 Zama City holds signature campaign to block U.S. Army relocation In Zama City in Kanagawa Prefecture, the mayor and city assembly members took to the streets on April 18 to hold a signature campaign in protest against the planned relocation of the U.S. Army 1st Corps to U.S. Camp Zama which stretches between Zama and Sagamihara cities. Mayor Hoshino Katsuji as well as 28 assembly members and city officials, including 3 Japanese Communist Party assembly members, collected signatures in front of railway stations. Passers-by lined up to sign the petition. The campaign was organized by the Zama City Liaison Council against the U.S. Army 1st Corps Relocation to Camp Zama, which was established in November and chaired by Mayor Hoshino with the aim of collecting signatures from the majority of the residents of Zama. The council has clearly expressed its opposition to the relocation, which has been planned in line with the realignment of U.S. forces, on the grounds that it will strengthen the function of Camp Zama. On the same day, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo visited Zama Mayor Hoshino and Sagamihara City Mayor Ogawa Isao. He told the two mayors that the JCP will join forces with the two cities to block the planned relocation. (Akahata April 19, 2005) |