Season's Greetings!

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Season’s Greetings,


I hope all of you are safe and well. 


I want to take this opportunity to update you on the situation of Henoko-Oura Bay and express my appreciation to you all in the international civil society for your support, solidarity, and friendship for our fight for our environment and human rights and a peaceful world. 


Quite Oura Bay on Dec. 30, 2020
(No construction work due to year-end and New Year holidays)

The year 2020 has been extremely difficult for those of us in Okinawa.  Like any other place on earth, Okinawa has been hit by Covid 19. Our daily life has been disrupted, and we have been forced to cope with this “New Normal." 


Appallingly, amidst the pandemic, the Japanese government has continued its base construction work at Henoko-Oura Bay.  In so doing, the government has shown its blatant disregard for its construction workers and security guards' safety. It has also shown its continuing indifference to Okinawa's democratic voice and the environmental destruction the construction work has been causing.  


Amazingly, however, we have been able to continue our protest and fight against the base construction. At the Gate of Camp Schwab, sit-in protesters have re-organized their strategies. They have kept the size of protest gatherings small and making sure everyone wears a mask and practices social distancing. They have occasionally broadcasted their sit-ins for those who could not participate in person.  Meanwhile, environmental NGOs have carried out a series of meetings with the Japanese government in Tokyo, in person and via Zoom. In fact, we have been able to get broader participation, including ones from overseas, to witness “live" the Japanese government's disregard for scientific evidence and insincerity as well as our fight against them. All that was unimaginable a year ago. 


Equally amazingly, throughout the year, we have received tremendous support from international civil society members despite the spread of COVID 19 in their own countries. Some in the U.S. have fought along with Okinawan and Japanese plaintiffs in the U.S. Court and have ensured that the U.S. law applies to U.S. bases in Okinawa. Others in the U.S. have also engaged in meetings with their Congress members, asking them to reconsider the construction project. Many have engaged in various petitions and a public-comment-writing campaign, urging the Japanese and U.S. governments to cancel the base construction project and urging Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to keep his fight against the base construction. Such international support has encouraged us in Okinawa to continue our struggle with our heads high.



            On New Year's Day 2020 at Henoko Beach, Umisedo Yutaka, singer and Kamin chu (God person or priest), sends prayers to sea god(s) in the Okinawan language asking for their protection for Okinawa's struggle against base construction and a peaceful world. 


And importantly, we have seen that nature is on our side.  From February to August 2020, near the construction site in Oura Bay, the Japanese government recorded sounds of what appeared to be a dugong(s),  an endangered marine mammal, Japan's Natural Monument, and Okinawa's cultural icon. Having long denied the importance of Oura Bay for the dugong, the government now must explain these recordings and review its previous evaluation of the bay for the dugong.  


Moreover, Oura Bay has revealed its secret: the presence of an extremely fragile seafloor at the construction site. The Japanese government now admitted that to reinforce the seafloor, it would have to implant 71,000 piles, 5 to 6.5 feet in diameter, into the sea-bottom as deep as 300 feet below the sea surface. As the government has had difficulties explaining how to proceed with this absurd landfill work without destroying the environment, the construction project appears more and more unattainable and unrealistic.


As the year 2020 is coming to an end and the year 2021 will begin soon, I want you to know many many many of us in Okinawa and Japan are determined to renew our fight for our environment and human rights, and a peaceful world. And I want you to know how deeply we appreciate your continuing support, solidarity, and friendship. 


Please stay safe and have Happy Holidays!



Hideki Yoshikawa

Okinawa Environmental Justice Project

このブログの人気の投稿

辺野古軟弱地盤問題の科学的分析評価について米国防総省に情報公開請求

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 2023年9月13日、Okinawa Environmental Justice Project代表吉川秀樹は、沖縄平和市民連絡協議会及び沖縄環境ネットワーク世話人の真喜志好一さん、ジュゴン保護キャンペーンセンター共同代表の海勢頭豊さんと、沖縄県庁の県政記者クラブにて 記者会見を行いました 。記者会見の内容は、米国国防総省に対して辺野古新基地建設問題に関する米国国防総省の独自の科学的分析評価の公開を、米国情報公開法を使って請求したことについてです。 Image Source: U.S. Department of Defense 　記者会見で読み上げた「発言文」を下に紹介します。今回の情報公開請求の理由、経緯、意義の説明です。主論点の一つは、「沖縄県知事は、基地を使う立場にある国防総省の独自の科学的分析評価を確認、検証することなく、日本の裁判判決により[設計変更の]承認義務が生じたとして、設計変更を承認することはできない」です。 　下に「発言文」と情報公開請求文書（和訳付き）のpdfファイルも掲載しています。なお発言文のpdfには、注釈があり、そこで文献資料の例を紹介しています。また日米政府の文書も添付文書として記載しています。多くの人にこの情報と見解を共有してもらえればと思います。 辺野古新基地建設の軟弱地盤問題についての米国防総省の評価の情報公開請求について （記者会見用発言）吉川秀樹　作成 情報公開請求について 　2023年9月11日, Okinawa Environmental Justice Project（OEJP）は、市民社会のメンバーを代表して、米国国防総省に対して、米国情報公開法(Freedom of Information Act)を使い、辺野古新基地建設における軟弱地盤の問題についての同総省の独自の分析評価の公開を請求しました。情報公開法を使い情報を引き出してきた専門家や米国の環境団体との話し合いを踏まえ、1) 軟弱地盤やその改良工事の実現性、2) 改良工事による環境への影響、そして3)基地の運用の可能性、という3点についての国防総省の分析評価の情報の公開を請求しています。請求先は、国防総省の組織を考慮し、1) Department of the Navy-including Marine Corps, 2) Headquarters U.S
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World Heritage Watch Report 2023のリリース~世界遺産やんばるの森と米軍北部訓練場：国際社会での更なる検証へ~

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2023年06月05日 World Heritage Watch Report 2023 のリリース 世界遺産やんばるの森と米軍北部訓練場：国際社会での更なる検証へ　   　2023 年 6 月 3 日、ユネスコ世界遺産の保全保護に取り組むベルリン拠点の NGO, World Heritage Watch が World Heritage Watch Report 2023 （以下、 WHW Report 2023 ) をリリースした。 2021 年に世界自然遺産に登録された「沖縄島北部（やんばるの森）」についての私たちの報告  “Still a Long Way to Go in Northern Okinawa Island and the US Military’s Northern Training Area” [ 真の世界遺産へ道なかば：沖縄島北部と米軍北部訓練場 ](p.206-208) も含まれている。 　内容は、やんばるの森が直面する北部訓練場やその訓練、遺産地内で発見され続ける米軍廃棄物の問題の報告と、それらの問題の解決のための要請・提案が含まれる。著者は、 Okinawa Environmental Justice Project 代表の吉川秀樹、 The Informed Public Project 代表の河村雅美、チョウ類研究者の宮城秋乃、そして、辺野古・高江を守ろう！ NGO ネットワークの花輪伸一。今回の報告は WHW Report 2022 での報告に続き二度目となる。 　World Heritage Watch が 2017 年から毎年リリースしている WHW Report は、 1100 以上ある世界遺産の中でも、問題を抱える世界遺産について、市民社会のメンバーがその現状を伝え、問題解決のための要請・提案を国際的に示す重要な報告書である。 WHW Report は、ユネスコ世界遺産センター、 IUCN などの関連国際機関と共有され、市民社会による関係政府へのロビーイングの材料として重要な役割を果たしてきた。 WHW Report 2023 では、やんばるの森や今年 2 月のトルコとシリアでの大地震により大被害を受けたシリア、アレッポの世界遺産を含む 45 の世界遺産について報告がなされている。   　私たち市民社会は、やんばるの森
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Launched in November 2016, the Okinawa Environmental Justice Project strives to protect the environment and the lives of people in Okinawa, Japan through the means of "connecting the green dots." That is, we reach out to, connect, and make best use of available resources in local communities, environment NGOs, domestic institutions and laws, and international institutions and conventions in bringing environmental justice to Okinawa.  We believe that, by protecting the environment, we can also improve the quality of life and promote peace/genuine security in Okinawa and beyond. m ap enclosed with the letter  As our first action , we, along with 38 other Okinawan and Japanese organizations, are sending a l etter of concern and request to the U.S. government and the U.S. military regar ding the future of the Yanbaru forest in northern Okinawa Island.   Can the Yanbaru forest become a World Natural Heritage site ? Or would th e presence of the U.S. military's No
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