Dear People of the World (formerly Dear Americans)

This is the sequel of already posted article "Ich bin ein Berliner." My trip in Europe last month. After I enjoyed my 2 day stay in Berlin, I flew to Krakow, the old capital of Poland. From the city, I went to one of the famous World Heritage sites. It took 1 and a half hour to get to Auschwitz Museum by car. It was clear and sunny day. The place looked strangely beautiful although what happend there was so scary. At first I went to the second part of the former concentration camp, Birkenau.

Over 1 million people were said to be murdered there. The below photo is the bombed gas chamber. Nazis bombed the chamber when they left that place to destroy the evidence. It looked like Roman ruin to me.

The below is where the prisoners slept and their toilet.

Also the below is the site of forced labour in the ditch.

The below is the freight train car used for deportation of the prisoners. No seats in it. They had to stand up inside for days without food.

Then I went to the Auschwitz. That is me in front of the famous gate "ARBEIT MACHT FREI. (Labor makes you free.)" But the prisoners never became free. 90% of them died inside the camp.

I found such an ad in Tokyo train.

It says "CHANGE to Emobile phone." This monkey might look like one of US presidential candidates.

I think it is racist. They couldn't post the same postar in the U.S.

I don't like it. They could use human actor (Japanese or Afro-American guy) instead of a monkey.

The photo below is the gathering of Yokosuka citizens who protest deployment of Nuclear aircraft carrier USS "George Washington" which is scheduled to dock in Yokosuka port in August. Yokosuka is just 20 miles away from Tokyo. 

I call that ship "Third Atomic Bomb." The citizen group collected more than 52,000 signatures to call for referendum to object the deployment. But the city council voted down the referendum plan. Maybe because the council members were afraid that the Japanese government would stop paying subsidies to the city if they approve the plan.

I've already written why I call it that way. Please read this post for the detail.

The photo below is the campaign I started with the protestors.

This post is the statement I made to the U.S. government.

The problem is not just nuclear carrier, the bigger issue that includes this dangerous ship deployment is US bases in Japan.

The US bases have been placed in Japan since the defeat of Japanese imperial army in 1945. The purpose was to occupy the defeated enemy and counter the communist nations such as Soviet Union.

But the Pacific war and the Cold War are all over, then why are they still in Japan?

The answer is simple. Japan is paying the expense for the bases such as salaries for civilian personnels, utilities, construction of the buildings and housing inside the bases. The amount is almost 6 billion US $.

For a long time, Japanese have been too generous to believe the U.S. troops are defending us while we only have very small and weak military troops. Since the cold war is over, there is no particular threat to us. Soviet Union collapsed. China has been thought to be next threat. But that is nonesense. China is biggest trade partner for Japan and the biggest buyer of the U.S. government bonds. The U.S. wouldn't help Japan even if China attacks us.

Actually, the U.S. troops never defended Japan even before. During the cold war era, the target was Russia, they just wanted to use Japan as defense line for the non-communist world. Japanese troops were used to protect U.S. troops in the bases. After the cold war, they use it as free transit points for their military strategies. They don't necessarily use Japanese bases unless Japanese government pays the expense. As Colin Powell said, Japan is cheap location for the U.S. military. Just that.

There is actually no American troops that defend our nation. American troops stationed in Japan are mostly supply staff. Not combat ones. The defense for Japanese military has been done by Japanese troops. That is their primary responsibility in the guideline agreed on between the both countries.

We have been fooled by the U.S. telling Japan should pay the expense for the bases in exchange for the security of the country. The money we've paid for were never used for our defense but used just to save the expense for the U.S. military. Not only that they never protected our country, but also they polluted our land and rape and kill civilians and bringing deadly weapon, Nuclear carrier that can nuke the whole capital region.

One more outrageous thing is the U.S. bases financially supported by Japanese tax payers may have been used for covert missions by CIA and NSA. What is their target? Russia or China? No. Japan. To steal technologies from Japan.

Wow! They are Trojan Horses. Just stop paying that money to them.

The two countries are at war in Japan land. What we have to do is get them out of our land. They have become very dangerous neighbors. I can't trust America and Americans any more.

"Yankees, go home!"   

The United State Ambassador to Japan, J. Thomas Schieffer
Embassy of the United States of America
1-10-5 Akasaka
Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420

Member of "Boycott on American goods to protest USS "George Washinton" deployment on Yokosuka base" Association

Declaration of "Boycott on American goods to protest USS "George Washinton" deployment on Yokosuka base"


Dear Sir,

American-Japanese relations have already existed for more than 150 years. Along the way there was a war between the two countries, but in the post-war period I believe that good relations have been fairly consistently maintained. In recent days however, an incident has taken place which is shaking up this relationship; it is the deployment of the nuclear aircraft carrier the USS George Washington from August 2008 to the American military base in Yokosuka city, which is not that far away from the capital city, Tokyo. The deployment of this kind of aircraft carrier so as to make its home port within Japanese territory is unprecedented and a warship which is stacked with nuclear reactors is in a manner of speaking a nuclear power plant floating on the sea.

The American Navy has asserted that the nuclear aircraft carrier is safe, but a number of objective pieces of information have proved that its deployment in the national capital region presents a significant danger. For citizens living in the capital region and for the Japanese people, it is very difficult to allow this to happen. I believe it is well known that in Japan confidence in nuclear power itself is comparatively lower than in your country, and recently due to an earthquake the world’s largest nuclear power plant has continued to have operations suspended. Additionally, trust in the American troops stationed in Japan themselves has also fallen due to the deterioration of the environment as well as legal order in surrounding areas. No matter what justification is made by your country’s government, it will not be persuasive. Essentially the American troops stationed in Japan are in a position to protect the lives and property of the Japanese people, but I feel very angry by the fact that they have increased the danger to the lives of Japanese citizens.
 
Therefore, I appeal to the governments of the United States and Japan to stop the establishment of a home port for the nuclear aircraft carrier. Since an agreement has already been reached between both countries’ governments, obviously I realize that it cannot be easily overturned; the purpose of this correspondence is not only to pass on my protests however, but also to notify that until efforts to create a home port are canceled, I will expand the movement to reject the purchasing of American goods.
 
While these actions are those of an individual, in order for them to be not simply my own, everyone will make an appeal in order to have a larger number of people participate. Therefore an association called “BOYCOTT ON AMERICAN GOODS TO PROTEST USS "GEORGE WASHINGTON”deployoment on Yokosuka base" was established. Basically it will be a movement for individuals to not purchase American goods or goods which are involved with American capital from within their consumer spending capabilities. It is a call to not only stop buying American products, but also to withdraw funds from accounts at American capital banks, cancel insurance plans, and stop using restaurants and amusement parks. Action will also be taken to not watch American movies at the theatres or on DVD.

You may think that developing a movement to boycott goods in response to the problem surrounding a nuclear aircraft carrier is peculiar, but it is not any different from the boycott on Japanese goods in protest of Japanese whaling in the Antarctic Ocean. If the unreasonable treatment the government of the United States is giving to the Japanese people is considered, as a Japanese person I believe the desire to stop buying goods which have to do with America is a natural sentiment. Of course, this movement is not being carried out with the intention of slandering individual Americans who are living in Japan. The target of this protest is strictly the American government’s decision at this time to establish a home port for the nuclear aircraft carrier.

After the USS George Washington has arrived in Japan in August, I believe that the movement will not stop and naturally the boycott will be expanded. I am sure you are aware that while the carrier is anchored, even without an accident occurring higher levels of radioactivity than usual have been detected. No matter how much the navy denies its connection with the aircraft carrier, it has spread around Japan as a piece of dangerous news in the blink of an eye, and has without a doubt resulted in an increase in distrust against not only the American troops stationed in Japan but also against the American government and the country as a whole. The establishment of a home port for the nuclear aircraft carrier will result its long-term anchoring meaning that that mistrust will earnestly grow, and a warship which bears the name of one of your country’s founding fathers will be considered as a “third atomic bomb” to the Japanese people. This is the extent to which harm will be done to citizens’ sentiments.
This event is the biggest crisis which has faced bilateral relations since the end of the Second World War. It will greatly affect not only military exchanges, but also economic and cultural ones.

Please do not forget that citizens, in addition to political institutions, are important players in the diplomatic process today. This is like "Declaration of Independence" by Japanese citizens.

Sincerely,

 

Please also read this article to know more about the meaning of this movement.