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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Government rushes to finalize report on USFJ realignment plan without local consent

The Japanese and U.S. governments are determined to complete the "final report" on the plan to realign U.S. forces in Japan and to publish in March or early in April a final report without obtaining local governments' consent.

They are thus ignoring public opposition to the realignment plan.

In a press conference on March 6, Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo stated, "With the completion of the next Japan-U.S. talks, we will have the final agreement," suggesting that local governments' consent is unnecessary.

This clearly goes against the terms of the October 2005 Japan-U.S. joint agreement: "The Ministers committed themselves to completing local coordination."

It also contradicts Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's statement in October 2004 that "the government will consult with local governments and will negotiate with the U.S. government only after it obtains local governments' consent."

Most of the 55 local governments, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, that are burdened with U.S. bases have raised opposition to the realignment plan. The government is even unable to obtain the consent of conservative local government heads who support the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

The governments' betrayal of their own promise and agreement reveals how unjustifiable the realignment plan is.

Local newspapers are critical of the government's methods: Chugoku Shimbun carried an editorial "Don't start before obtaining consent"; and an Okinawa Times editorial was entitled "P.M. Koizumi's extraordinary subservience to the U.S."

Imposition of U.S. bases on local residents is doomed to failure.
- Akahata, March 10, 2006