Japan Press Weekly

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2015 July 1 - 7 [POLITICS]

War bills face criticism from unsworn witnesses in Diet hearing in Okinawa

In a hearing session of the House of Representatives Special Committee on war bills held on July 6 in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, all five unsworn witnesses criticized the governing party for trying to force the bills through the Lower House in mid-July.

Of the five who spoke in the session, three clearly expressed their opposition to the proposed legislation and the remaining two called for more thorough Diet discussions.

Nago City Mayor Inamine Susumu, one of the five witnesses, opposed the war bills by saying that they will completely change the nature of the country. “If enacted, the war bills will increase Japan-U.S. military cooperation, leading to a higher risk of Japan becoming involved in international conflicts. In such a case, Okinawa would face a high possibility of military attacks as most of the U.S. bases in Japan are concentrated here. Okinawa could be sacrificed as happened in WWII,” Inamine said.

Takamine Tomokazu, former head of a local daily, the Ryukyu Shimpo, criticized the proposed war legislation. He stated that the legislation and the planned U.S. base in Nago’s Henoko district are two clear examples of Tokyo’s blind loyalty and total subservience to Washington which will bring about catastrophe to Okinawans. Takamine maintained that as a nation which has the pacifist Constitution, Japan should hold on to the ability to have frank talks in order to maintain good relations with its neighboring countries like China.

The two unsworn witnesses endorsed by the governing parties, Nanjo City Mayor Koja Keishun and Ishigaki City Mayor Nakayama Yoshitaka, expressed their approval of the war bills, but opposed the hasty vote as this issue has yet to obtain public understanding.

On the same day, another interpellation session of the Lower House special committee took place in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. Three lawyers, who served as unsworn witnesses, unanimously condemned the proposed war legislation as unconstitutional.