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Japan begins constructing more seawalls for new U.S. base in Okinawa

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We will continue to fight with full force," Okinawa Gov Takeshi Onaga said.

Onaga is one hell of a hypocrite. He agreed in the past to abide by the decision of the court with regards to this issue. He continues to lie and continues to be a one issue gov.

A number of rather large projects that have been started here in Okinawa are now on hold because the national government is withholding funding because of Onaga.

This happened back when Ota was Gov, and combined with the burst bubble plunged the economy into a recession that took decades to get out of. If things keep up this way, Onaga is to blame!

0 ( +5 / -5 )

The dugong has cultural meaning among Okinawa's indigenous people 

Where do people come up with this? Now whomever wrote this article is making this a "cultural" issue?

No one, absolutely NO ONE, gave a crap about these dugong until the base relocation issue started. NO ONE cared, and now the writer is daying it has cultural meaning? This is major horse-apples here!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

At the bottom of their heart is that they are not Japanese. They were invaded by Shimazu of Kagoshima in the 17th century and annexed. Now they think they can live without U.S. bases and without the support of downing Japan. Growing China may be attracting them. They think they can live on tourism. OK! Go independent.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

 They think they can live on tourism.

If you had any idea what you were talking about you would know that yeah it's possible to live off of tourism.

Seems that plenty of international businesses think so as well.

Oh, besides tourism, IT too!

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Independence is the only way to sort out this messy situation and occupation

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Independence is the only way to sort out this messy situation and occupation

It is neither messy nor an occupation

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Sorry, Onaga... you didn't get in on the bromance and "backroom" deals. Any opposition and delays to the base are over.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Shopenhauer, you say:

At the bottom of their heart is that they are not Japanese.

If you replace the pronoun "their" with "the reactionary Japanese", then the sentence goes like this:

At the bottom of the reactionary Japanese heart is Okinawans are not Japanese. It exactly fits the situation and explains everything the central government does as regards Okinawa’s base issue. 

You once said that since no mainland prefecture wants to host a U.S. base in its backyard, Futenma's replacement must be built in Okinawa. Trump and Abe confirmed that again at their meeting yesterday: Henoko is the only alternative for the solution of Futenma issue. Dump all the U.S. bases ("necessary evils" in the words of former P.M. Koizumi) on Okinawa, the heterogeneous backyard of Japan, think the reactionary Japanese at heart.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@Yubaru. You may be American or military, who cares, we are free to speak on this post if the mod allows.. I have the disadvange on you as when I'm in Okinawa I don't speak to so many US military. Only local people. I'm sorry if I seem bias.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

A beautiful coastline takes nature hundreds of millions of years to form - but military/government dimwits only a few months to utterly destroy.

And once it's done it'll never be undone. See Honmoku in Yokohama for one good example.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Again it is not a New Base, but expanding Camp Schwab.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

@Yubaru. You may be American or military, who cares, we are free to speak on this post if the mod allows.. I have the disadvange on you as when I'm in Okinawa I don't speak to so many US military. Only local people. I'm sorry if I seem bias.

I am a Japanese citizen. And I am sharing with you that it is neither messy or an occupation either.

I am "free to speak" here the same as you.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Whether you may call it a new base or an expansion of Camp Schwab, the fact remains that they reclaim waters off the Henoko coast, build an airfield with V-shaped runways with a 240-meter pier to berth the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard and many other new functions added that Futenma doesn't have.

USMC Air Station Futenma sits on private lands the occupation U.S. army took by force while area residents were incarcerated in camps for several years after the war ended. The "new" base at Henoko is said to be constructed as Futenma's replacement on the ground that it will reduce the burden on Okinawa because the relocation site is located in an area not as densely populated as the current site.

The two leaders, Trump and Abe, agreed that Henoko was the best solution for the Futenma issue. For Abe, Henoko is the best because no mainland prefecture will consent to hosting a U.S. base in their backyard; and for Trump, the Henoko plan satisfies, albeit not maximally, the blueprint the Marines already designed in the 1950s; besides, to businessman Trump’s satisfaction, all the construction costs are borne by Japanese taxpayers with no financial obligation imposed on U.S. taxpayers.

The Futenma relocation is like money laundering because the stolen goods become an bona fide legal facility instantly as a result of the relocation.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

USMC Air Station Futenma sits on private lands the occupation U.S. army took by force while area residents were incarcerated in camps for several years after the war ended. The "new" base at Henoko is said to be constructed as Futenma's replacement on the ground that it will reduce the burden on Okinawa because the relocation site is located in an area not as densely populated as the current site.

Yup he is right here, and everyone has 20/20 vision when reliving history too! The base and the island were spoils of war at the time. People tend to lose sight of what happened with Japan, and why the war started in the first place and what led up to the operation to take Okinawa.

Lets also never forget the fact that is commonly left out of many of this posters conspiracy/comments, the people who own the base property are paid rent, and many have been able to lead lives they never would have had, without that payment from the national government.

Dont be fooled by what is written here, and dont feel sorry either. The people who own base land are for the most part the last ones that "complain" about the bases, with the exception of the 1 tsubo folks who buy land with the express intent of becoming a protester.

Okinawa is different than mainland, as the bases here ARE on private property, unlike mainland where the land is government land for the most part.

He has also conveniently left out the fact that there will be a major return of land once the base is completed as well.

Folks need to take everything he writes with a grain of salt or less, as there is a huge "other" story that he refuses to acknowledge .

It's not all as every thinks, and if you only get your information from HERE, you really are only getting 1% of the picture, because "contrary opinions" are not allowed.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I have the disadvange on you as when I'm in Okinawa I don't speak to so many US military. Only local people. I'm sorry if I seem bias.

I forgot..."disadvantage"? I have literally gone YEARS without talking to anyone even remotely connected to the US military here in Okinawa.

I have been living here for over 3 decades;. Odds are I have FORGOTTEN more about this island and it's culture and the people than you have EVER known.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/165599

“We oppose the relocation and construction of the base and will do everything to stop it! But you can use Oku port to story equipment and supplies to build the base.”

-Okinawa Prefectural Government

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Build the base = expansion of Camp Schwab

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The modern day trafedy of Okinawa aka the Crimea of Asia continues with the Japanese colonizer allowing another colonizer from Amerika to squat and poison the sacred Ryukyuan soil and seas with residues from US WMD like agent orange and plutonium.

It's a wonder how thick the face of the colonizer have become . Ryukyuans have asked them to dismantle their giant military bases and go to Guam or Clark, where they are treated as Hollywood superstars. Instead they insisted on building new bases in the home of the very endangered and nearly extinct indigenous Okinawan Dugong.

Either that or America is now a gross violator of Ryukyuans human rights where they continue to extrajudicially squat even pristine Ryukyuan lands and beaches under the barrel of American guns.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Ryukyuans 

Define just who is a Ryukuan? You walk a fine line, and make comments based upon a people and culture you know NOTHING about.

You can not define and be specific just who is Ryukuan and who is not.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Yubaru,

If you are a naturalized Japanese citizen living in Okinawa, work for Okinawa with more compassion.

Okinawa was occupied by invading U.S. forces but it was never spoils war like Enkakuji Temple's bell or some precious artifacts left in the battle fields.

As I said above, the land the Futenma Air Station sits is mostly private property which was encroached upon with impunity while area residents were herded in camps for several years after the end of the war. Such action, that is, confiscation of private property in occupied territories, is severely prohibited by the Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Article 46 of which clearly states that "[f]amily honour and rights, the lives of persons, and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected. Private property cannot be confiscated."

Note that Futenma was completed several years after the war while area residents were incarcerated in camps. That the U.S. kept paying meager compensations for the lands confiscated during the occupation period attests to the fact it was clearly cognizant that the lands were requisitioned by force and illegally at that.

Before 1972 when Okinawa's administrative rights were returned to Japan, nominal compensations for land requisitioned were paid directly to land owners by the USCAR, an administrative arm of the U.S. government in Okinawa. In 1972, the Japanese government took the place of the U.S. government to shoulder paying the land fees which it did more than ten times as much as the U.S. paid. The land fees increased year by year because contracts were renewed on an annual basis and because the Japanese government was obliged to make the U.S. bases operate smoothly without any hitch.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Strategically speaking, the new base to be constructed at Henoko, Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, is definitely nothing but a white elephant.  Why should Japanese taxpayers, that naturally include Okinawans, build such burden for the U.S. marines, the most active elements of whom are to move to Guam in the near future.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Ryukuan:

I can easily define Ryukyuan but not da-kine Ryukuan.

Ryukyuans are the protector of Shuri Castle and the inherent owners of the sacred land of Okinawa .

Maybe da-kine Ryukuans are the invader- turned -colonizer Amerikano who insists on destroying the natural habitat of the endangered dugong even when the Ryukyuans want them totally out of the Ryukyus and go home to Guam?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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