The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 8 | Issue 8 | Number 1 | Article ID 3306 | Feb 22, 2010

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Henoko, Okinawa: Inside the Sit-In　沖繩県名護市辺野古−−座り込みの内側

Kikuno Yumiko, Satoko Oka Norimatsu

Henoko, Okinawa: Inside the Sit-In(Japanese Original Text at PeaceP h i l o s o p h y C e n t r e(http://peacephilosophy.blogspot.com/2010/01/emotions-of-henoko-yumiko-kikuno.html))

Kikuno Yumiko

Translation by Norimatsu Satoko andKikuno Yumiko

Introduction by Norimatsu Satoko

On the rainy and cold ChristmasDay of 2009, we got lost severaltimes driving down the windingnarrow roads towards Henoko, asmall fishing village on the NorthEastern shore of Okinawa Island,about a two-hour drive north of thecapital, Naha. We were looking forthe "Tent Village," where activistswere sitting in to protest againstthe government's plan to build anew US Marine Corps airbase as a"replacement facility" of FutenmaAir Station. Yes, this issue hasbeen at the centre of the newsreports in Japan for the six monthss i n c e t h e n e w c o a l i t i o ngovernment took power, but do wereally know what has happened forthe last eight years in and aroundthis tent, on and off this coralbeach, and in the ocean whereendangered marine mammal

dugongs come by for feeding? Thevictory of Inamine Susumu, theanti-base candidate in the January24 mayoral election of Nago,where Henoko is located, wasanticipated but was not known yetwhen the 40-minute lesson on thehistory of Henoko activism wasgiven inside the tent to two visitorsfrom the mainland and fromoverseas. Thinking back, theprotesters at Henoko were amongthe citizens of Nago and Okinawawho served as advocates ofdemocracy during the thirteenyears of chasm between the pro-base government of Nago and thepopular will opposing the newbase, expressed in the 1997plebiscite. In the Western world,the sit-in by the workers of Gdanskshipyards is well-known as one ofthe longest in modern times, andone that launched the transition todemocracy in Poland and helpedend the Cold War. But the multi-year Henoko "sit-in" story is littleknown outside of Japan, if notoutside of Okinawa. Here is thefirst short account from "inside"the movement by one of i tsstalwarts.

Okinawa used to be the independent RyukyuKingdom, blessed with a bountiful environmentand friendly trade relations with many otherAsian countries. In March 1609, Satsuma-han(now Southern Kyushu Island) invaded the

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Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1879, the Mei j iGovernment forced the Kingdom to surrenderShuri Castle by means of the “ RyukyuDisposition,” which brought down the curtainon the Ryukyu Kingdom. Ryukyuan culture wassubsequently lost under the assimilation policyof the Japanese government. Towards the endof the Asia-Pacific War, war was forced uponRyukyu Islanders in the Battle of Okinawa, inwhich 200,000 lives were lost, including over90,000 local civilians who were killed or forcedto commit suicide. Today, Okinawa isburdened with 75% of all U.S. military bases inJapan. It seems so unfair that the RyukyuIslands have had to endure such a tragichistory. I want to bring my heart closer toOkinawa and its people, especially in light ofthe “Futenma Base Transfer” controversy.

On December 25, 2009, I visited “Henoko TentVillage” in Okinawa, with Satoko Norimatsu,Director of the Peace Philosophy Centre, apeace education centre in Canada. The“village” has acted as a base for the 13-yearlong nonviolent anti-base movement. On theday we visited it was raining, which madeHenoko beach look like it was crying. We werewelcomed by Toyama Sakae, the “mayor” ofHenoko Tent Village, and by other activists,including Nakazato Tomoharu, “Yasu-san,” and“Na-chan.” Mr. Toyama invited us to have aseat and proceeded to explain the history of themovement to save Henoko.

The Tent Village “Mayor” Toyama Sakaeexplains the history of protest at Henoko.

Toyama is pointing at the “V-shapedRunway Plan” in the 2006 agreement

between Japan and U.S. officially describedas a “replacement facility” of Futenma Air

Station.

In 1995, the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawangirl by three U.S. Marines triggered a hugeanti-base movement throughout the Islands ofOkinawa. Then in 1996, Japan and the UnitedStates agreed to the plan put forward by theSpecial Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO),which stipulated that the Futenma Air Stationwould be relocated to Henoko, on the EastCoast of Northern Okinawa, in an attempt toappease Okinawans angered not only by therape but above all by the heavy U.S. basepresence in the densely populated South. Thefollowing year, in 1997, residents of Henokostarted an organization called “Inochi omamoru kai,” “the Association for ProtectingLife.” They began a campaign opposing theeffort to establish a new U.S. base at Henoko.The majority of Nago citizens also votedagainst the agreement, in a referendum heldthat same year. However, the Mayor of Nagoat that time accepted the plan. These eventsmarked only the beginning of what has been along and unfinished struggle in Henoko.

The Tent Village on the Henoko Shore. It

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was day 2,077 of the sit-in when we visited.

Success in stopping plan to build anoffshore U.S. airbase

In 2002, the Japanese government decided toconstruct a 3,000 meter-long U.S. air stationtwo kilometers off the coast of Henoko. If thisnew U.S. base were to be built, the beautifulview from Henoko of the horizon over theocean would disappear entirely. On April 19,2004 , the Naha De fense Fac i l i t i e sAdministration Bureau (DFAB) tried to proceedwith construction, but approximately 70 peopleerected a sit-in human barricade to keep dumptrucks from passing through. At 5 a.m. onSeptember 19, 2004, approximately 400activists gathered and prepared for aconfrontation with riot police. The DFABlearned of the sit-in and decided to access thesite by going through Camp Schwab,chartering fishing boats from Henokofishermen (whom they paid exceedingly well),and setting out to sea rather than riskconfronting the barricade.

Protesters being briefed on the day’sactivities in the tent village, in March 2005

The battle subsequently moved from land tosea. The anti-base activists attempted to stopthe DFAB from setting up scaffolding towers toconduct the drilling – their plan being to drill ata rate of 63 borings per year. The activists setout to sea in canoes, surrounding the buoymarkers, an hour before the constructionworkers started their workday. Despiterepeated attempts over a two month period tohalt underwater surveying, four towers werecompleted. After that, some activists took towrapping their bodies with a chain and lockingthemselves to the motor set on the top of thetower in an attempt to interrupt the operation. In the course of this resistance some of theprotesters, including one woman in her fifties,were pushed off the top of the scaffoldingtower and were injured.

In November 2004, about 20 neighboringfishing boats joined the protesters. Thissupport was a big help in interrupting thedrilling. Activists in their fishing boats andcanoes had to maintain a presence around thescaffold tower from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. Theycovered themselves with straw mats to keepwarm on the frigid waters. It was especiallyhard for women to spend long hours on theocean without going to the bathroom, so theyoften participated without consuming anywater.

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A protester’s ship approaching one of thescaffolding towers, July 2005

DFAB commenced night shifts starting in April2005 and since that time, protesters have hadto spend 24 hours a day hanging on to thetowers. Activists are unable to leave the towerseven for a minute, for if they do, DFAB crewswould jump in and start working. Activists,consciously adhering to the principle of non-violent civil disobedience, have ensured theyare already in place each day before DFABcrews arrive in order to avoid an altercation. At one point, activists remained on the towersfor a 50 day period, alternating two 12 hourshifts. In the mean time, other anti-baseorganizations within Okinawa visited the NahaDFAB office many times in an attempt toconvince officers to cease night-timeoperations, which posed a danger to DFABworkers and protesters alike. Night shifts werealso keeping dugongs away from their feedingarea. As a result of the protesters’ unwaveringcampaign, the Government finally abandonedthe plan to build an offshore air station on

October 29, 2005. The number of people whoparticipated in the campaign totalled 60,000,including 10,000 who protested at sea.

Henoko suffering more from new Japan-U.S. agreement

On October 29, 2005, Japan and the U.S.agreed on a new plan to build a 1,800 meter-long runway inshore from Henoko, partially onthe peninsula, instead of entirely offshore. Thistime even the Mayor of Nago and the Governorof Okinawa, who had both supported theoffshore base, opposed the plan, noting that itwould be located a mere 700 meters from aresidential area. However, in April 2006,Nukaga Fukushiro, Japan’s Defense Agencych ie f a t the t ime , t o ld Nago mayorShimabukuro Yoshikazu about yet another newplan, this time to build a V-shaped runway. Nukaga explained that one side of the runwaywould be used only for landing and the otherside only for taking off. This plan would besafer, Nukaga insisted, because fighter planeswould not fly over residential areas. In theend, the Defense Agency chief prevailed andthe mayor of Nago green-lighted the V-shapedrunway. However, according to Toyama,military flight training mostly involves what isknown as “touch-and-go” landing -- landingthen immediately taking off without coming toa full stop. This is the way the Marines havebeen training at Futenma Air Station. Likewise, a U.S. official document states thatthey wouldn’t necessarily restrict use to oneside of the V-shaped runway for taking off andthe other for landing. The opponents of thebase suspected that the true motive for the V-shape plan is that it would allow training tooccur regardless of wind direction. When theopposition parties questioned the Japanesegovernment about this at a Diet session, theanswer was “It will be possible to use bothsides of the runway for taking off, depending onwhat type of training is being conducted,”thereby contradicting their original argument. Mr. Toyama and his colleagues informed Nago

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City about this Diet exchange and requestedthat the City rescind its approval of the V-shaperunway, but to no avail.

Protesters receive instruction on canoehandling, May 2007

In April 2007, it was decided that Naha DFABwould begin an environmental assessment ofthe area where the V-shaped runway would beconstructed. The activists pointed out that thisparticular assessment procedure was inviolat ion of the Environment ImpactAssessment Law. The law requires that anactual construction schedule for a majorproject such as the runway can only be decidedafter an assessment has been made, whereas inthis case, a completion date of 2014 hadalready been set before any assessment hadbeen started. Such a procedure was in clearcontravention of the Assessment Law. Toconduct the survey, some 120 pieces ofequipment would be set in the water, including30 passive sonars, 14 underwater videocameras, and machines used to check the

adherence of coral eggs and ocean currents.

On May 18, 2007, the first day of the survey,the Japanese government sent the MaritimeSelf-Defense Force minesweeper tender“Bungo” to Okinawa in order to stop theprotest activities. It was unprecedented for theSelf-Defense Force to be introduced against acivil protest. Then Defense Agency chiefKyuma Fumio ordered that working ships bereinforced and increased Japan Coast Guardofficer-bodyguards from 30 to 100. At the time,Kyuma was reported as saying, “I don’t want torepeat that frustrating experience of 2005when we had to give up the construction of anairbase offshore Henoko.” As a result,Japanese Coast Guard vessels, thirty workingships and sixteen rafts, anchored offshore fromHenoko, reminiscent of the U.S. Fleets thatsurrounded Okinawa Island during the Battle ofOkinawa. Against such an armada, there waslittle the protesters could do. They were heldup by the Japan Coast Guard for nearly threehours almost every day, and at one point,several workers of the government agencycame to remove an activist who had divedunderwater beneath some of the equipment. Inthe end, most equipment was installed despitethe life-risking protests.

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Early morning on May 18, 2007, protesterson canoes set out to the sea, trying to stopthe Defense Bureau’s assessment. It was

the morning of the unprecedentedMaritime Self-Defense Force dispatch of aminesweeper to suppress the civil protest.

The Henoko activists know that they can’tcompletely thwart the government’s survey, butthey continue their land-based and maritimeactions, hoping to interrupt and delay thesurvey to buy time until the Nago mayoralelection (January 2010) and the Okinawagubernatorial race (November 2010). Mr.Toyama said, “Following the survey, the NahaDefense Bureau has to apply for a reclamationpermit, and this requires approval by theprefectural governor. If a candidate opposingthe base construct ion wins the nextgubernatorial election, we will be able to stopthe base construction plan. That’s the kind ofvision we hold as we continue our protest.”

Mr. Toyama also told us about environmentalconcerns the likes of which we have never

heard before. Twenty-one million cubic meters(2,100,000 ten-ton truckloads) of sand will beneeded to reclaim 160 hectares of land fromthe sea for the proposed construction. Thegovernment agency would have to exploit mostof the sand along the East Coast of Okinawa, aswell as cutting down thirty hectares of treesaround Henoko Dam in order to dig out twomillion cubic meters of soil and gravel. TheDugong would die out because the sea grassesthat they feed on would be destroyed, and theHenoko Dam would be unable to supply enoughclean water to residents. Naha DFABexplained the area was a convenient place toextract soil and gravel quickly and reliably. Mr. Toyama said, “We have been told that thenew U.S. base is necessary for our security, butthis plan will threaten that very securitybecause it will ruin even our drinking water.”

Members of “Inochi o mamoru kai,” theAssociation for Protecting Life, in the Tent

Village, February 2010

Future prospects

In terms of the political aspect, Mr. Toyamaexplained, “The three ruling parties [DPJ, SDP,People’s New Party] are reviewing the U.S.military realignment plan in order to lessen theburden of Okinawans, and I feel hopeful abouttheir consideration of a place other thanHenoko for relocating Futenma. The current[Hatoyama] government expressed oppositionto the Henoko relocation before the LowerHouse election last year. If instead they apply

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for the reclamation permit as planned for April2010, they would be contradicting themselvesand be left without a leg to stand on. In the lastelection of the House of Representatives,candidates opposing the new base constructionwon all four election districts in Okinawa, so Iexpect the trend will continue into theupcoming Nago mayoral election and theOkinawa gubernatorial race in 2010.” Headded, “The construction industry occupies alarge portion of secondary industry in Okinawaand most of the base supporters aresubcontractors who are given public workscontracts by the big general constructioncompanies, such as Mitsubishi. However,seventy-percent of Okinawans opposeconstruction of a new base in Okinawa and onlyfifteen percent approve it.” In terms of theenvironment, the U.S. District Court in SanFrancisco ruled in 2008 that the U.S. baseconstruction plan in Henoko violated theNational Historic Preservation Act of theUnited States. Although this judgment did notrequire withdrawal of the plan, it ordered theU.S. Department of Defense to provideenvironmental protection measures. Hopefullythis decision will have an impact on the actionsof the U.S. government.

While listening to Mr. Toyama’s explanation, Iheard the creaking sound of the pipes thatsupported the tents. It sounded like the painfulcries of Henoko. I looked around inside thetent and found a large tapestry that read:

“At the end of the Battle of Okinawa,

Mountains were burnt. Villages were burnt.Pigs were burnt.

Cows were burnt. Chickens were burnt.

Everything on the land was burnt.

What was left for us to eat then?

It was the gift from the ocean.

How could we return our gratitude to the ocean

By destroying it?”

400 years after the Japanese invasion of theRyukyu Kingdom, have we ever listened to thevoices of Okinawa? Have we ever trulyunderstood their suffering? Have our heartsever reached out to the 13-year long strugglesin Henoko? I said to myself, “I am sorry forHenoko… and Okinawa…We won’t let anothermilitary base be built in Henoko or anywhereelse in Okinawa.”

Many thanks to Mr. Toyama and the otheractivists in the Tent Village for giving us such athorough explanation of the situation.

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Author Kikuno Yumiko on Henoko Shore. Beyond the border is Camp Schwab.

Barbed wire is decorated with strips ofcolourful cloth with messages for a base-

free Okinawa by visitors to Henoko.

W e t h a n k M i y a g i Y a s u h i r o(http://henoko.ti-da.net/) for his advice oncontent , B log “Chura umi o mamore(http://blog.livedoor.jp/kitihantai555/)” andB l o g “ H e n o k o h a m a T s u s h i n(http://henoko.ti-da.net/)” for permission to usephotos from their sites.

Kikuno Yumiko is Editor of “U-Yu-Yu,” acommunity journal based in Miyakonojo,Miyazaki, and works for the city’s communityrevitalization project.

Norimatsu Satoko leads various peaceinitiatives in Vancouver and beyond, including,P e a c e P h i l o s o p h y C e n t r e

(http://peacephilosophy.blogspot.com/) andV a n c o u v e r S a v e A r t i c l e 9(http://vsa9.blogspot.com/).

The introduction and translation were preparedfor the Asia-Pacific Journal.

Recommended citation: Kikuno Yumikoand Norimatsu Satoko, "Henoko, Okinawa:Inside the Sit-In," The Asia-Pacific Journal,8-1-10, February 22, 2010.

See the following related articles on theOkinawan anti-base struggle:

Urashima Etsuko and Gavan McCormack,Electing a Town Mayor in Okinawa: Reportf r o m t h e N a g o T r e n c h e s(http://japanfocus.org/-Gavan-McCormack/3291).

Iha Yoichi, Why Build a New Base on OkinawaWhen the Marines are Relocating to Guam?:Okinawa Mayor Challenges Japan and the US(http://japanfocus.org/-Iha-Yoichi/3287).

Tanaka Sakai, Japanese Bureaucrats HideDecision to Move All US Marines out ofO k i n a w a t o G u a m(http://japanfocus.org/-Tanaka-Sakai/3274).

Gavan McCormack, The Battle of Okinawa2 0 0 9 : O b a m a v s H a t o y a m a(http://japanfocus.org/-Gavan-McCormack/3250).

Miyume TANJI, Community, Resistance andSustainability in an Okinawan Village: Yomitan.(http://japanfocus.org/-Miyume-TANJI/3062)

Hideki YOSHIKAWA, Dugong Swimming inUncharted Waters: US Judicial Intervention toProtect Okinawa's "Natural Monument” andH a l t B a s e C o n s t r u c t i o n(http://japanfocus.org/-Hideki-YOSHIKAWA/304

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4).