Japan Press Weekly

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2008 September 24 - 30 [US FORCES]

U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier deployed to Yokosuka amid protests

Ignoring citizens’ opposition to and anxiety over the safety of the operation of nuclear reactors, the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington (97,000-ton, with about 5,600 personnel) on September 25 entered the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The George Washington is the first nuclear-powered ship to be deployed to Japan, the only A-bombed country in the world. It is also the only overseas U.S. aircraft carrier deployment.

In front of Yokosuka-Central Station, peace and democratic forces carried out a sit-in action that had begun on September 23.

The Japanese Communist Party Kanagawa Prefectural Committee on the same day issued a protest statement.

In Hiroshima, about 60 people, including Hibakusha, staged a sit-in protest at the Peace Memorial Park.

At an emergency rally held at Kannonzaki in the Miura Peninsula facing the entrance to Tokyo Bay, Hayasaka Yoshiro, secretary general of the Central Action Committee against the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty (Anpo-Haki), described the carrier as a symbol of the Japanese government’s complete subservience to the U.S.

Chisaka Jun, Japan Peace Committee secretary general, stressed that the G.W.’s deployment is opposed by most local residents.

Hatano Kimie, JCP candidate for the House of Representatives proportional representation bloc in Kanagawa, called for the Metropolitan Area and Tokyo Bay to be made nuclear-free.

Yamazaki Masanori, whose wife was murdered by a U.S. sailor, warned that more murders could take place with the influx of thousands of U.S. sailors.

An old man who was forced by a U.S. Navy patrol ship to give up fishing in the bay said, “Is this the sea of my country?”

Citizens are increasingly concerned about the George Washington which experienced a serious fire last May, in addition to the carrier’s deployment which means that Yokosuka will be used as a permanent homeport of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The Yokosuka citizens’ Association for Success of a Referendum over G.W. Deployment (co-chaired by Goto Masahiko) published a comment stating, “Public concerns about the safety of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier homeported at Yokosuka have increased. In a survey in June, nearly 70 percent of the respondents said that they cannot support the aircraft carrier’s deployment.

Niikura Yasuo, secretary general of the Miura Peninsular Liaison Council against Deployment of a U.S. Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier, criticized the U.S. Navy for refusing to publicly explain the G.W.’s safety. “Is this democracy?” he asked.

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At a ceremony welcoming the George Washington at the U.S. Yokosuka base, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter stated that the deploying to Japan of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier shows Japan’s deep commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance that has entered a new stage.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer thanked Yokosuka Mayor Kabaya Ryoichi for his firm support of the ship’s homeporting. A message of support from Education Minister Nakasone Hirofumi was read.

All these statements failed to call for a thorough investigation into the recent fire on the G.W. and the series of radioactive leakages from U.S. nuclear ships.