“While he is in D.C., Governor Inamine should be publicly
demanding the cancellation of the Henoko air base plan,” said
Junichi Sato, Greenpeace’s campaign director in Japan, who had
travelled to Washington from Okinawa. “The waters of Henoko should
be made a marine reserve, not an air base. To do this, we need
strong leadership from the governor.
“The governor should also condemn the force and violence used by
the construction crews and the Japanese Coast Guard to intimidate
the peaceful protesters who oppose the base. He has the power to
stop the drilling survey that these crews are conducting.”
Today marks the 2,971 day of protest by residents in Okinawa who
are trying to stop the proposed relocation of the Futenma air base
to Henoko Bay’s coral reef. Greenpeace staff and the ship
Rainbow Warrior were in Okinawa for two weeks in March to
support the protesters. However, once the Rainbow Warrior
left on March 13, construction crews moved in under the protection
of the Japanese Coast Guard. This morning, the Coast Guard forcibly
removed a Greenpeace inflatable that was guarding the reef and one
officer struck activist Yuka Ozaki in the face.
At today’s demonstration, Mr. Sato presented the governor with a
bottle of Okinawan sake called Awamori, which bears the image of a
dugong on the label, while people held banners saying, “Governor
Inamine, Save the Dugong in Okinawa, Stop the Air Base.”
The Japanese dugong is an endangered marine mammal closely
related to the Florida manatee. The Henoko air base would destroy
the coral reef, habitat essential to the survival of the dugong and
home to more than 1,000 other species of marine life.
“It is hypocritical for the United
States to threaten an endangered animal such as the dugong in
Japan, while it protects the dugong’s close relative, the manatee,”
said John Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace in the
United States, who just returned from a visit to Okinawa. “Here in
the United States, manatees are the focus of conservation and are
truly protected. How can we justify driving their cousins to
extinction in Japan?”
