International Scholars, Journalists,
Peace Advocates, and Artists,
Demand End to Construction of
Another Marine Base in Okinawa
Okinawa Interest Group
To President Joe Biden and the citizens of the United States
To Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and the citizens of Japan
(Janaary 5, 2024) — One decade ago, 103 international scholars, journalists, artists and peace advocates, including linguist Noam Chomsky and former US Army colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, issued a statement opposing the construction of yet another US Marine Corps base on the Cape of Henoko in the northern part of Okinawa Island.
Yet even now, the US and Japanese governments persist with this costly landfill project in the face of opposition by the majority of Okinawans, recklessly damaging the irreplaceable ecosystem. Unfortunately, the Henoko side of the construction, which accounts for about one fourth of the total area to be reclaimed, is almost complete. Now they are about to launch reclamation on the north, the deep and preciously diverse Oura Bay.
Plans to build the base at Henoko have been on the drawing board since the 1960s. They were revitalized in a 1996 Japan-US agreement (SACO) as a “replacement facility” for the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma situated dangerously in the middle of congested Ginowan City. More than a quarter of a century later, the two governments have not yet returned the land occupied by the Futenma base to the people to whom it belongs, and there have even been reports that the US aims to maintain both bases after the new base is built.
We, the signatories of this petition, who advocate for Okinawa’s right to self-determination, democracy, and autonomy, hereby renew our support for the Okinawan people who reject further militarization of Okinawa, a de facto military colony of the United States and Japan ever since the end of World War II.
Okinawa, previously the independent Ryukyu Kingdom, was forcibly annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1879 after three centuries of domination by feudal Japan. The people of the Ryukyu chain of islands were forcefully assimilated into Japan, deprived of their languages, their names, their traditions, and their dignity as sovereign and autonomous peoples, much like many indigenous peoples around the world who were colonized by Western imperial powers.
Toward the end of the Asia-Pacific War, Japan used Okinawa as a “sacrificial pawn,” keeping the battle there in an effort to protect the “emperor’s land,” and mobilized the entire population of the islands. The war between Japan and the United States killed over 120,000 Okinawan people, which was more than one-fourth of the population.
The US military then took control of the islands as a spoil of the war, and almost eight decades later it still occupies Okinawan land, air and sea, causing enormous human rights violations including rape and murder, deadly aircraft and vehicle accidents, and environmental degradations such as PFAS contamination of water.
On 20 December 2023, the High Court of Fukuoka, Naha Branch ordered Okinawa Prefecture to approve the change in the government’s construction method in order to deal with the “mayonnaise-like” soft ocean bed that would require costly, protracted, and “impossible” (according to experts) ground reinforcement to enable reclamation of the Oura Bay part of the new base.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, who won the 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial elections on a platform of opposition to the Henoko base, rejected the court order on 25 December, and submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court on 27 December.
On 28 December, the Japanese government approved the plan alteration on behalf of Okinawa Prefecture, in an extraordinary, FIRST EVER exercise of the “execution by proxy” (daishikkō) under the Local Autonomy Law that was revised in 1999.
In a word, the court has effectively allowed the state to take the law into its own hands and trample on the right to autonomy of the local government. The Japanese government is expected to start reclamation work on Oura Bay on 12 January 2024.
An Okinawa Times editorial on 28 December argued:
Execution by proxy under the Local Autonomy Law is unprecedented anywhere in Japan. Under the pretext of “eliminating the danger of the Futenma Air Station as soon as possible,” the Japanese government has resorted to strong-arm tactics that infringe on local autonomy.
The Ryukyu Shimpo, another Okinawan newspaper, asked in its 27 Decembereditorial:
Would people in other prefectures approve of such a situation befalling their own communities? … are they indifferent because they think that this unprecedented ruling against Okinawa [execution by proxy] couldn’t possibly happen elsewhere?
It is colonial indifference. The rest of Japan does not care, and the vast majority of US citizens are unaware of what their government is doing in Okinawa.
President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida, and citizens of the United States and Japan, we must end the discrimination and military colonization of Okinawa. The first step is to cancel the construction of the new base in Henoko, on Oura Bay, which is expected to cost over 6.5 billion US dollars and take more than 10 years to complete.
It is high time that we do the right thing.
| 1 | Mariko | Abe | Chief, Conservation and Education division, The Nature Conservation Society of Japan | Japan |
| 2 | Amy | Antonucci | Small Farmer & Activist | USA |
| 3 | Ellen | Barfield | Veterans For Peace, Military Families Speak Out, War Resisters League | USA |
| 4 | Walden | Bello | Co-Chair of the Board, Focus on the Global South | Philippines/
Thailand |
| 5 | Max | Blumenthal | The Grayzone | USA |
| 6 | Jacqueline | Cabasso | Executive Director/Western States Legal Foundation | USA |
| 7 | Helen | Caldicott | Founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, 1985 Nobel Peace Prize | Australia |
| 8 | Marilyn | Carlisle | Peace Action | USA |
| 9 | Sunghee | Choi | Gangjeong peace activist | South Korea |
| 10 | Rachel | Clark | Associate Member / Veterans For Peace / Interpreter, Global Coordinator | USA |
| 11 | Gerry | Condon | Board of Directors / Veterans For Peace | USA |
| 12 | Marie | Cruz Soto | Historian of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and of the US | Puerto Rico/USA |
| 13 | Ludo | De Brabander | Vrede vzw – Spokesperson | Belgium |
| 14 | Ariel | Dorfman | Author | USA |
| 15 | Alexis | Dudden | Professor of History / University of Connecticut | USA |
| 16 | Mark | Ealey | Translator | New Zealand |
| 17 | Pat | Elder | Military Poisons | USA |
| 18 | Joseph | Essertier | Coordinator, Japan for a World BEYOND War | Japan |
| 19 | Corazon | Fabros | Co-President, International Peace Bureau | Philippines |
| 20 | Thomas | Fazi | Journalist and writer | Italy |
| 21 | John | Feffer | Director, Foreign Policy In Focus | USA |
| 22 | Norma | Field | Professor Emerita, East Asian Languages & Civilizations, University of Chicago | USA |
| 23 | Margaret | Flowers | Director, Popular Resistance | USA |
| 24 | Takashi | Fujitani | Professor, University of Toronto | Canada |
| 25 | Bruce | Gagnon | Coordinator of Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space | USA |
| 26 | Joseph | Gerson | President, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security | USA |
| 27 | Aaron | Good | Political Scientist, Historian | USA |
| 28 | David | Hartsough | San Francisco Friends Meeting | USA |
| 29 | Chris | Hedges | Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author | USA |
| 30 | Laura | Hein | Professor of History Northwestern University | USA |
| 31 | Martha | Hennessy | Catholic Worker | USA |
| 32 | Miho | Hiki | Early Childhood Educator | Japan |
| 33 | Yunshin | HONG | Okinawa University / Assistant Professor | Japan |
| 34 | Peter | Hulm | Deputy Editor, Global Insights | Switzerland |
| 35 | Masamichi (Marro) | Inoue | Professor, University of Kentucky | USA |
| 36 | Akemi | Johnson | Writer | USA |
| 37 | Erin | Jones | Translator / Independent researcher | USA |
| 38 | John | Junkerman | Documentary filmmaker | Japan |
| 39 | Mariko | Kage | Lillooet Friendship Centre | Canada |
| 40 | Kyle | Kajihiro | Assistant Professor, University of Hawai’i at Manoa | Hawaii |
| 41 | Kristine | Karch | Int’l No to NATO | Germany |
| 42 | Rosemary | Kean | Massachusetts Peace Action Racial Justice Working Group | USA |
| 43 | Claudia Junghyun | Kim | City University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 44 | Yeonghwan | Kim | The Center for Historical Truth and Justice | South Korea |
| 45 | Ulla | Klötzer | Women for Peace – Finland | Finland |
| 46 | Joy | Kogawa | Writer | Canada |
| 47 | Ryuko | Kubota | University of British Columbia | Canada |
| 48 | Jeremy | Kuzmarov | Managing editor, CovertAction Magazine | USA |
| 49 | Peter | Kuznick | Professor of History, American University | USA |
| 50 | Heok-Tae | Kwon | Sungkonghoe University | Korea |
| 51 | Judith | Lang | Scientific Advisor / Aid-Team | USA |
| 52 | Donald | Lathrop | Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice | USA |
| 53 | Nydia | Leaf | Retired Educator | USA |
| 54 | Andrea | LeBlanc | September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows | USA |
| 55 | Steven | Leeper | Peace Culture Village | Japan |
| 56 | Jon | Letman | Independent journalist | USA |
| 57 | Madeleine | Lewis | Artist | USA |
| 58 | Charles Douglas | Lummis | Professor, Tsuda College (retired); Coordinator, Veterans For Peace – Ryukyu/Okinawa Chapter Kokusai (VFP-ROCK) | Japan |
| 59 | Catherine | Lutz | Brown University | USA |
| 60 | Kyo | Maclear | Writer and Instructor | Canada |
| 61 | Kathie | Malley-Morrison | Professor Emerita Boston University, member Mass Peace Action | USA |
| 62 | Kazumi | Marthiensen | Artist | Canada |
| 63 | Abby | Martin | Journalist, The Empire Files | USA |
| 64 | Kevin | Martin | President, Peace Action | USA |
| 65 | Wendy | Matsumura | Associate Professor/University of California, San Diego | USA |
| 66 | Gavan | McCormack | Emeritus Professor, Australian National University | Australia |
| 67 | Mairead | Maguire | Nobel peace laureate, Co-founder of Peace People Ireland | Northern Ireland |
| 68 | Nikki | Meith | Zoologist, conservationist, environmental writer, editor, designer | Switzerland |
| 69 | Martin | Melkonian | Professor of Economics | USA |
| 70 | Susan | Mirsky | Newton Dialogues on Peace and War | USA |
| 71 | Yuki | Miyamoto | Professor, DePaul University | USA |
| 72 | Haruko | Moritaki | Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA) | Japan |
| 73 | Tessa | Morris-Suzuki | Professor Emerita, Australian National University | Australia |
| 74 | Katherine | Muzik | Marine biologist, author | USA |
| 75 | Christopher | Nelson | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | USA |
| 76 | KJ | Noh | Pivot to Peace | USA |
| 77 | Richard | Ochs | Board member / Maryland Peace Action | USA |
| 78 | Midori | Ogasawara | Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Victoria | Canada |
| 79 | Satoko | Oka Norimatsu | Director, Peace Philosophy Centre | Canada/Japan |
| 80 | Natsu | Onoda Power | Georgetown University | USA |
| 81 | Akino | Oshiro | University of Erlangen-Nuremberg | South Korea |
| 82 | Shoko | Oshiro | Lecturer | Okinawa |
| 83 | Hideko | Otake | Coordinator, Stand with Okinawa NY | USA |
| 84 | Shinako | Oyakawa | ACSILs (The Association of Comprehensive Studies for Independence of the Lew Chewans) | Ryukyu |
| 85 | Noriko | Oyama | Okinawa Peace Appeal, VFP Rock | USA |
| 86 | Rosemarie | Pace | Pax Christi | USA |
| 87 | Koohan | Paik-Mander | Writer | USA |
| 88 | Tony | Palomba | Steering Committee, Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment | USA |
| 89 | Thea | Paneth | Arlington United for Justice with Peace (MA) | USA |
| 90 | Matthew | Penney | Associate Professor | Canada |
| 91 | Margaret | Power | Co-Chair, Historians for Peace and Democracy | USA |
| 92 | John | Price | Research Associate, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria | Canada |
| 93 | Mazin | Qumsiyeh | Professor and Director, Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability | Palestine |
| 94 | Steve | Rabson | Brown University | USA |
| 95 | John | Raby | Co-chair, Peace Action Maine | USA |
| 96 | William | Ramsey | Writer | USA |
| 97 | Wyatt | Reed | Managing Editor, The Grayzone | USA |
| 98 | Jon | Reinsch | Writer | USA |
| 99 | Dennis | Riches | Professor, Seijo University | Japan |
| 100 | Jun | Sasamoto | Lawyer | Japan |
| 101 | Susan | Schnall | President, Veterans For Peace Board of Directors | USA |
| 102 | Mark | Selden | Cornell University | USA |
| 103 | Tim | Shorrock | Independent journalist | USA |
| 104 | Stephen | Slaner | Support Massachusetts Peace Action | USA |
| 105 | Steven | Starr | University of Missouri, Assistant Clinical Professor | USA |
| 106 | Vicky | Steinitz | Retired faculty, UMass Boston | USA |
| 107 | Oliver | Stone | Filmmaker | USA |
| 108 | Doug | Strable | Learning Technologist | Japan |
| 109 | David | Swanson | Executive Director, World BEYOND War | USA |
| 110 | Hiroko | Takahashi | Professor of History, Nara University | Japan |
| 111 | Roy | Tamashiro | Professor Emeritus, Webster University | USA |
| 112 | Yuki | Tanaka | Historian | Australia |
| 113 | Kaia | Vereide | Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of the Sea Jeju Committee | South Korea / USA |
| 114 | Paki | Wieland | CODEPINK | USA |
| 115 | Charmaine | Willis | Visiting Assistant Professor, Skidmore College | USA |
| 116 | Lawrence | Wittner | Professor of History Emeritus, State University of New York/Albany | USA |
| 117 | Ellen | Woodsworth | Co President WILPF Canada / Speaker and intersectional consultant on cities/ Matriarch Women Transforming Cities International SocietyFormer Vancouver City Councilor | Canada |
| 118 | Ann | Wright | Retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat / Veterans For Peace | USA |
| 119 | Sho | Yamagushiku | Writer | Canada |
| 120 | Lisa | Yoneyama | University of Toronto | Canada |
| 121 | Hideki | Yoshikawa | Director, Okinawa Environmental Justice Project | Japan |
| 122 | Ayaka | Yoshimizu | Assistant Professor of Teaching, The University of British Columbia | Canada |
| 123 | Geoffrey | Young | Candidate for US House of Reps. | USA |
The complete list of over 400 signatories as of January 5, 2024 (15:37 PST) is here.
