go through.

Naturally she didn't. Same goes for every other ship and aircraft in the US military's inventory that's stationed in Japan under the Status Of Forces Agreement. The US consulted with the GOJ when bringing the GW out to Yokosuka because nuclear anything is a sensitive issue for the Japanese, but bottomline the US military makes its decisions on what units to deploy where based on its operational needs. Nuclear or not, the GW's forward deployment should be no different from any other ship that is homeported here.

As for the GW not having gone through the Japanese application/inspection process, I don't know about you but I find comfort in the fact that the GW's two reactors are products of the US Navy's nuclear design branch and inspection program and not the incompetent Japanese system.

YangYong

Looks like you floated off yourself...

If they stay on base and aren't allowed outside the bounds of the perimeter fence, ok, let them float around; otherwise, no thanks.

Just curious, what other examples did you find? As detailed as the list of events was, none of the link on the page work so I couldn't look into any of the background story.

Ooma Nucuclear plant

http://stop-oomagenpatu.spaces.live.com/ http://cnic.jp/modules/news/article.php?storyid=665

USNinJapan2

What I was "expecting" from you is a little more diplomacy out of your response but it appears that's asking too much since you reverted to the typical red, white and blue flag waving rhetoric often displayed by the service men type posters here. I guess they don't teach diplomacy in your line of work.

Just argue as though you're in a town meeting with the folks in Yokosaka. And if your objective is to convince these people, pointing out the safety record of Japan's nuclear plants of today or your blind faith in the US Navy's due dilligence are only going to antagonize these people even more for they too can counter with U.S. Navy's safety record of nuculear vessels in the past as well as their past cover ups for the Navy doesn't exactly subscribe to "full disclosure" policy.

how is pointing out that the japanese nuclear power plants have had scandal after scandal after accident within the past ten years or so and the us navy's ships haven't had any being un-diplomatic? what past cover ups do you speak of? oh yeah, you don't have any because they've been "covered up", right?

and calling the japanese nuclear system that is in place now incompetent isn't an insult, it's well documented fact.