Futenma Shutdown Sought 22 Years after U.S. Helicopter Crash

Ginowan, Okinawa Pref., Aug. 13 (Jiji Press)–Okinawa International University President Hajime Asato called for the immediate closure of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station, at a gathering Thursday to mark 22 years since a U.S. military helicopter crashed into the premises of the university. “We strongly demand that the Japanese and U.S. governments immediately close and remove the base,” he said. The school neighbors the Futenma base in the city of Ginowan in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan. Some 120 people, including students and teachers, attended the gathering held near a tree charred by the Aug. 13, 2004, crash of the large transport helicopter that belonged to the U.S. base. Asato cited an incident in which a U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing at a baseball ground in the Okinawa city of Nago in March this year and said, “This once again reminded us that not only the area around the Futenma air station but also the whole of Okinawa are in danger.” Momoka Maehara, 22, a fourth-year student of the university’s College of Industry and Information Science who was born in the year of the helicopter crash, delivered an address as a student representative. Maehara said that lectures are sometimes suspended due to the loud noise of U.S. military aircraft. “The fear that a similar accident could happen remains in this place 22 years on,” she added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]