Your Help Urgently Needed Support Our Candidate Mr Yasuhiro Miyagi for Nago Mayoral Elections on February 3 to Stop Construction of New US Military Base in Okinawa

• Send your kind donation by money order directly to:
  Buridei no Kai(Yasuhiro Support Citizens' Group) 2-8-2 Ominami Nago, Okinawa, Japan 905-0015
• Send your heartfelt message of support through email (nagocnet@hotmail.com) or FAX (0980-53-7083),
  not only to Yasuhiro and his supporters, but also to Nago citizens, who tend to be resigned to accept this fabricated reality as a fait accompli and lose confidence to imagine another future.
  Please let them know that they are not alone!
  Please let them know that the world is watching!
• Pass out this web address (http://www.cosmos.ne.jp/~miyagawa/nago/mayoral.html) to your friends to help raise awareness on this issue worldwide.

Let us do something to save our Yanbaru*. Let us imagine our future without military bases. Let us work together for our own development, economically independent and environmentally sustainable. (*)Yanbaru is the name for northern part of Okinawa Island. It boasts its abundant nature, diverse eco-system where reside numerous kinds of internationally designated endangered specis including Dugons.

ENGLISH JAPANESE

Message of Support from overseas

• The Importance of the Election of Yasuhiro Miyagi
  Wed, 30 Jan 2002
  
  We all know that elections in Japan are often decided by money and hidden pressures from Tokyo and the U.S. Embassy. There has been a long history of kinken-seiji in Japan, most recently in the large amounts of money supplied by former Prime Minister Obuchi to LDP candidates in the election designed to remove former governor Ota from office. And for years the United States supplied money to influence elections, including elections in Okinawa. That may well be what will happen in the election on February 3 for the mayor of Nago City. There is no reason to be optimisitc about the democratic process anywhere in Japan.
  But it must be understood that the election of Yasuhiro Miyagi on February 3 would be a major victory for those who want peace in East Asia. It would stop the Americans and Tokyo from building one more military base in Okinawa (it already has 38 American bases) and would slow down the American efforts to go to war with North Korea (see U.S. President Bush's speech to both houses of the U.S. Congress on January 29 threatening to do just that), to reestablish American military bases in the Philippines, to continue trying to foment conflict with China over Taiwan, and to use the anti-Islamic hysteria churned up by the terrorist attacks on New York City to intervene in Indonesian politics. Okinawa is the key American base for all of these dangerous military adventures. The election of Mr. Miyagi would slow them down and perhaps cause mainland Japanese to wake up to the threat that the so-called Security Treaty poses for their own security.
  It is probably the last chance for peace in East Asia. I urge a yes vote for Yasuhiro Miyagi. The proposed new military air base at Nago is an obscenity-unneeded, environmentally disastrous, insanely expensive, and a threat to the livelihoods of all Okinawans (since it will draw all of Ryukyu into American war plans). Mr. Miyagi will support the outcome of the plebiscite of December 1997 and not allow the Americans and the LDP to buy the election. He is the right man for the time.

  Sincerely,
  
  Chalmers Johnson
  President,
  Japan Policy Research Institute
  Cardiff, California, USA

• To the voters of Nago, Aloha and haisai from Hawai`i
  Mon, 28 Jan 2002
  
  It is from a fellow invaded island nation that faces cultural genocide and exploitation as a military outpost by a colonizing empire, that this appeal and support for the people of Nago to vote with future, present and past generations in heart and mind.
  For future generation, please consider leaving a peaceful, healthy Okinawa, including an environment not contaminated with toxic chemicals in the air, land and sea, or with endemic species extinct. Please consider their well being, that they may not join the countless casualties of war-preparation like the students at Miyamori Elementary or the Ehime Maru. Please don't let future generations face the injustices that Uchinanchu of past and present have. Please give them hope that they can live free of the chains of dependency with foreign governments in Washington and Tokyo driven by their own self-interests, that they can have the dignity of their own self-determination.
  For present generations, please consider making Okinawa safer from the accidents, crimes, rapes, assault, fires, etc. associated with militaries. Please consider the risks inviting mercenaries to your home- you expose your families to weapons of destruction, including nuclear presence, things that may be kept secret from you, as in the past. Even with the military and Tokyo monies, Okinawa stays the poorest in Japan- its time for change and self-reliance. Our Ancestors remind us: "gumayuku ufusun"- immediate gains may mean long term losses.
  For past generations, please consider honoring our Ancestors. Our Ancestors chose diplomacy rather than war as a means of addressing international problems. Our Ancestors embraced the kotowaza (proverb) "nuchi du takara."
  That life, not money or material security is most precious. Please consider honoring our Ancestors through the perpetuation of our culture, rather than absorption into the monoculture of globalization, led by the USA, the most violent and militarized culture of the industrialized world.
  This is hardly an issue limited to just Okinawa- this is an international problem. What you decide has implications for other indigenous, colonized people in our collective struggles for peace, self-determination, and justice- things for which without, prosperity means little. The world stands to lose the ecological and cultural treasures for which northern Okinawa is rich.
  As a nisei (second-generation), I appeal to you, not only as a fellow Uchinanchu, but as an American and a veteran of American military, too. I was na・e once, but I have awakened through experience, research and cultural heritage, to not be gullible to not only the deception and exploitation of powerful governments and politicians, but also the trickery of our fears. As a resident of Hawai`i, I warn you of the deceptions and injustice that has plagued the Hawaiian Nation and its people, and to resist with all your heart and mind against the fate that indigenous peoples around the world have faced.
  Please do not be deceived by the fear and rhetoric exploiting the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Remember that this was retaliation against the global domination of the USA, as symbolized by the attack of the Pentagon (US military dominance) and the World Trade Center (US economic dominance). Do not support the American empire- the blood they spill to protect their power, resources and markets will be on your hands, too. Before you trust the Japanese or US governments, please consider the fate of the Ainu or the numerous tribes and nations throughout the Western Hemisphere. They can tell you about "terrorism."
  Please consider the families that lost life and land to the US military with "bulldozers and bayonets." Please consider how after 57 years, how the excuses for US military occupation of Uchina keep changing- China, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, "terrorism," etc. Times and excuses may change, but the quest for power stays the same! They laugh at prefectural requests for a 15-year limit; they will laugh at your concerns, too. Or worse, they will deceive you to believe their agenda is in your best interest: "chu kwairaa ana taachi furi"- the deceiver digs a hole for themselves and for others.
  Please consider these things, and ippe nihee deebiru for voting yourconscience.

  pete shimazaki doktor
  Hawai`i Okinawa Network

• we are with you
  Fri, 25 Jan 2002
  THE WORLD IS WITH YOU! resist the militarization = destruction of the environment & human rights. STAND UP AND SHOUT . . .
  PEACE

• In support of Miyagi Yasuhiro
  Sun, 20 Jan 2002
  Aloha, I have been reading a little about the situation that has been taking place in Okinawa. I am from Hawaii and I am a Native Hawaiian. Many of the issues that you are facing hits home for me because we as a people have been trying to demilitarize our island. The process seems very slow and I feel as if we do not have enough support. I would like to extend my support for Miyagi Yasuhiro for mayor. I wish you luck and all of the best. Mahalo nui loa,

  Gina Maioho

• Keep "military dependency" way of living from taking roots
  Sat, 19 Jan 2002
  Dear Sirs:
  As you most likely know, Guam has been subjected to the U.S. military "dependency" way of living. This type of lifestyle does't belong anywhere if it is an imported military manned by others besides the indigenous people. We have had our fill of this "dependency" imposed on us as a "colonized" people of the U.S. Do not subject people with this type of inferior treatment of a people--who have been living their own way of life for so long and have survived it without imported "military dependency".

  Sincerely,
  Trini Torres
  A Proud Chamorro Woman from the Island of Guam.

• Dear Supporters of Mr. Yasuhiro Miyagi,
  
  I send my heartfelt best wishes for Mr. Miyagi's campaign to become mayor in Nago.
  In these dark times, it would be a very bright ray of light if the democratic and healthful aspirations of your and your fellow citizens of Nago were to result in victory.

  Sincerely yours,
  Norma Field
  Professor, University of Chicago
  18 Jan 2002

• Prayers and support from Guam
  
  We here on Guam truly understand the struggle for respect of the wishes and well being of the people.
  "Administering Powers" such as the US & Japan take what they want, whenever they want and the will of the very people they claim to "protect" and "represent" are replaced by the visions of $$$$$$ in any language.
  With the excuse of the September 11th incidents, the struggle for the well-being of peoples and their desire for self reliance and economic & political control will face many more obstacles.
  Our prayers of support and solidarity are with you, Mr. Miyagi and all that must continue the struggle with you for what is RIGHT.
  
  WRONG will FAIL
  RIGHT & GOOD WILL PREVAIL.
  In spirit we are with you, with Peace and Love.

  Sincerely,
  Debbie Quinata
  Chamoru Nation
  18 Jan 2002

• Aloha from Hawai'i
  I have visited Okinawa approximately nine times and visited Nago City together with Mr. Kinjo Minoru. We, from places all aroung the world, are watching and praying that the people of Okinawa will take the lead by forcing the U.S. military out of Okinawa. By electing a mayor who is against the building of a heliport would be a strong expression of this opinion. The people are with you.
  Aloha,

  Ron Fujiyoshi
  Sun, 20 Jan 2002

• To the People of Nago

  
  Circumstances combine to give Nago's forthcoming local election unprecedented importance. Nago people bear a heavy responsibility, but they also hold in their hands great power. The Nago electorate has an opportunity that few electorates in Japan have ever really had: to make a significant intervention on the great issues of local, national, and global politics.
  The odds on Nago's Miyagi as he contends for power against the incumbent Kishimoto must be much longer even than were those on David as he entered the list against Goliath in ancient biblical times. On the one side stands Kishimoto (Goliath), backed by prefectural and national governments and bureaucracies, and behind them the government of the global superpower, the United States; on the other, Miyagi (David) and groups of local citizens.
  And yet, when such forces clashed once before, on basically the very same terrain, in December 1997, David actually defeated Goliath. For that reason the words 'Miyagi' and 'Nago' strike the same sort of fear into the hearts of power-holders in Tokyo and Washington as did once the words 'David' and 'Israel' in the hearts of the Philistines. The years since the Miyagi/Nago first great victory have seen a massive mobilization to try to prevent their slingshots from upsetting the giant a second time. But ultimately the people will have their say, and no outcome is fore-ordained.
  In the severe economic conditions of 2002, and the political, miliary and social conditions of the post 11 September world, the choices are not easy, but on six crucial matters Nago citizens have the chance to influence the course of history.
  • 1. Nago people have the chance to insist that the US-Japan relationship should be turned into an equal one, that is one in which the principle of civic consent is decisive. They can say no to the system in which burdens are simply shifted down the line to those least able to resist them, from Washington to Tokyo, Tokyo to Naha, Naha to Nago, and Nago to Henoko and the reef.
  • 2. Nago people have the chance to say whether they will submit to the enormous pressures, political, economic, and financial, designed by Tokyo to enforce its will (in breach of the constitutional guarantees of local self-government). The process by which Tokyo attempts to impose its will upon Nago is so outrageous that it amounts to a new Ryukyu shobun. This time, however, the people of Nago have their say.
  • 3. Nago people also have the chance to say whether they want to continue the sort of public works-centred, interest-based, dependent money politics that has corrupted and bankrupted Japan as a whole, or choose instead to stand on their own feet, giving priority to local over national designs, insisting that public works serve public ends, not private or political interests.
  • 4. Nago people have the chance to give their verdict on Tokyo's promise of a 'Special Financial Zone'. They can either trust Tokyo's promises or reject them as a crude attempt to sell a base that nobody wants. If the proposal is serious and realistic, it should be dealt with on its merits and on no account be tied to the base plan. Why is it that, after thirty years of absolutely ruling out any 'one nation, two systems' formula, Tokyo suddenly decides to brush off the idea on the eve of this election? Freed of Tokyo constraints, Okinawa might indeed engage the region in creative, interesting, and economically advantageous ways, but like all previous grand designs, including the 'Cosmopolitan City' design of Governor Ota in the 1990s, the present plan depends on a contradictory and flawed formula: financial, administrative and political backing from Tokyo on the one hand, and autonomy from Tokyo on the other.
  • 5. Nago people have the chance to say to Kishimoto and the Nago Assembly that the strict conditions they insisted in 1999 were fundamental to their decision to consent to the base construction ? especially the 15 year limit, joint civil-military use and strict environmental protection ? are indeed fundamental, and that construction of an enormous military facility on the most delicate and endangered of environments is unacceptable.
  • 6. Nago people have the chance to express their concern over the rapidly deteriorating local and global environment - climate change, loss of species, retreat of the forests and death of the coral, rampant air and water pollution ? by vetoing a US-Japan program that would adversely affect all of these. Construction of a huge military facility on the reef would be one unambiguous response to this crisis ? two fingers raised contemptuously to humanity. The alternative is to decide that the reef and the Yambaru forest should have priority as a heritage to be preserved for future generations.
  Tokyo has devoted immense money and energy to the Okinawa issue since 1995, not to try to rectify the discrimination that has given rise to Okinawa's anger but to neutralize it and to shift attention from principles to pockets, determined that 'David' must never again upset 'Goliath', and that the massive new facilities the US demands will be built at whatever cost. The February election is the chance for the people of Nago to say that their moral community and its principles remain intact; their soul is not for sale.

  Gavan McCormack,
  Australian National University

• Solidarity message from Mayor of Vieques, Hon. Damaso Serrano Lopez, to candidate for mayor of Nago, Okinawa

  
  
  Friends in Okinawa, friends of Nago. Warm greetings of solidarity from the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. As mayor of Vieques, I send a special message of support to Miyagi Yasuhiro, candidate for mayor of Nago and leader of your peace movement.
  Our communities are united in a struggle for peace against US militarism. For over sixty years the US Navy has bombed our island, causing great destruction and very serious contamination with terrible consecuences for the health of our community. Our peacefull, non violent civil disobedience movement has forced presidents Clinton and Bush to call for an end to bombing here by 2003. In July of last year we held a referendum in which 70 per cent of our people voted for the immediate and permanent cessation of all military activity on Vieques. As in your situation, the US Navy ignores the democratically expressed will of our people. We will continue to use peacefull, non violent civil disobedience to obtain peace.
  We must continue to work together, across the globe, for justice and peace and an end to violence and militarism.
  
  Peace for Vieques!!!
  Peace for Okinawa!!!
  No new base in Okinawa!!

  Vieques 17-1-02
  

  more about Vieques
  please visit: ISLAND COUSINS NETWORK

Newspaper articles on related issues

• One step up, two steps sideways in Nago

  Japan Times

  By ROBERT D. ELDRIDGE
  Special to The Japan Times
  
  WASHINGTON -- On Dec. 27, Japanese central government officials and leaders from Okinawa Prefecture announced agreement on a basic plan for the proposed construction of a joint civil-military use airport on the reef off eastern Nago City. The announcement by the Futenma Relocation Committee ("Daitai Shisetsu Kyogikai") came at the panel's eighth meeting -- almost six years after the Interim Report of the Special Action Committee on Okinawa, or SACO, was released and two years after Nago Mayor Tateo Kishimoto conditionally accepted the relocation of Futenma's U.S. military base to his community.
  The committee's decision was not unexpected. Central government and local officials had been quietly paving the way for an agreement by yearend to plan for budget appropriations in the upcoming Diet session and to prevent the issue from becoming any more contentious than needed before the Feb. 3 Nago mayoral election.
  Yet symbolic of the conflicting concerns (and in some cases competing commercial interests) among ward, city, prefectural and national authorities, a decision was not reached on the scale of the proposed facility or its actual construction method. Moreover, reflecting even more difficult political differences between the central government and Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine (as well as Kishimoto), an understanding on the problematic "15-year" time limit and other conditions set by the prefecture and Nago City was put off for future consideration.
  Nevertheless, the Dec. 27 announcement does represent a step forward in the saga to relocate Futenma's functions within the prefecture, a move described by critics as no more than a "shell game" and rejected by a slight majority of Nago voters in a nonbinding plebiscite in December 1997.
  While there has been little tangible progress since the December 1999 decision by the mayor to conditionally accept the base relocation, the Dec. 27 agreement has resolved, to a large extent, differences over the general location of the facility and narrowed the choice of construction methods.
  Essentially, the agreement reached was twofold. First, the committee decided that the proposed facility would be constructed "on" or "partially on" the reef; the latter design suggests that part of the facility would extend eastward into the sea. Because the exact location was not decided, more discussion is planned for the upcoming session of the committee in or before March.
  Second, the committee agreed to postpone a final decision with regard to the construction method. Currently the methods under consideration involve land reclamation, quick installation platform or a combination of the two. Further discussion is planned for a future committee meeting.
  Nago groups at the meeting voiced strong opposition to a large facility and long runway because of concerns over safety, environmental impact and disruption to people's daily lives. As a result, the committee agreed to give further consideration to the size of the facility, which will in turn affect the choice of construction method and the exact location of the facility.
  In any case, it will be necessary to limit as much as possible the impact on local residents and the environment through detailed, transparent and nonpartisan studies, and to assure proper judicial review of and compensation for any conveniences that develop before, during and after construction.
  In addition, there is the highly politicized problem of the so-called 15-year time limit on the relocated facility, first announced by candidate Inamine during the 1998 gubernatorial election as an expression of prefectural residents' "desire" that the newly constructed facility should not become permanent.
  Both Inamine and Kishimoto, who echoed the governor's pledge as a condition for his own acceptance of the relocation in December 1999, have stated many times that the guarantee of the time limit prior to the start of construction is an absolute condition ("zettai joken") for their approval.
  To break the impasse over the time-limit issue, which has been carefully avoided so far but in fact looms on the horizon -- if not for the mayoral election in February then for the gubernatorial race in November -- the Japanese government will have to accept Okinawa's demands if it wishes not only to regain the trust and cooperation of the people and leaders in Okinawa but also to implement the SACO agreement, now more than 5 years old.
  The U.S. government will in turn have to accept, most likely with conditions, Japan's request for a time limit on its use of the facility upon its completion. Because it is both difficult and unwise to try to predict the international environment 15 years (probably closer to 25 years given the time it will take to build the facility) down the road, the U.S. side will wish to reserve the right, after consultations, to seek an extension or replacement facility.
  However unpalatable, strategic rationales sometimes must give way to political realities. This is perhaps no more true than in Okinawa today. There is simply no avoiding it any longer -- delay is making the situation worse, destroying trust between prefectural and central government leaders and testing alliance managers who need to be able to focus on achieving larger bilateral goals and objectives.
  Robert D. Eldridge is an associate professor at the School of International Public Policy and the author of "The Origins of the Bilateral Okinawa Problem" and other works on Okinawa and U.S.-Japan relations.
  The Japan Times: Jan. 7, 2002

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• Nago mayoral race heats up

  Japan Times

  Candidate vows to revoke support for joint-use airport
  
  NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) A member of the Nago Municipal Assembly opposed to construction of a joint civilian-U.S. military airport formally announced Thursday he will run in next month's mayoral election.
  Yasuhiro Miyagi, 42, told a news conference that if he wins he will repeal the city's support for the airport, which is to be built on a reef off the city's Henoko district.
  Miyagi is the former leader of a citizens' group that opposes the plan and spearheaded the drive against the airport prior to a referendum on the issue in December 1997.
  Most of the people who voted in that referendum rejected the planned airport, which is to take over the heliport functions of the Futenma air base in Ginowan, central Okinawa, so that it can be returned to Japan as agreed by the two governments.
  He was elected to the city assembly in a by-election in February 1998 and is currently serving his second term.
  Two other candidates, including the current mayor, Tateo Kishimoto, 58, have already said they will run in the Feb 3. election. Kishimoto has thrown his support behind the new airport plan and has been working closely with the national and prefectural governments to get it off the ground.
  "Mayor Kishimoto did not make the discussions surrounding the U.S. military bases (in Okinawa) an issue in the previous mayoral election, saying the matter was frozen," Miyagi said. "If I become mayor, I will withdraw support" from the airport project.
  Observers have said the new airport will be a key issue in the upcoming race.
  The national government approved in late December the plan to build the civilian-military airport off Henoko. A few days later, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said it would be "difficult" to reach an agreement with the United States for a 15-year time limit on U.S. use of the new facility, a stipulation demanded by Okinawa Prefecture.
  The project has angered environmentalists, as well as some who have backed the airport on condition that a time limit is imposed.
  The Japan Times: Jan. 4, 2002

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• Nago Race Readies

  .

  Okinawa Times

  Saturday,Januaryr 5,2002 　Mr. Yasuhiro Miyagi, 42, announced he will run for Nago City mayor against incumbent Tateo Kishimoto. The election will take place 1 February. Mr. Miyagi is a member of the Nago City Assembly and and the former leader of the referendum movement concerning the relocation of Futenma MCAS to Nago City.
  　The focus of the election is whether voters accept the relocation choice of Futenma to Nago City. Mayor Kishimoto accepted the relocation plan to the offshore area of Camp Shwab in Nago City in 1997. He and Governor Inamine started negotiating certain conditions before the start of heliport construction.
  　The referendum was held in 1998, and it indicated that a majority of citizens opposed a move of the heliport to Nago City.
  　At a news conference on February 2nd, Miyagi said that the citizens' referendum votes already proved they opposed the relocation plan. He said if elected, he would withdraw Kishimoto's acceptance of the relocation plan. He admitted he would use government public investment for the development of northern region. However, he also pointed out that government investment related to heliport construction created Okinawan economic dependence from Tokyo.
  　About 40 representatives from organizations and 30 individual supporters were present at the news conference to support Miyagi.
  　Mayor Kishimoto already made his decision to run a year ago. His campaign goal is to make Nago a small international business city with a special finance area.

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• US base poised to devour Henoko reef

  Ryukyu Shimpo

  Mon,January,7,2002
  
  Plans to seal Henoko's coral reefs under a new US military base were given a boost on December 27, as a result of announcements made by the committee charged with overseeing the development of a replacement for the existing Futenma facility.
  These included the restatement of previous commitments that the facility would be shared by civilian air traffic, and confirmation that it would be built off the north east coast of Henoko: a decision which has aroused vigorous protest due to its potentially catastrophic effect on the marine ecosystem of the area.
  Among the few concessions made to opponents of the scheme was an agreement to situate the base as far offshore as practically possible.
  The meeting, which took place at the prime minister's residence in Tokyo, was attended by local government representatives from the Henoko area, as well by prefectural and central government officials.
  Speaking on behalf of the facility's prospective hosts, Nago mayor Tateo Kishimoto called for a reduction in the size of the planned development, but conceded that construction would inevitably destroy parts of the coastal reef.
  Governor Inamine also acknowledged the impossibility of saving the coral reef in the area, while echoing the Nago mayor's calls for the demands of local residents regarding the size and location of the facility to be respected.
  In addition to concerns over the size, scale and locaion of the proposed new air base, Ginoza mayor Yasukatsu Urasaki also demanded that measures be implemented to reduce the impact of noise pollution on local residents.
  Responding to these concerns, as well as Mayor Kishimoto's request for clarification regarding construction details, Defense Agency director Gen Nakatani remarked that the Tokyo administration would continue to consult with its Washington counterpart over final plans for the scheme.
  Meanwhile, the controversial question of whether the military use of the proposed airport base is to be limited to 15 years remains unanswered, as a decision on the issue was deferred ahead of a rubber-stamp vote on the issue in the Tokyo Diet. (Dec 27 pm ed)

Let us do something to save our Yanbaru*. Let us imagine our future without military bases. Let us work together for our own development, economically independent and environmentally sustainable. (*)Yanbaru is the name for northern part of Okinawa Island. It boasts its abundant nature, diverse eco-system where reside numerous kinds of internationally designated endangered specis including Dugons.

ENGLISH JAPANESE