Circle the Diet January 25, U.S. Military Out of Okinawa

2015年1月は、沖縄の全41市町村長を含む代表団が東京・日比谷
野外音楽堂で集会・デモを行い、安倍総理大臣に「建白書」を
直接手渡してから２年となります。 Rally in Tokyo on Sunday. Listen to Okinawa and Halt the Construction of a Military Base in Henoko!

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(Via Dr. Masami Mel Kawamura, Okinawa Outreach)

January 25, 2015 
Encircle the National Diet Building in Tokyo to Protest the Construction of a US Military Base in Henoko and to Demand that the Voices of the Okinawan People be Respected
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https://www.facebook.com/events/673797536059889/

January of 2015 will mark two years since a delegation representing all of the 41 elected leaders of municipalities in Okinawa traveled to Tokyo to express their dissent and to directly hand a petition to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. The petition had two demands:

1) Immediately halt the deployment of Osprey in Okinawa (Given that this type of aircraft has major safety issues and imposes further negative impact on Okinawa)

2) Close Futenma Air Base in Okinawa, and scrap the plan to relocate it within Okinawa Prefecture. (Because this military base, which is located in the heart of a densely populated city in Okinawa, poses great danger to local residents, and because simply relocating it to another area in Okinawa would continue to add to Okinawa’s disproportionate burden of military bases).

Public opinion in Okinawa strongly supports these two demands, and in November of 2014, the new governor of Okinawa was democratically elected on a platform that opposed the relocation of Futenma to Henoko, Okinawa.

In fact, political seat winners of the four wards of Okinawa were all candidates who oppose further military base construction in Okinawa. Despite this resounding Okinawan opposition, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared that he will adhere to the construction plan in Henoko.

Although Okinawa makes up only 0.6 percent of Japan’s total area, 74 percent of all US military bases are concentrated there. By closing Futenma only on the condition that the pristine nature of Henoko be destroyed in order to create a replacement base, the negative impact of bases on Okinawa would only increase. The election results clearly show that the people of Okinawa are opposed to this, and shows that their democracy is clearly functioning. Whether human rights and democracy is functioning on mainland Japan is under question.
The current administration is clearly ignoring the public opinion in Okinawa, and on the mainland of Japan we aim to make clear our opposition to the plan to construct a base in Henoko.

January 25, 2015 marks the day before the National Diet recess will end, so we will form a “human chain” around the National Diet Building in order to have our voices be heard in the Diet discussion and debates that will resume the following day.
Please join us in this important action on behalf of democracy, human rights and environmental protection in Japan.

Time: 2pm-3pm

Place: National Diet Building 

Closest Stations: Kokkaigijidomae, Nagatacho, Kasumigaseki

Event Sponsor: “1.25 National Diet Building Human Chain” Organizing Committee and the Network to Oppose Osprey Deployment in Okinawa
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2015年1月は、沖縄の全41市町村長を含む代表団が東京・日比谷
野外音楽堂で集会・デモを行い、安倍総理大臣に「建白書」を
直接手渡してから２年となります。
「建白書」の要求は２つでした。
1．オスプレイの配備を直ちに撤回すること。
2．米軍普天間基地を閉鎖・撤去し、県内移を断念すること。
県内移設とは、辺野古での新基地建設を意味します。その後、
仲井眞知事が公約を撤回し、辺野古埋め立てを承認するという
こともありましたが、今や、辺野古新基地建設は認めないという
沖縄の民意は明らかです。
2014年11月16日、辺野古新基地建設反対を掲げる翁長雄志氏が
沖縄県知事選に勝利しました。12月14日の衆議院選挙においても、
「建白書勢力」と呼ばれる辺野古新基地建設に反対する候補が
沖縄全4区で当選しました。しかし、安倍首相は「普天間の
固定化はあってならない。選択肢は辺野古しかない」と述べ、
あくまでも辺野古に基地を建設する姿勢を変えていません。
日本全土の0.6%の面積の沖縄に在日米軍基地の74％を押しつ
けている今、普天間基地の撤去を理由に基地を沖縄県内で
たらい回しにすることは許されません。選挙の結果を見ても
沖縄の民主主義は機能しています。問われているのは日本
「本土」の市民の人権感覚と民主主義です。
政府は沖縄の民意を無視しようとしている以上、日本「本土」
の側で反対の声をあげ、辺野古に基地はつくらせないという
私たちの抗議の意志を鮮明に「見える化」しましょう。
2015年1月25日は国会開会日の前日となる見込みです。翌日からの
国会の議論にも影響を与えるべく、ヒューマンチェーンで
国会を包囲しましょう。