Fisherman Yamashiro: Destroying the forests will kill the ocean 2016/11/15

With the forest where private helicopters brought down materials in the background, fisherman Yoshikatsu Yamashiro talks about his experience of Okinawa’s base issues on November 14 in Aha, Kunigami Village.

November 15, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 14, a protest boat took to the sea for the first time in the protest movement against the U.S. military helipads being constructed in Takae. The protest boat was manned by fisherman Yoshikatsu Yamashiro, age 72. Yamashiro waited on the boat for his friends, who landed their kayaks at the mouth of the Ukagawa River and went to join the protests. Shortly past noon, several protesters could be seen from the boat climbing onto the cliffs aiming for the place where materials had been brought in by air. “The ocean is our father. The forest is our mother. If the forest is destroyed, red soil flows to the ocean, and both die,” says Yamashiro, furrowing his brown and looking up at his friends.

Yamashiro has been a fisherman for fifty years. In order to protect the forests, which he considers to be a pair together with the ocean, he is expressing unwavering opposition to the helipad construction.

In 1959, from the second floor of Ishikawa Junior High School, which he was attending, Yamashiro saw a jet plane rapidly approaching, spitting fire, as it crashed into Miyamori Elementary School. He also participated in the Koza Riot. It has now been fifty-seven years since the Miyamori Elementary School accident. “Okinawa has gotten worse since returning to Japan. Before, our enemy was the United States, but now we are facing discrimination from Japan as well,” Yamashiro said with a look of anguish on his face. Even so, he says, “I won’t give up until we win. I will never forget the pain we have suffered.” He turned his face to look straight at the forest. (Yo Kakazu)

工事完了前に判断へ 着陸帯建設差し止め仮処分 北部訓練場 2016/11/10

琉球新報　2016年11月10日 16:11 

 

 

７月に資機材などが運び込まれた北部訓練場のメーンゲート上空＝東村高江

 

 

東村と国頭村に広がる米軍北部訓練場のヘリコプター着陸帯（ヘリパッド）建設を巡り、東村高江の住民３１人が国を相手に工事の差し止めを求める訴訟（本案）の第１回口頭弁論と、同訴訟の判決が出るまでの間の差し止めを求める仮処分申し立ての第２回審尋がそれぞれ１０日、那覇地裁（森鍵一裁判長）であった。住民側弁護団によると、森鍵裁判長は仮処分申し立てについて、１１月２４日の第３回審尋で終結する方針を示した。工事完了前には、仮処分を認めるかどうかの決定が出る見通し。

　国は本案では、訴えの棄却を求めた。【琉球新報電子版】

英文へ→Temporary injunction from Naha District Court expected before completion of helipad construction in Takae

Temporary injunction from Naha District Court expected before completion of helipad construction in Takae 2016/11/10

November 10, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo 

 Materials and equipment being hauled in through the main gate to the Northern Training Area viewed from the sky in Higashi Village, Takae.

The first oral proceedings and the second hearing of a case brought to the Naha District Court by 31 residents of Takae, Higashi Village, took place on November 10. The case concerns to the construction of helipads in the Northern Training Area that span Higashi and Kunigami Villages. During oral proceedings the 31 residents requested that the Japanese government halt construction, and during the hearing they motioned for a temporary injunction on the case.

石西礁湖 過半死ぬ サンゴ白化９７％「極めて深刻」2016/11/10

琉球新報　2016年11月10日 06:30 

 

全体が死亡し、真っ白になってしまった群体が広がる石西礁湖＝１０月４日、石西礁湖（環境省那覇自然環境事務所提供）

今夏、長期にわたる高海水温などの影響を受け、大規模な白化現象が確認されていた国内最大級のサンゴ礁・石西礁湖海域について、環境省那覇自然環境事務所が９日発表した最新の調査結果で全体の白化率は９７％で、うち５６・７％が「全体が死亡した群体」であったことが分かった。同省は年内にも同海域で再調査する方針だが「今後、死亡群体はさらに増え、事態は極めて深刻になりそうだ」と警戒している。

Majority of Sekisei shoko coral reef dies with 97 % extremely severely bleached 2016/11/10

November 10, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

Sekisei shoko coral reef covered with bleached coral colonies and dead coral. 


The Ministry of the Environment’s Naha Office announced results from a survey on Sekisei shoko coral reef, one of the largest coral reef in Japan. The reef was being monitored for bleaching due to long-term high water temperatures this summer. The result was made public on November 9. The result shows that 97 percent of the coral reef is bleached, of which 56.7 percent is considered to be “a totally dead colony.” The ministry will conduct another survey in the same area by end of the year, warning “the result is anticipated to be extremely serious with more dead colonies.”

嘉陽宗義さん死去 辺野古反対訴え続け ９４歳 2016/11/04

琉球新報　2016年11月4日 07:30 

 

 

辺野古への新基地建設反対を訴える嘉陽宗義さん＝２０１４年１２月２１日、名護市辺野古

 

 

 

【名護】米軍普天間飛行場の移設先の名護市辺野古で座り込みを続けてきた「命を守る会」の嘉陽宗義さんが３日午前８時４５分ごろ、肺炎のため宜野座村の病院で死去した。９４歳。名護市辺野古出身。告別式は未定。出棺日は５日午前１０時４５分を予定している。

Icon of Henoko movement Muneyoshi Kayo passes ａｗａｙ 2016/11/04

November 4, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

 On December 21, at Henoko, Nago City, Muneyoshi Kayo objected to new base construction in Henoko 

At 8:45 a.m. on November 3, Muneyoshi Kayo, who was a member of sit-in protest group “Inochi wo mamoru kai,” which protests the relocation of the Futenma Air Station to Henoko, Nago, passed away at a hospital in Ginoza Village at the age of 94 due to pneumonia. Kayo was from Henoko, Nago City. The memorial service has not yet been determined. The hearse left the house at 10:45 a.m. on November 5.

環境省、文書不開示 やんばるの世界遺産関連 「米軍の信頼損なう」 2016/11/02

琉球新報　2016年11月2日 11:12 

 

米軍北部訓練場に隣接するやんばる国立公園を含む「奄美・琉球」の世界自然遺産登録を巡り、環境省は２０１３年以降に米軍とやりとりした文書は「一切不開示」とすることを決定していたことが１日、分かった。環境省は決定理由について取材に対し「米国との信頼関係を損なう恐れ」を挙げ、文書そのものが「米軍との間で非公開とすることを前提に作成しているため」と説明した。環境省は、存在を特定した不開示文書名のリストや件数も明らかにしなかった。

　文書は、調査団体「インフォームド・パブリック・プロジェクト（ＩＰＰ）」の河村雅美代表が開示請求した。不開示の結果を受け同団体は、政府のステークホルダー（住民）に対する説明責任の欠如を指摘。行政不服審査法に基づき、環境大臣に対して審査請求をする方針だ。

Ministry of Environment says disclosure of Yambaru world heritage documents would damage relationship of trust with US military 2016/11/02

November 2, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 1, it was learned that the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has decided not to disclose any documents detailing communications with the U.S. military from 2013 onward regarding the registration of Amami/Ryukyu as a world natural heritage site. The Amami/Ryukyu area that would be registered includes Yambaru National Park, which is adjacent to the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area. In response to an inquiry about the reason for its decision, the MOE listed concerns that disclosure of the documents would damage Japan’s relationship of trust with the United States, and explained that the documents themselves had been prepared on the condition of confidentiality with the U.S. military. The MOE has also not revealed a list specifying the undisclosed documents, nor the number of such documents that exist.

Arrest of Henoko protesters 2015/05/01

 The Japan Times>Opinions

• Mar 1, 2015

The circumstances of the arrest last week of two activists opposed to the construction of a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture raise questions about the propriety of the arrest as well as suspicions that the U.S. military is about to crack down on protesters in general.

Such a perception could intensify local resentment against both the United States and the Japanese government, which is pushing the construction, possibly fueling more protests and confusion. The Abe administration should seriously think whether it is wise to stick to the construction plan against Okinawan people’s opposition, which has been clearly expressed in a recent series of elections.