Okinawa District’s 4 Lower House Parliamentary Elections go 3-1 in favor of opposition parties

Okinawa District’s 4 Lower House Parliamentary Elections go 3-1 in favor of opposition parties, with Akamine, Nishime, Tamaki, and Teruya winning seats

October 23, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

The 48th Lower House elections were held on October 22, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were able to independently win more than the 233 seats needed for a majority in the 465-seat Parliamentary house, and decided to continue the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.


　　Seiken Akamine (center) celebrating his victory with supporters. October 22, Naha

Social Democratic Party incumbent Kantoku Teruya, 72, was re-elected to his seat in the No. 2 electoral district.

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The U.S Military Resumes CH-53 Flight Operations and Issues (Damage Control) Media Release

Okinawa Environmental Justice Project
Connecting the green dots to protect Okinawa's environment

The U.S Military Resumes CH-53 Flight Operations and Issues (Damage Control) Media Release
October 22, 2017

　ⓒKYODO

While the residents of the Takae district, Higashi village and the people of Okinawa are still shaken and infuriated by the October 11 crash of a U.S military CH-53 helicopter in the district, and although the cause of the crash has not been determined, the U.S. military resumed the flight operations of the aircraft on October 18. See Kyodo News.

Following a 96-hour suspension of flight operations, the U.S. military’s CH-53 helicopters are back in the Okinawa sky, flying over our houses, schools, hospitals, forests and sea as if nothing has happened.

The Japanese government, Okinawa prefectural government and local municipalities have demanded that the operations of the CH-53 aircraft be suspended indefinitely until the cause of the crash is determined, but to no avail. See The Japan Times.

U.S. Military’s Media Release
Before resuming the operation of CH-53 helicopters, the U.S. military issued a media release, providing explanations for its actions. See the Media Release.

In our opinion, the media release reads like a damage control PR statement, directed to (the rest of) the U.S. military and U.S. government and probably to the U.S. public, but not to the people of Okinawa (It is written in English and we have not seen a Japanese translation of it yet).

The lopsided power relationships among the U.S. military, Japan and Okinawa have prevailed again. Our lives and environment are in danger. Many of us feel we are under colonial and military occupation.

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ODB recorded call from heretofore unidentified dugong in waters surrounding Henoko in August

ODB recorded call from heretofore unidentified dugong in waters surrounding Henoko in August

October 17, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Chie Tome


　　A dugong swimming calmly through the waters off the coast of Kayo, Nago City in March 2008

In order to study the impacts of replacement facility construction in Henoko, Nago City for Futenma Air Station (currently located in Ginowan City), the Ministry of Defense’s Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) is conducting a dugong habitat investigation in the surrounding waters.

Due to a dugong’s call recorded on August 28 in Ada, Kunigami Village, it came to light that dugong specimen C, which has not been spotted since June 2015, may still be out there.

The ODB announcement of this finding was recorded in the minutes from the October 10 meeting of the Environmental Oversight Committee in its 9th session (which began on September 27).

In order to identify the dugongs’ habitats and various behavioral tendencies, the ODB is continuing to monitor the dugongs using aircraft and underwater audio recording equipment.

Each specimen cannot be identified based on audio alone, but by observing other dugongs within the same time frame, circumstantially it appears possible that there are only three dugongs in Okinawa, one of them being specimen C.

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Yanbaru Forest in Danger: US Military Helicopter on Fire near World Natural Heritage Nominated Area

Okinawa Environmental Justice Project


　photo:Okinawa Times

October 11
Yanbaru Forest in Danger: US Military Helicopter on Fire near World Natural Heritage Nominated Area

In just a few days, members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will conduct a much-anticipated field mission in the Yanbaru forest in northern Okinawa Island as part of the UNESCO/IUCN's evaluation process for the forest's bid for World Natural Heritage status.

Guess what has just happened in the Takae district of Hiagashi village, near the World Heritage nominated area?

Around 17:30 on October 11, a U.S. military CH 53 helicopter made an emergency landing and caught fire in an open land in Takae. As of 20:00, the fire and smoke are flaring in the darkness of the night. See this NHK site (Japanese). Also see this New York Times site.

t is not clear whether the helicopter was either coming back from or was going to the U.S. military's Northern Training Area (NTA) when it made its emergency landing. NTA is located just next to the World Natural Heritage nominated area.

I have no information on the status of the crew who were on the CH 53 aircraft. I hope they evacuated safely in time. I have no information on the extent of the damage the accident has caused on the area.

Luckily, no one in Takae was hurt, a friend in Takae told me on the phone.

This brings me to what I originally planned to upload on this blog today: Our factsheets "A World Natural Heritage Site next to U.S. Military's Training Area?: The Case of Northern Part of Okinawa Island, Japan." I have submitted them to the members of the IUCN field mission.

The factsheets warned and predicted this unfortunate helicopter crash.

H.Y.

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Okinawa Defense Bureau begins talks with Okinawa prefectural government regarding endangered coral

Okinawa Defense Bureau begins talks with Okinawa prefectural government regarding endangered coral

September 29, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo


　　　Porites okinawensis coral discovered at the planned land reclamation site at Henoko, Nago (from documents prepared by the Okinawa Defense Bureau)

Regarding the discovery of an endangered species of coral in the sea area that is set to be turned into reclaimed land for the planned construction of a new military base in Henoko, Nago as part of the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture), on September 28, an employee of the Ministry of Defense’s Okinawa Defense Bureau visited the Okinawa Prefectural Office to begin preliminary discussions of a special coral harvesting permission request which the Bureau must obtain in order to proceed with construction.

The Defense Bureau has not announced when it will submit the request. The prefectural government will consult with environmental and legal experts to decide on a response.

Heads of relevant departments reported on the situation to Governor Takeshi Onaga at 5 p.m. at his office. Apart from the procedure to request coral harvesting permission, the Defense Bureau plans to visit the governor’s office on September 29 to provide an explanation regarding their “subsequent survey report” relating to their initial environmental impact assessment.

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