Ok

By continuing your visit to this site, you accept the use of cookies. These ensure the smooth running of our services. Learn more.

04 September 2016

Okinawans are Rosa Parks and LIBERTARIAN

DSC_6292.JPG 

I stayed in Takae district, Higashi village in Okinawa Prefecture last week. I have been there more than 10 times in last 7 years. Okinawa is southernmost prefecture, 3 hour flight from Tokyo, which is tropical and whose population is 1.4 million. It is like Hawaii or Guam in the U.S.

Articles in Okinawa tag describes what is happening there. As described, Okinawans are in desperate situation. They confront with new US military construction plans. One is in Henoko, Nago city, where US Marine Camp Schwab is located. V shape runways construction is planned landfilling the sea by the beach of Camp Schwab.

DSC_0013.JPG

The other is Takae, Higashi village, where Northern Training Area is located.

DSC_6151.JPG

In Takae, construction of 6 helipads is planned in the forest near the villagers residential area.

In both cases, newly constructed bases will threaten the environment of locals as well as wildlife including endangered species. There have been protest movement such as direct action like sit-in at gates of the construction sites.

DSC_5739.JPG

The Japanese government is pushing forward the project using massive police forces to clear out.

In Takae, last month one gate was cleared out by removing sit-in tents at the gate. Security guards and policemen are stationed at the gate. The photos are Before on the top and After in the below.  

P1070380.JPG

 DSC_2475.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

But Okinawans never give in. That is their history. Since the end of second world war, Okinawa has been occupied by US military forces until return to Japan in 1972. The big bases remained even after the return to Japan.

They always had troubles with US forces. To counter the oppression, what they do is sit-in protest direct action. They keep on doing until they win. They have suceeded in the past.

This time they try. In the opposite side to the gate cleared out by the police, they set up another big tent that can house hundreds of people. There are tens of benches inside. The place was another important entrance for construction. The tent blocks contruction workers to transport machines and materials to another places. The authority demands them to clear out. They refused.

DSC_2407.jpg

Inside a meeting was held every morning. The leader of protest movement said, their policy is non-violent but disobedient to the authority like Rosa Parks, Dr. King and Gandhi. They might break some laws but that doesn't matter if we can stop the worst thing. We do not have to follow bad laws.  

I stayed in the tent and was told that just sitting on the bench is good enough to counter the police. If hundreds of people are inside, the police cannot move out so many people from such narrow place.

CrDm0biUMAAk1Kf.jpg

They also do sit-in protest on the road that construction trucks pass. Their sit-in delayed construction.

That is Okinawan way. That has been going on for decades.

Due to such circumstances, Okinawa has been most autonomous prefecture in Japan. Okinawa went through unique path. There was an independent kingdom until late 19th century. The island was annexed to Empire of Japan then.  

The Okinawan government is now fighting against central government regarding landfill permit of Henoko sea. The Okinawan government invalidated landfill permit so the central government sued the Okinawa to make it validated. The verdict will be issued on 16 of September. The Okinawan government says it will fight until the end and halt landfill of Henoko and construction of new base anyway they can.

Recently independence movement has been discussed among Okinawans. They found belonging to Japan is no longer advantageous to their land. They have different kind of culture and geographically separated from mainland Japan. They always wanted to claim independence. Now their patience has reached beyond limit.

That is like LIBERTARIAN way of thinking.

Interestingly, ROSA PARKS and LIBERTARIAN are sprits of their oppressors' nation. Maybe because of that, some US veterans sympathised with Okinawans. Last week some members of Veterans for Peace joined the protest. Last month Veterans for Peace in Berkeley made a resolution that new US marine base construction should be halted.

CrKc0meUsAEqaOv.jpg

They showed up in the tent. I talked with them. They were surprised to know that during Vietnam war era, Agent Orange was used in the village and villagers were used as simulated VetCont targets in the training. One young member who was stationed in Iraq said he had been deceived by the government. They really learnt significance of this protest movement like their own.

ROSA PARKS and LIBERTARIAN may be globally common concepts for living life.

22 June 2016

Obama's visit to Hiroshima and Mass shooting in Orlando, Florida

Last month, US president Obama paid visit to Hiroshima and hugged survivor of the atomic bomb which the U.S. force dropped onto the city.

For most Japanese he was very much welcomed because he was the first sitting president who paid visit although he never apologised for the atomic bomb attack.

Many people in the world wondered why Japanese are not so much angry with the U.S. for the atomic bomb attacks.

There are two major reasons. One is we are the one who started the war attacking Pearl Harbour, and the other is we are the aggressor in that period. Before the war between Japan and the U.S., Japan provoked war against China and invaded that nation. In fact, Japan is the first nation that targeted civilians in an enemy state. US modeled after that. Civilian victims in China actually outnumbered that of Japan. So Japan is not a pure victim of the war.

We should have mixed feeling about Hiroshima. Like Germans cannot easily accuse the allied force of atrocities in Dresden that claimed around 20000 lives.

Speaking of mass murder, the mass shooting occurred in Orlando, Florida this month was very shocking. Most of the victims are LGBT Latino people. However, the gunman's motive is still unclear.

Besides that, why is the U.S. still allowing such offenders purchase guns so easily? Even after the shooting US Senate voted down gun control laws. Gun lobbying is very powerful in the U.S.

Seems the U.S. is not the nation that can value human lives. Not just people outside but in their own land.

SO SAD!!

 

23 January 2016

Being Rosa Parks at US Marine Camp Schwab in Okinawa

From last December to beginning of this month, I was in Okinawa to join protest activities of locals who are opposed to construction of new military base runways in US Marine Camp Schwab in Nago city, Okinawa.

Why we are opposed has been described in this blog for years. Please read the posts clicking the tag Okinawa.

Especially, this article gives you outline of what is going on there. My letter to US Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK.

While I joined the protest, I used picket board that says "We are Rosa Parks."

history,military,okinawa

Rosa Parks as you may know, is the symbol of refusal to unjust matters. A Black woman who refused to give front seat to white passengers in a bus and was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. But her action sparked bus boycott protest led by Dr. Martin Luther King. 9 years later, civil rights Act was passed. A year after that, Dr. King led peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery to call for enactment of voting rights bill. Black people in the Southern states were blocked at voting registration office.

What surprised me was marines reaction to the picket board. Young marines looked positive. I asked one security guard, who was a young white man inside the camp premise, if he knew what it meant. He said smilingly "I know what it means." One Black man driving a car looked at me, smiled and gestured his support. "Rosa Parks" is known to every American.    

I saw the movie, "SELMA" after I got back home in Tokyo. It was a great movie. I found how hard it was for him to do this. A lot of people were hurt and even killed. But he and his followers never gave in.

Interesting thing to know was Dr. King was a very smart man so that he once retreated the march to avoid bloodshed by local police. He filed lawsuit against the Alabama state that bans peaceful march. Then the court made an order to allow the march. He prevailed.

Just like Rosa Parks and Dr. King. we did peaceful protest at the gate of Camp Schwab. Sit-in-protest at the gate that construction vehicles passed through.

Police came and took us from the gate. We never foughtback but just kept sitting down on the ground. I was carried by the police from shoulders to toes.

history,military,okinawa

Protestants do every day. It has been going on for years. There were several injuries and arrests. But we still keep doing this. We cannot stop the construction but at least we are delaying that. We will never give in.

While I joined in the sit-in protest, I really felt like Rosa Parks, Dr. King and their followers in their times. We may be backed up by their souls. 

Thank you, Dr. King and Ms. Rosa Parks. I am proud of being part of this protest activity.

The US government should hear the voice of protestants and halt such stupid construction project. It is as stupid as segregation laws. It is actually what is happening in your own yard. 

 

22 April 2015

Dear Fellow Americans, JFK Exhibit is held in Tokyo

I went to the exhibition of John Fitzgerald Kennedy at National Archives of Japan located near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

 

history, JFK, war, homosexuality, gay, lesbian,

 

 

I went there with one old American couple whose young days were when JFK were alive as US President. They told me that the assassination was shocking to them because he was very popular at that time.

 

The admission was free. It has been held since early March and is scheduled to end May 10, 2015. The description of exhibits are mostly Japanese. So I explained to them what each one of exhibits was about. Actually they knew what they were because those things were very familiar with them already.

 

I focused on one corner. The exhibits that relate to his relationship with Japan before he became a politician.

 

history, JFK, war, homosexuality, gay, lesbian,

 

 

A cononut paperweight and a letter to former enemy.

These things come from his war-time experience in Solomon islands, Southern Pacific 1943. JFK was on torpedo patrol boat with his crews at night. The boat was hit by Japanese naval destroyer, Amagiri and sunk. JFK and his men were all thrown out to the sea but they swam to one island. There they met locals. JFK asked them to deliver a coconut which the message of calling for help was written on to the US military corp. Then he and his men were all saved. By that incident JFK was awarded medals.

After the war, JFK made the coconut into paperweight as a memorial. JFK wrote the letter to former captain of the destroyer, Hanami telling him that he wanted to meet the captain because yesterday’s enemy turned today’s friend. Later JFK invited him to his presidential election campaign. The captain could not go to the US but his best friend, Onozaki, who was also a crew of the destroyer went. The photo that Onozaki and JFK together were printed out in newspapers in US that might help JFK win the election.

 

He might have felt saved by the Japanese military. I speculate that the enemy did not shoot at them though they found them in the sea or even gave them a rescue boat or some way to save their lives?

 

JFK to me has weird relation. When I was in US two decades ago as a college student, some of my classmates said to me that I look like JFK. I was glad to hear that.

 

I remember when I went to Arlington cemetery in Washington, I could come to his grave without knowing the route, seemed like he invited me.

okinawa, military, dugong

 

 He and I have things in common. I am Catholic and have back pain problem from young days still struggling with it some time. He and I are very much interested in civil rights advocacy.

 

 The memorable thing I saw in the exhibit was his speech film on Civil Right Act in relation to Alabama state’s defiance to Federal court order to admit Afro-American students to its state university.

 

He said,

 

“We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is the land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?

Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its promise. The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them.

The fires of frustration and discord are burning in every city, North and South, where legal remedies are not at hand. Redress is sought in the streets, in demonstrations, parades, and protests which create tensions and threaten violence and threaten lives.

We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people. It cannot be met by repressive police action. It cannot be left to increased demonstrations in the streets. It cannot be quieted by token moves or talk. It is time to act in the Congress, in your State and local legislative body and, above all, in all of our daily lives.”

 

That speech sounds like current President Mr. Obama’s endorsement on gay marriage.

 

After a half century, a new type of civil rights movement seems to be on. The same rhetoric are used for both pros and cons. Majorities vs. Minorities. Conservatives vs. Liberals.

 

Federal protection law to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has been on debate.

 

Just like that State of Alabama rejected court order to provide marriage licenses to gay couples.

 

That is why Obama is called, Black Kennedy. He succeeded JFK’s will to protect civil rights.

 

Interestingly enough, unlike race matter, sexual orientation matter is common worldwide. So America can be a good role model for this issue.

 

In relation to it, this coming weekend April 25 & 26, 2015, Tokyo celebrates gay pride event in Yoyogi Park that includes street parade. I will actually join it. Last March one ward of Tokyo, Shibuya passed an ordinance that provides partnership certificate to gay couples. The first political accomplishment in Japan’s gay movement.

Japan’s public opinion regarding gay issue has recently changed.

According to the recent poll conducted by Mainichi Newspaper, majority of Japanese support gay rights, especially among younger generation. More people approve of gay marriage than those who oppose it.

 

Is it due to what has happened recently in the U.S. ?

Good role model. Hope US keep being good role model for us.

 

Since I think of JFK, there are 3 songs that come up with. The songs released in the year he was assassinated. Did he hear the songs and enjoy them?

 

One is related to civil rights movement, "Blowing in the wind", one implies coming of Vietnam war, "Green Green." The other implies the oppression I am facing with many other people regarding US policy which current US Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy (JFK’s daughter) has to deal with.