Military

Tokunoshima Anti-Base Movement Continues

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Tokunoshima Map

Tokyo -- Although the Kan administration is thought to have largely given up former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's plan to move some US Marine military drills to the island of Tokunoshima in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, the local government and residents of that remote island are taking no chances, using every opportunity to restate their fierce resistance to the idea.

On Thursday, the three mayors of Tokunoshima huddled together with Kagoshima Governor Yuichiro Ito to plot their campaign of opposition. They are seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Naoto Kan to deliver their objections in person.

Meanwhile, the people of Tokunoshima are taking matters into their own hands.

Yesterday a "tasuki" relay - a relay in which runners pass a sash rather than a baton - was held to express the island's anti-base sentiment.

The tasuki relay circled the island on an 81.5 kilometer route divided into sixty zones. Participants ranged from newborn babies (presumably carried by their parents) to an 87-year old man.


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