Friday, June 23, 2017, 15:00 - 16:00
"The Fight Against US Bases on Okinawa"
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation
In March, Japanese police released Hiroji Yamashiro, a retired civil servant, after 152 days in detention. His initial arrest was for damaging a wire fence around an American military base; he was subsequently charged with other offenses. For years, Yamashiro (65) was the jovial ringleader of protests against the heavy US military footprint on Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture. Day after day, he could be found rallying his colleagues outside American bases with songs, chants and poetry. His arrest was aimed at punishing him and silencing the movement he leads, say his friends – a claim the authorities deny.
Okinawans have long lived uneasily with 19,000 marines and dozens of military installations, including the US Army's only jungle warfare training unit, all on the prefecture's narrow main island. Opposition has been building against the proposed replacement of the Futenma air base, in crowded Ginowan's city centre, with a new installation off Henoko Village in the north of the island. Next month, Okinawa Prefecture is expected to file suit against the Japanese government to stop construction in Henoko – the latest development in a dispute that has raged for two decades.
Yamashiro is currently on trial and facing a possible return to prison. He was born as a son of a farmer in 1952 in Uruma City, Okinawa and worked as a civil servant in the Okinawa prefecture government office from 1982 to 2008. He has been chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center since 2013. Come along and hear what he has to say about one of Japan's most intractable modern disputes.
Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website (still & TV cameras inclusive). Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.
Professional Activities Committee
