Okinawa Environmental Justice Project

2019 Nomination Document  On February 1, 2019,  the Japanese Ministry of the Environment submitted to UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) its nomination of four areas in the Ryukyu archipelago for UNESCO World Natural Heritage status. The areas are Amami-Oshima Island, Tokuno-Shima Island, the Northern Part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island (see the Nomination Document  and  the Nomination Annexes ). The nomination is the Ministry's second attempt in the last two years.   In February 2017, the Ministry submitted its first nomination.  However, in May 2018, IUCN, the advisory body to UNESCO concerning matters related to World Natural Heritage, recommended that the nomination should be "deferred" requesting a substantial revision. In response, the Ministry withdrew the nomination. In the present nomination dossier, we see improvements from the previous nomination, especially regarding the issues of the U...

Abe Government's Reluctant Admission © Asahi Shimbun After a long silence, the Abe government finally admits that the construction of a U.S. military base at Henoko-Oura Bay in Okinawa requires significant changes to the original land reclamation plan  (see Asahi Shimbun ) . Parts of the seafloor of the construction site have proven to be extremely fragile, or mayonnaise-like condition. To solidify the seafloor to support a functional airport, a "sand compaction pile method" needs to be carried out (see this video for sand compaction pile method ).  That is, casing piles will be driven into the seafloor as deep as 60 meters (or 90 meters below the water surface) and  the piles will be filled from the top with sand and other compacting materials. Then, the piles are removed slowly leaving the compacting materials in the form of a pillar thus solidifying the seafloor. With this procedure, 76,000 sand pillars will be placed in the seafloor (see Ryukyu Shimpo ).  ...