voiceofokinawa comments

Article ９of the Japanese constitution says:

" Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

"In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized."

So, what is this increase of military budget for?

The issue is not something that is decided on solely by a Prime Minister. Therefore, the policy of releasing treated water will continue regardless of who the Prime Minister may be.

The issue then is whether contaminated water is properly treated or not.

He seems to be a scrupulous manipulator. He thinks November is the best time for him to leave his post in Japan and advance to a higher position when either Harris may win or Trump.

Wasn't his absence from the Nagasaki atomic bomb memorial ceremony the result of this minute calculation of his? He accuses Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki's decision not to invite Israel to the ceremony politically motivated, because of which he said he would boycott the ceremony.

The post-war Japanese constitution, notably its war-renouncing Article 9, can be an epoch-making world cultural heritage that every nation should value, esteem and emulate.

So, it's quite inconceivable why Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is so eager to do away with it, making Japan return to erstwhile trail of militarism and jingoism.

Is the U.S. behind the scenes, urging Japan to revise the constitution?

A dictionary defines the word "occupation" as "the invasion, conquest and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces."

Okinawa was invaded and conquered by U.S. forces in 1945 and is under unrestrained control of U.S. forces. Bases and facilities have remained almost intact. Crimes by U.S. soldiers are rampant. Therefore, one can say that Okinawa is under occupation by U.S. forces still today.

Bullying among school children was commonly observed in U.S. schools in the past. Now, it's a common phenomenon observed in Japanese schools.

Bullying seems to propagate abroad quite easily like a contagious disease. There is no doubt that when the U.S. sneezes, Japan catches a cold.

Abuse among school children was commonly observed in the U.S. in the past. Now, it's a common phenomenon observed in Japanese schools. Abuse seems to propagate abroad like a contagious disease

Why doesn't U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel want to attend the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb memorial ceremony? Is it really because Israel had not been invited? 

Nagasaki Mayor, Shiro Suzuki, is certain to deliver a speech in which he will call on all nuclear nations to abandon the policy of possessing nuclear arsenal.

Russian missiles are inflicting more damage on Ukrainian towns and villages. But Ukraine shouldn't cross the border to retaliate, motivating Russia to use nuclear arsenal.

So, they, the U. S. forces, have bases in Iraq. What's their justification for being stationed in Iraq, maintaining bases and personnel there? Is it the Iraqi government or the U.S. government that pays base maintenance costs?

I once had a telephone call from a self-professed landowner of the Futenma air station, telling me not to publish opinions to oppose U.S. bases. He said he would lose his major source of income if bases were gone.

 Incidentally, do you know that it is the Japanese taxpayers, not U. S. ones, that pay land fees to the landowners, whereby USFJ are using base land completely free of charge?

I once had a telephone call from a self-professed landowner of the Futenma air station, telling me not to publish opinions to oppose U.S. bases. He said he would lose his major source of income if bases were gone

TaiwanIsNotChina,

 There's no doubt that USFJ are basically occupation forces. For there was a seamless transition for them to transform from occupation forces to treaty forces. Bases and areas they used during the occupation have remained the same as ever before. You haven't refuted that.argument of mine.

Desert Tortoise: Today 01:12 pm JST

Didn't U.S. forces leave the Philippines because it was much cheaper for them to be stationed in Japan? 　If you were to be in the Philippines, you had to clean up the thick ashes fallen from the Pinatubo Volcano.

By contrast, base land is provided to U.S. forces free of charge; more than 70% of base maintenance costs is borne by Japanese taxpayers.; U.S. service members enjoy a lot more perquisites in serving in Japan thanks to Tokyo's generosity.

TaiwanIsNotChina: Aug. 3 09:33 am JST,

You haven't denied my contention that USFJ are basically occupation forces because they retain all rights to bases and areas they took as occupation forces.

TaiwanIsNotChina,

Japan can terminate the security arrangement with the US at any time.

Of course, Japan can terminate the security treaty itself anytime it considers suit. But that's when Japan and the U.S. go antagonistic against each other.

Do you want to wait till such a time will come?

A dictionary at my hand says the word "occupation" means "the invasion, conquest and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces."

Allied forces, spearheaded by U.S. forces, had functioned as such until Japan recovered its sovereignty in 1952 as a result of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. But when Japan became independent, all occupation forces of the Allies had to withdraw, except for the U.S. forces that maintained bases and facilities the same as before.

Now, the U.S. forces had turned from occupation forces to treaty forces under the so-called security treaty that was forced upon Japan on the same day when the afore-mentioned Peace Treaty was signed.

On the surface, U.S. forces in Japan aren't occupation forces, but substantially they are. Come to Okinawa to see the true state of affairs’

What causes cracks in the Osprey's gears in the first place? Apparently, it's because of the excessive load that is the structure of the Osprey. 

In other words, Ospreys are mechanically defective by nature from the very beginning, I assume.

One thing I consider problematic with Shigeru Ishiba as a candidate for the seat of General Secretary of the LDP is that he gathered five lawmakers from Okinawa, who had been narrowly elected on a ticket of anti-Henoko relocation. The five lawmakers were seated on a row of folding chairs and chastised by Ishiba as if they were truant students. The scene was broadcast broadly by NHK.

The Henoko relocation of Futenma is what the U.S. wants and we should all toe the line to what had been dictated by the U.S., Ishiba seemed to be telling the lawmakers.

Ken: Jul. 30 12:22 pm JST

Good grief. There indeed are some people even among locals who want bases for the sake of their personal profits. They prefer to suck the sweet without working hard.

The grave error Netanyahu makes is that he may think that he can eradicate the Hamas by bombarding schools and hospitals without knowing it will only engender hatred against Israel in the young mind in Palestini. He is only sowing the seeds of evil.

The tit for tat strategy will never make the two warring sides come to a ceasefire and realize world peace.

Whenever Japan vows to strengthen ties with the U. S. it means more sacrifice for Okinawa to shoulder. Landfill work in Henoko to construct a so-called replacement for USMC Air Station Futenma will thus be forged ahead despite a strong local opposition and also despite the fact that the new facilities in Henoko to base Ospreys to transport troops have no strategic value to fend off China's missiles.

There's a best seller book in Japan entitled "The Devil's Glutton" （『悪魔の飽食』）

co-authored and published in 1980 by novelist Seiichi Morimoto that details about what had happened with the IJA Unit 731 during the war.

Is there no one who doesn't raise heckles over the atrocities described in the book? The catch is that all these culprits were condoned for their life in exchange of the handover of the gathered data to the U.S. authorities.

Harris is meeting with Netanyahu? Harris is not the U. S. president, let alone a nominee for it.

And yet she could meet with a foreign dignitary as if she had been elected.

It takes two to tango. 

North Korea says NATO's expansion to the Indo-Pacific region is the most serious threat to global peace while Japan, a willing NATO ally, condemns Norh Korea for its efforts to nuclearize itself and successively test-launch missiles a threat to the region's peace and security.

It indeed takes two to tango.

Out of 14 people, eleven have given noncredit to my post of Jul. 23. That's about 80 percent, who are opposed to my opinion.

I want to challenge them in what way I am wrong.

A talk establishes itself between two equal partners. But if the U.S. thinks the venue is where the U.S. can dictate its own thinking to Japan, what's the use of such a talk?

 In this talk, the U.S. will emphasize how important it is to strengthen bilateral ties in the face of rising China, thus insinuating the importance of the speedy construction of the Henoko new base, which the Japanese side agrees in a knee-jerk fashion.

By the same token, Japan should spearhead other nations and call on all nations to part with weapons of mass destruction －nuclear arsenal, et. al.

To my chagrin, the Cold War and the Cold War mentality people like to embrace and entertain seem to die hard.

I wish fools wouldn't rush in where angels feared to tread.