U.S. warship gives up entering a civil port in Hokkaido

Anti-warship movements of the Japanese Communist Party in a city of Hokkaido and local residents forced a U.S. military vessel to give up entering Otaru Port in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido.

On May 15, the U.S. Navy notified the Otaru mayor that the U.S. missile frigate Ingraham canceled its entry into Otaru Port scheduled for May 30.

Shimada Chizuko of the Hokkaido Council against A and H Bombs (Hokkaido Gensuikyo) said, "This shows that no authority can force through an entry of warships into a civil port in defiance of local residents' wishes for a peaceful port."

In a published statement on the same day, the JCP Otaru District Committee and the JCP Otaru City Assembly members' group said, "We will make further efforts to establish an ordinance for a non-nuclear port and harbor to defend Otaru Port's safety and peace." (end)