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Cloud Call Center Community Featured Article

[March 11, 2006]

Local politics shadows Iwakuni vote on U.S. realignment+

(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)IWAKUNI, Japan, March 11_(Kyodo) _ Although top government officials have indicated they will go ahead with realignment plans for U.S. forces in Japan regardless of local opposition, Reiko Watanabe and many residents in Iwakuni said they are determined to vote Sunday to voice their opinion in the country's first referendum on the plans.

The outcome of the plebiscite in the western Japan city in Yamaguchi Prefecture is nonbinding, but it could have an impact on other base-hosting communities and affect Tokyo's efforts to finalize the plans with Washington by the end of this month to transform the bilateral security alliance.

But for most Iwakuni residents, noise and safety concerns as well as jobs and income are the major issues on their minds, not national security. Many are also taking sides in the discord in local politics over the legitimacy of the plebiscite itself.

"I am from the generation who experienced the U.S. air raids in Iwakuni during World War II and saw the mushroom cloud when the nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima nearby," Watanabe, 73, said as she handed out fliers at a downtown shopping arcade a few days before the referendum to urge passersby to vote. "We should make Iwakuni a peaceful place."

Under the realignment plan agreed by the Japanese and U.S. governments in October, 57 U.S. carrier-borne aircraft will be relocated from the U.S. Navy's Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture to the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station. There are also plans to conduct night-landing practices by U.S. warplanes at Iwakuni.

The Iwakuni base already hosts about 3,000 Marines and 57 U.S. planes, including FA-18 Hornet fighter-attack aircraft and AV-8B strike aircraft.

"The relocation would mean even worse flight noise and more crimes," said a 77-year-old woman who lives near the base. "We are already living under the roaring noise from the planes. I can bear with the base now, but any expansion is unacceptable."

The Iwakuni city assembly passed a resolution last June against the relocation of the U.S. aircraft, but some assembly members affiliated with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito Party later changed their stance and showed readiness to accept the plan in exchange for economic stimulus measures.

This prompted Mayor Katsusuke Ihara, who has been demanding the relocation plan be rescinded, to call the referendum.

Ihara said he will seek implementation of noise reduction and other measures if a majority of voters choose to accept the relocation. If a majority vote against it, however, he will reiterate his demand that the plan be revoked.

Compared with Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. bases in Japan, there seems to be less resentment against the U.S. military presence in Iwakuni.

"The air base has been a part of the residents' daily lives since they were born, so its presence is a fact of life, just like air. This referendum is the first time that residents have been made to think seriously about the issue," said Jungen Tamura, an Iwakuni city assemblyman of a minor opposition faction.

Indeed, some residents appeared indifferent to the developments regarding the base, which was first constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1938 and is currently used jointly by the U.S. Marines and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Asked if she would vote, a woman in her 30s said, "Nope, I don't see the purpose of it. I'm not particularly concerned about the noise either, because my building is equipped with noise insulation."

Taxi driver Masakazu Tanaka said he has never missed voting at any local and national elections but that this time, he did not feel like going to cast a vote.

"If I went, I think I would vote for accepting the additional aircraft and troops. Consider how I make my living, the more customers the better, it's simple," he said. "And say for local residents who work inside the base, that's where their jobs are."

Mayor Ihara's critics say he is using the plebiscite to gain ground for an upcoming mayoral election in April. Neighboring municipalities have also complained that the referendum should not be held just days before they are to integrate into a new Iwakuni city on March 20.

Tamura, who is also a member of the grassroots group Rimpeace that monitors U.S. military activities in Japan, agreed that the referendum is more a tool in a feud between the mayor and local politicians than an occasion to discuss the realignment issue.

"The assembly members who are against the referendum are doing whatever they can to obstruct it in order to back Taro Ajimura," Tamura said, referring to the candidate who will run in the mayoral race with support from the LDP.

While the outcome of the vote is not binding, a city ordinance requires the mayor and the city assembly to respect the outcome. However, if turnout is under 50 percent, the poll will be invalidated and there will be no vote counting.

From the U.S. side, John Dyson, consul for public affairs at the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka, agreed that it is important to listen to local opinions, but said Washington will not change its stance.

At Iwakuni Air Station, public affairs officer Maj. Stewart Upton said as he gave a tour of the base to reporters that the U.S. troops will carry out whatever is agreed upon between the Japanese and U.S. governments and that they will not be affected by local politics.

The developments in Iwakuni are being closely watched not only by the Japanese government but also by other municipalities affected by the planned realignment.

"A referendum is the most powerful card to express public opinion," said Hiroshi Kato, a 32-year-old Naha resident who came to Iwakuni from Okinawa to join the street campaigns. "Regardless of whether they choose yes or no, I think it is important for Iwakuni residents to make their views known to the government."

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