June 5, 2025

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Akamine Seiken on May 29 at a House of Representatives committee meeting claimed that beaches in northern Okinawa (the Yanbaru region), UNESCO’s Natural Heritage Site, have been eroded after sea sand mining started for the construction of a new U.S. base in Henoko in the prefecture.

At the meeting of the Lower House Special Committee on Okinawa and Northern Problems, Akamine talked about an on-site survey he conducted in Kunigami and Ogimi villages in the Yambaru region regarding coastal impacts of sand mining.

He pointed out that several seawalls on the national road running along the coastline in the two villages collapsed due to coastal erosion caused by sand extraction for the Henoko base project. He went on to point out that in Kunigami Village, sea turtle nesting beaches are in danger of total destruction.

Asked by Akamine about specific government measures, Vice-Director-General of the Road Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) Sasaki Shun’ichi said that in addition to stopgap measures including placing large sandbags in select locations, the ministry will implement measures to deal with the matter.

Akamine noted that although the MLIT explains that offshore sand extraction is a major factor in coastal erosion, the Defense Ministry plans to gather about 3.9 million cubic meters of sand from the sea in Okinawa for the soft-ground improvement work associated with the Henoko base project. He demanded that the government halt the extraction of sand for the new U.S. base construction and protect the endangered coastal environment.

State Minister of Defense Honda Taro in reply only said that the ministry will steadily proceed with the Henoko project while giving due consideration to environmental preservation.