Earth Day 2018 - The Sea is the Treasure of Life - Miracle of Oura Bay and Yanbaru

Beautiful Henoko coral reef and dugong sea underwater photographs and music via One Peace Okinawa (events ongoing this weekend at Earth Day Tokyo／アースデイ東京) with photography by Takuya Nakamura: "A Miracle of Oura Bay and Yanbaru - About Precious Nature" and music by Milk (Maitreya) singing "The sea is the treasure of life."

Most of Okinawa's coral reefs have been lost because of coastal construction and global warming. Miraculously, coral reefs are still thriving in the sea of Henoko and Oura Bay where nutrients and fresh water from Yanbaru's subtropical rainforest and living tidelands continue to the sea. Does anyone really want to build a base by landfilling this magnificent sea, a treasure of life?

"The Sea is a Treasure of Life" by Milk (Maitreya)

Island treasure Coral sea
A cradle of life
Nurturing creatures
Breakwaters to protect the island
Treasure chest in the sea
Jewels spun over a thousand years
Miracles connecting life.

Coral reefs are treasures of the earth...
The sea and the forest are connected...
The living guardian rainforest of the sea...
The sea and the land are connected...
There is no border between them...

The sea is the treasure of life...

Takeshi Onaga wins governor's race on platform to save Henoko

Governor and First Lady of Okinawa. (Via SNA)

Today Okinawans elected former Naha City Mayor Takeshi Onaga for governor in a landslide  election; and Naha residents of Naha elected  former Vice-Mayor Mikiko Shiroma, to replace Onaga. Both ran on platforms promising to save Henoko's dugong and coral ecosystem from the US-Japan plan to landfill it and  military port and offshore runway construction.

Michael Penn, (Shingetsu News Agency (SNA)):

The numbers coming in show landslide victories for both Onaga and Shiroma.  Onaga beat Nakaima by about 3:2 margin. Exit polls find only 25.5% of Okinawan voters find Henoko base construction to be acceptable.

Eric Johnston, JT:

Onaga also promised to deliver a strong message to Tokyo and Washington that the Henoko plan was unacceptable and that those who thought Okinawa could be bribed by being offered central government funds for development projects were wrong.

Filmmaker Chie Mikami:

The moment the Henoko villagers launched a Committee to Protect Life, they raised their voices in opposition [to the new base/military port plan] -- for 17 years,  I stood by and witnessed.

I did not see this day coming. This proved an All-Okinawa Movement could support a win for an All-Okinawa Governor...

Ryukyu Shimpo (one of Okinawa's 2 major daily newspapers):

 Onaga served as a co-representative of the executive committee that held an Okinawan people’s rally in 2012, which called for the closure of the Futenma base and the cancellation of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft deployment to Okinawa. He has insisted that Okinawan people should unite in an ‘All-Okinawa’ approach that goes beyond the framework of the conservative-versus-progressive party, in order to resolve the base issue. The ex-Naha Mayor has promised to follow-through on a petition to Prime Minister Abe requesting the easing of the base-hosting burden. This petition bears the signatures from the mayors of all 41 municipalities in Okinawa and the chairmen of the various assemblies.

Onaga is backed by the Social-Democratic Party, the Communist Party, the Okinawa Social Mass Party and the People’s Life Party. The Naha City Council’s conservative group members, who were expelled from the LDP after opposing the relocation plan, also supported the ex-Naha Mayor. They criticized Governor Nakaima’s approval of landfill required for the new base in Henoko.

In August, the government started a drilling survey for reclamation work in Henoko. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said Tokyo will go ahead with construction based on the incumbent governor’s approval. Despite Onaga’s victory, it appears the government still intends to carry out the relocation work. Onaga will consider revocation or withdrawal of Nakaima’s landfill approval. The result of the election will have a serious impact on the relocation plan.

Peter Ennis, Dispatch Japan, "Okinawa election puts Tokyo and Washington in a bind":

The victory on Sunday of Takeshi Onaga in the race for governor of Okinawa came as no surprise...

But the size of Onaga’s victory – roughly 100,000 votes ahead of Nakaima, with two-thirds of voters joining Onaga in opposition to construction of a new US Marine base in the prefecture – was stunning, putting both Tokyo and Washington in a serious bind...

... it won’t be easy for Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to maintain his stance that the Futenma-Henoko controversy “is a thing of the past.”

Onaga’s electoral success poses a big dilemma for the LDP, heading into Lower House elections that PM Abe is expected to call for December 14. Sentiment against the ruling party’s stance on the Futenma Replacement Facility controversy has already affected other elections. Henoko is a district of Nago City, whose mayor, Susumu Inamine, is a fierce opponent of the new Marine facility. He is backed by a majority of the city assembly. Meanwhile, also on Sunday, the city of Naha voted for a new mayor to replace Onaga, and elected an opponent of the new base.

Analysis of the Okinawa Movement: SNA's Interview with Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine

Michael Penn's interview with Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine, at Nago City Hall, two days before the election for a new Okinawa governor:

INAMINE: The election is about the ideas of the citizens of Okinawa, whether they can be heard in Tokyo and Washington. Or if the ideas are only about bases for those two governments will be quietly accepted by the next governor.

SNA: Why are both conservatives and progressives supporting Onaga?

INAMINE: First, a governor is a politician who must honor promises. Clearly, Governor Nakaima did not do what he promised to do.

Second, in Okinawa, both conservatives and progressives agree that the damage from military bases must come to an end now. The hearts of conservatives and progressives are united, and in this election, they have come together with one voice.

SNA: How did Governor Nakaima lose so much support after eight years in office?

INAMINE: First, as I said, he violated his campaign promise. Also, he views development as separate from military bases, that economic progress is related to accepting military bases. That is different from Okinawa's stance in the past.

SNA: Is there a connection between this election and fundamental issue of democracy?

INAMINE: More than 80% of Okinawans oppose building a Henoko base.  In a democracy, you can't just ignore the voices of the people. If you do ignore them, it's a big problem. It's something that cannot be allowed in a democratic society.

SNA: What about the connection between US bases and economic development in Okinawa?

INAMINE: Conservatives and progressives divided in the last elections. But this time, some business leaders backed Mr. Onaga.

Tourism is a leading sector in Okinawa's economy. Military bases account for less than 5% of Okinawa's economy. The idea that Okinawa needs bases to survive economically is just a myth spread widely throughout mainland Japan.  Tourism is the industry that can put Okinawa on its own feet.

SNA: Do you have any concern that Mr. Onaga might change his policies after the election?

INAMINE: I think Mr. Onaga is very different from Mr. Nakaima. Mr. Onaga has put his political life on the line in this election, and the main issue is the Henoko base issue. So if you ask if Mr. Onaga will tone down his opposition, you have to realize he has put everything on the line.

I have faith Mr. Onaga will not betray our expectations.

New Development: Dugong Lawsuit • Brown Bag talk • DC office of Center for Biological Diversity • September 9, 2014

Via  JELF (Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation):  Everyone welcome at a Brown Bag update on the Dugong Lawsuit at the DC office of the Center for Biological Diversity with Peter Galvin, co-founder and director of programs. Date and time: September 9, 11:30 a.m.

Marine biologist Dr. Katherine Muzik diving at the Sea of Henoko, the best (one of the few still living) coral reef in all of Okinawa & Japan

Katherine Muzik diving at the Sea of Henoko and Oura Bay, July 2013

10 years ago, 889 coral scientists from 83 countries, attending the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium in Okinawa, signed a resolution calling on the govs of Jp and the US to abandon their joint plan to construct a base at Henoko.

Coral reefs and lagoons used to be major source of cultural distinctiveness in traditional Okinawa, as in other South Pacific islands. Coral reefs are called the "rainforests of the sea" because they nourish a rich abundance of biodiversity. Worldwide, coral reefs only comprise 0.1% of the global ocean area, yet they contain a quarter of all marine species. Reef-building coral, fish, shellfish, sponges, and other marine life gather to create a unique ecosystem. They are of incomparable value for food and eco-tourism destinations.

Almost 400 types of coral form Okinawa’s reefs, which support more than 1,000 species of fish, marine mammals, including the beloved dugong, and hawksbill, loggerhead, and green sea turtles.

Erosion, landfill, and mass bleaching of coral has damaged much of Okinawa's coast. Over 90% of Japan's coral is in Okinawa; yet on Okinawa Island, the proportion of live coral is less than 5%. This is part of a global trend: coral reefs will become the first ecosystem that human activity will completely destroy by global warming, pollution, and landfill, in just a few decades.

The beautiful and vital Sea of Henoko and Oura Bay ecoregion is an exception to the trend of dying coral reefs in Okinawa and the world.

Katherine Muzik via JT on May 2, 2014:

Having lived in Okinawa and worked there as a marine biologist for 11 years, long ago (1981-1988) and more recently (2007-2011), I have dived the entire Ryukyu archipelago from Amami and Kikai in the north to Yonaguni in the south. I can therefore assure you there is no comparable reef ecosystem remaining such as the beautiful reef at Oura. It is indeed miraculous that it is still surviving. Aki samiyo (“Oh my goodness!” in Okinawan)! There is no disease nor bleaching there! It has so far avoided the troubles that continue to plague and destroy coral reefs worldwide, whether in the Pacific or the Caribbean. (I am sure that you are quite painfully aware that reefs all over the world are dying, thus making any coral reef alive anywhere a truly sacred place.)

Oura Bay is a unique and spectacular ecosystem, including mangroves, a river, a sandy beach with crabs, numerous patch reefs in shallow water (where my specialty, blue corals and red sea fans, thrive), not to mention threatened dugongs and all of the species of clownfish in Japan, shallow beds of sea grasses beyond count, and, most amazingly, a very spectacular deeper reef, nicknamed the “Coral Museum,” with countless gorgeous corals...

Crushing these beautiful and quintessential corals just must not, cannot happen...

Last July, I returned to Okinawa from here in Kauai at the request of the Okinawan Environmental Network. I was asked to dive at Oura Bay and to lend my support to its protection. During my visit I met with the mayor of Nago, who is valiantly opposed to construction/destruction at Oura...

I am deeply honored to have met him [the Emperor] and the Empress several times at their palace during the time I lived in Okinawa. He is a marine biologist too, and since his goby fishes often find their home on the branches of “my” octocorals, I collected some for him to study...

Chie Mikami's The Targeted Village exposes Okinawan struggle for human rights, cultural & ecological preservation, democracy, & peace

In this 2013 interview (highlighted again this week at Magazine 9's website and Facebook page), film director Chie Mikami discusses The Targeted Village, a documentary she released last year. It follows the struggle of the residents of Takae, an eco-village in northern Okinawa, over the use of their prefecture for hazardous V-22 Osprey training.

Because of a media blackout—although the protests in Takae have continued since 2007 and related protests against Osprey aircraft in Ginowan City in 2012 were unprecedented—the major media did not cover them.  Mikami said one of the few reports was a 2-minute report on Asahi's evening news.

One reason for this is the Japanese government's pattern of discriminatory treatment towards Okinawa. The prefecture was not afforded the relative peace and democracy that the Japanese mainland enjoyed in the postwar period. From end of the Second World War to 1972, Okinawa was under US military rule, which routinely used force to violate human rights, property rights, and democratic process in Okinawa. Even after "reversion" to Japanese rule, when Okinawans expected their closure, the bases remained, and the pattern of violations of rights and democratic process continued.

Between 1954 and 1955, US military forced owners from homes and rice farms

 in the former village of Isahama, to make way for US military training base construction.

(Photo: Okinawan Prefectural Government)

Okinawan women protest US military seizure of their homes and land in Isahama (Ginowan) in July 1955.

(Photo: Okinawa Prefectural Government)

Futenma in Ginowan City was built on land the US military forcibly seized from farming villagers during the Battle of Okinawa, and Camp Schwab in Henoko was built on farms and coastal property forcibly acquired during the 1950's period of military base expansion known in Okinawa as "Bayonets and Bulldozers." These communities are among many throughout Okinawa which experienced the same pattern of violent land acquisition. The ongoing struggles in Takae, Ginowan City, and Henoko are not new "anti-base" protests, but instead part of the latest chapter in a seventy-year struggle for property rights, human rights, ecological and cultural preservation, democracy, and peace in the islands of Okinawa.

In Myth, Protest, and Struggle in Okinawa,  Miyume Tanji writes:

In July 1955, one of the US military's most brutal land seizures happened in Isahama [a rice farming village in the Ginowan district], in central Okinawa...Anticipating the forced acquisition of their hamlet, farmers had formed a landowners' committee, & prepared for resistance...thousand of supporters from all over the Island came to protect the farmers in Isahama from the US forces. Kobuka Kotara...who was supporting the Isahama farmers' struggle, recalls....

"At around 3 am, when most supporters of the resistance had gone home, there were only 200-300 hamlet residents left. Slowly, one after another, bulldozers with their headlights off and military trucks filled with armed soldiers entered the hamlet. Off the coast, I could hear the sound of pipelines being connected to a military vessel to drain in the sand and water taken from the ocean It was just like war. At dawn, all the supporters helplessly watched the paddy fields being destroyed by soldiers across barbed wires. Farmers were still inside the last 32 houses, but were finally dragged out at gunpoint. [All were injured during their removals.] The bulldozers went over and flattened the houses, timbers, and roof tiles of the houses were collected to be discarded in the ocean. Women were screaming at this sight, and I could not help my tears." [quoting Kotaro Kokubo in Moriteru Arasaki, 1995, 63-65]...

Victimization of Okinawan farmers & forceful acquisition of their land was combined with the physical violence inflicted on the locals personally...Violence directed towards the local populace by US military staff, especially rape, revealed the crudest & most brutal aspect of the power relations between the occupiers & the occupied...

US land acquisition in Isahama & Ie-jima & the rape [& murder of 6-year-old Yumiko Nagayama, followed a week later by the rape of another young child by US soldiers] resulted the humiliation of all Okinawans, leading to what Arasaki calls the first wave of the "Okinawa Struggle." ...These rallies became models for mass demonstrations in the community of protest of the future.

Until recently, this history was mostly hidden from non-Okinawans. However widespread popular opposition against US military expansion in Okinawa has increasingly garnered attention beyond the islands of Okinawa, among environmentalists, democracy, peace, faith-based advocates, and military veterans and their family members. In the process, disturbing revelations about past abuses by both the Japanese and US governments have become part of the public discourse on Okinawa. A young Okinawan-American, whose father was an American serviceman, explains her support for the Okinawa movement: "Enough is enough."

Protest Tent in Takae

Takae village is located in one of the most well-preserved tracts in Yanbaru, one of the last surviving subtropical rainforests in Asia.  Environmentalist NGOS worldwide have called for its preservation. The Center for Biological Diversity has highlighted the ongoing threat to the survival of the Okinawa Woodpecker.  The survival of the vlllage of Takae is also at risk. The US military use of Yanbaru for "jungle warfare" training has long been a public nuisance.  During the Vietnam War, villagers in Takae were made to don "Vietcong" dress for war games. Now, deforestation, new helipad construction, and low-level Osprey flight training has brought more concerns about stresses on the sensitive eco-region and the villagers' quiet lifestyle.

Mikami follows the Japanese government use of a SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) lawsuit to attempt to intimidate and silence residents from protesting against this destruction of more of Yanbaru and interference with their lives. Last week, the Supreme Court of Japan, often criticized for its politically motivated decisions, ruled against their appeal.

Long-time peace and democracy activist  Mrs. Etsumi Taira,

was forcibly removed from the September 2012 sit-in site at Futenma. 
Mrs. Taira is the wife of Reverend Osamu Taira, an early leader in the peace movement..

(Photo: Tomoyuki Toyozato)

Mikami also discusses the related 2012 struggle over Osprey aircraft training at Futenma air base Ginowan. The notorious base was built in the 1950's in the middle of a community of rice villages, in the middle of the night on forcibly seized private and community property - farms, houses, stores, and schools.  Traces of the demolished villages attest to this past: half-buried tombs stick out from under barbed wire fencelines.

Locals saw the forced deployment of the aircraft as a replay of "Bulldozers and Bayonets" forced military construction.  Many of those pushed out of their homes in the 1950's—then children, now grandparents—led the 2012 protests before they were forcibly removed from the sit-in site. They knew the dozen or so troop carrier aircraft were not sent to Okinawa for the "defense" for the Okinawan or Japanese people, but to justify expensive military contracts. And now they must defend themselves, ironically, from the accident-prone aircraft and training pilots themselves.

Chie Mikami (Photo: Magazine 9) 

The Target Village will be screened in August at Theater Pole-Pole in Higashi Nakano, Tokyo (http://www.mmjp.or.jp/pole2/).

Magazine 9, founded in 2005 to support Article 9, closely covers the Okinawan Movement and other issues related to the Japanese Peace Constitution.

---

June 29 will mark the 7th anniversary of the Takae struggle. 

More Background:

"The Targeted Village - An Interview with Mikami Chie (Director): The Pretense of Justice: Okinawa’s Unneutral Struggle," Yamagata Int. Documentary Film Festival, 2013

WWF "No Helipads in Yanbaru Forest: http://www.wwf.or.jp/activities/lib/pdf/yanbaru0706e.pdf

Voice of Takae: http://nohelipadtakae.org/files/VOT-english2013Oct.pdf

Takae Blog: http://takae.ti-da.net/

"Film details anger of Okinawans against U.S. military bases," Kazuyo Nakamura, The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 1, 2013. 

"Film depicts Okinawans’ fight against Ospreys," Mika Kurokawa, The Japan Times, Sept. 13, 2013. 

Vote by March 15th for sustainable Tokyo-based solar-sail cargo ship Greenheart - nominated for Royal Dutch Society of Engineers Prize

Your vote for Greenheart counts- Even in Dutch!

Via Jen Teeter in Kyoto, please check out the latest from Greenheart, a visionary renewable energy project based in Japan:

Creating the world’s first solar-sail cargo ship tailored to fit the needs of marginalized coastal communities is an idea that has propelled a small Tokyo-based international team closer to winning a major engineering prize far from home shore.

International NGO Greenheart Project is but one of 10 nominees for the Vernufteling Prize, to be awarded by the Koninklijk Instituut Van Ingenieurs (the Royal Dutch Society of Engineers), De Ingenieur and Technish Weeblad magazines, and a Dutch association of consulting engineers, NLingenieurs. The finalists were chosen from a field of more than forty submissions based on four criteria: innovation, economic worth, technological advancement, and social value.

The Vernufteling Prize is awarded annually to the initiative that is developing an imaginative project that promises to have a significant social and economic impact. Competitors were asked to respond to the challenge of creating ideas that both embody the social importance of innovative technology. The competition also seeks to make the important work of engineers more visible and widely recognized.

In line with the Dutch word Vernufteling, a portmanteau of inventor, engineer and a lot of creativity, entrants are encouraged to utilize a combination of new and existing technologies to solve real world problems. The winning project also must show potential to attract young people to technical studies and inspire them.

Over the past eight years, 83 engineering firms have submitted a total of 376 ideas, projects and innovative solutions to the Vernufteling Prize. In 2013 Arcadis took home the award for their innovative Winterhard Wissel which keeps railways free from snow and ice in the winter.

As Gert Schouwstra, a Dutch consultant at AA-Planadvies, who nominated Greenheart Project explained, “This project can really work. This year, we shall see how Greenheart will prove itself.”

Greenheart ships are customizable to meet the needs of the end user, whether they be used for fishing, fisheries monitoring, , ecotourism, cargo or passenger transport.

A unique feature is an open source platform which ensures that the end-users can have a say in how future ships are built without the financial and technical burdens of paying for patent rights.

Intentionally designed to be small scale at 32 meters in length and 220 tons, the vessels are designed to be easy to repair and service while maintaining the elegance of a yacht. Through its foldable mast/crane the ship can be maneuvered under bridges allowing greater upstream access, and lift items large and small on and off of shore, whether cargo, a haul of fish or even floating debris such as nets during an environmental cleanup mission.

Greenheart class ships promise to play a hefty role in restoring economic and ecological balance to transport in vulnerable and remote coastal communities, while setting an example that vessels powered by renewable energies are a practical alternative to fossil-fuel based fleets.

Voting by the general public is open from February 25th to March 15th through the Van Dag de Ingenieur (Day of the Engineer) website. After tallying up the votes, the Vernufteling prize winner will be announced on March19, 2014 at High Tech Campus Eindhoven.

To vote for Greenheart...

1. Go to this site: http://www.dagvandeingenieur.nl/vernufteling/publieksverkiezing-2014/
2. Choose "AA Planadvies-Groen vrachtschip voor eilandengroep" from the pull down menu at the top of the page
3. Put in your name and email address
4. Click Stemmen (Vote).
*No need to check any of the boxes there (The page is in Dutch and English)
The Vernufteling Prize is awarded annually to the initiative that is developing an imaginative project that promises to have a significant social and economic impact. If we win it will give us the wide public exposure that will propel us to finishing the construction of the boat and getting more people interested in joining us in changing the paradigm of shipping and waterway transport.

Drawing upon, and endeavoring to be compatible with, the rich sailing traditions of coastal communities, Greenheart is working to radically amplify access to the oceanic commons and distant markets, while interacting with the environment in a more equitable and just manner. Greenheart is intentionally open source small-scaled, durable, adaptable, affordable, energy-efficient, solar/sail cargo ship that is easy to service and repair. It expects to rearrange the balance of opportunities among rich and poor by making safe, long distance sea travel accessible to marginalized and excluded sectors of the world population.

ABOUT GREENHEART PROJECT

The Greenheart Project is an international non-profit organization founded in Tokyo, Japan with offices in Europe and Japan, preparing to build the world’s first fuel-free, container-ready commercial vessel. The small sail-solar ship is specially designed for use by communities in marginalized coastal communities and can serve as a mobile solar power station. It will be built in Chittagong, Bangladesh and launched as early as this year.

To learn more about Greenheart Project visit: www.greenheartproject.org
Pat Utley, Greenheart Director
patutley@greenheartproject.org
P: +81-3-5606-9310

Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine: "Former Defense Minister Morimoto once said there is no military reason for the bases to be in Okinawa. It's just more politically expedient & easier to have them in Okinawa...It is the people of Okinawa who have bore the burden for 68 years."

Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine detailing the rich biodiversity of Henoko and Oura Bay at the FCCJ

(Photo: AFP via Channelnewsasia.com)

More in-depth than TEDx, and the closest thing to C-SPAN re Japanese news, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) videos of press events are terrific windows into Japanese (and now Okinawan) society, economics, and politics.

In his Feb. 13 talk at the FCCJ, Susumu Inamine, mayor of Nago, Okinawa, explains how the Henoko plan would increase the military base burden on Okinawa. Partial transcript:

It is not simply a transfer...New facilities and new functions would be added that are not present in Futenma today...First of all there would be a V-shaped (actually 2) runways. In Futenma today, they only have one...They would be building up embankments so that very large ships would be able to load or berth...What is being built here is a military port...

If you look beyond Henoko, you will see very large, ecologically diverse Oura Bay...We have many different kinds of coral reefs in this area. It is an area frequented by sea turtles and dugongs...There are many sea grass beds which serve as a place where the dugong feed...This area has been designated as an area that should be protected for its rich, biodiverse marine life. If the Henoko base were built as planned, it would be be damaging this irreplaceable natural environment....

The fact that I was chosen as mayor is a clear reflection of the people's will on this issue...As such, since we do live in a democratic nation, I think the expression of the will of the people should be given the utmost respect...What is the future of democracy in our nation?

Q: It is not the US military forces that want this sea-based military port, but actually Japanese involved in domestic politics who want this base.

A: I very much agree with what you're saying...There's no specific indication that a new facility has to be built in Okinawa; it just has to be built in Japan...However no other place wanted this base, so they decided to build it in Henoko...

Q: Why has the Japanese government taken such an inflexible position on this issue?

A:...The Japanese government...has been using the security alliance as a shield  to justify all of their requests:..."They serve as a deterrent...Okinawa is the geographically advantageously placed for these bases..."However, former Defense Minister Morimoto once said there is no military reason for the bases to be in Okinawa. It's just more politically expedient and easier to have them in Okinawa...

All of these justifications no longer work. It is simply a political decision....No one else, no other region in Japan wants these facilities....

Okinawa only has 0.6% of the land mass of Japan...It only represents 1% of the population. We have little power and influence....What I believe the Japanese government most fears...is for the voices of the Okinawan people and knowledge about the Okinawan situation to reach all the Japanese people, for these ideas to spread in Japan.

A: Would you speak to the issue of the US government forcing the base issue, both in Okinawa and to the Japanese government?

...I will go back to the end of WWII...when the US-Japan Security Pact was signed...It was called an administrative agreement which eventually led to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). As a result of all these agreements, it was decided the area south of Amami-Oshima (an island south of Japan) would be used by the US Forces. In other words, the US Forces occupied this area for basically 27 years.

During this time, the US had free rein to do as they wished. If they wanted to take private land, the owners were forced to lease out this land to the US Forces, so the US was allowed to build all the bases they wished. Because of the Security Pact, the Japanese government allowed all these things to occur without trying to step in...For many, many years, after the end of WWII, if the US wanted a piece of land...they had freedom to do as they wished. This was the time that the suffering of the Okinawan people began.

The High Commissioner had great powers, even over Japanese administrative officials...Depending on the whim of the High Commissioner, all of their decisions could be overturned...One High Commissioner said the idea of autonomous self-rule in Okinawa is a myth. This continued for 27 years.  During that time, the people of Okinawa lived inside a giant US base. They were deprived of their freedom to live as they wished. The situation has basically continued during the entire 68 years after the end of WWII. The Japanese government has allowed this situation to occur.

In fact, to give an example of some terrible words spoken by Japanese officials, when it was decided that the Osprey aircraft would be deployed to Okinawa, Prime Minister Noda said at the time, if these are activities that occur within a US military base, then these are activities that can only be controlled by the US military; we (the Japanese government) have no position to say anything about that. The idea that a prime minister would say that about territory belonging to that nation is a reflection of the fact that the government of Japan has treated Okinawa in a very discriminatory way.

They have basically cut off Okinawa from the rest of the nation. We see it's been the government of the US pursuing its own national interests. It's been the government of Japan pursuing its own national interests. And as a result, it is the people of Okinawa who have bore the burden for 68 years.

View Mayor Inamine's entire press talk at the FCCJ here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvuaFHQ1Nfc.

The Okinawa Times: Save the Dugong Too! ジュゴンも守って！

Via The Okinawa Times:

Save the Dugong, too!
2014年2月11日

The dugong, which has been designated a “National Monument” by Japan, lives in the ocean surrounding Okinawa prefecture. It is a large water mammal that is in the Sirenia order with the manatee. The main island of Okinawa is at the northern end of the dugong’s habitat range. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment considered the dugong as being at extreme risk of extinction and placed it in the “Endangered Species IA Class”. Global interest in the dugong’s survival is very high as shown by three resolutions adopted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for the protection of the Okinawan dugong.

In 2001, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment announced that a three-year survey confirmed a total of 12 Okinawan dugongs. At the time of revisions to the Red List (of Japanese endangered species) in 2007, it was estimated that 50 or fewer Okinawan dugongs were alive. Experts, however, have pointed out that the “possible population [for Okinawan dugongs] is ten or fewer”.

Dugongs have frequently been sighted at Henoko, the land area chosen to be the site for relocation of Futenma Air Station. An environmental impact assessment conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Defense for the proposed station relocation confirmed the presence of three dugongs. The Ministry claims it will “be able to preserve [the dugong] through environment protection measures” even after going ahead with the landfill project for the station.

However, dugongs clearly feed in the ocean off Henoko and in adjacent Oura Bay. Japanese environmental groups are strongly opposed to the offshore landfill project at Henoko because it will decimate sea grass beds which substance for dugongs. Also the sea routes for transporting landfill material will encroach on their migratory path.

Environmental groups in both the U.S. and Japan brought the “Okinawan Dugong” case to the U.S. Federal Court in San Francisco under the National Historical Preservation Act (NHPA) in 2008. The court ruled that the dugong must be protected by the NHPA and that the base construction clearly violated that law. It also ordered the Department of Defense, as a responsible party, to address the protection of dugongs.

From another perspective, it appears the Okinawans are the dugongs of Japan and need immediate help to survive.

ジュゴンも守って！

　沖縄近海には国の天然記念物ジュゴンが生息している。マナティと同じ海牛目の海生哺乳動物で、沖縄本島が生息域の北限とされる。環境省は絶滅の危険性が極めて高い「絶滅危惧種ＩＡ類」に指定。国際自然保護連合（ＩＵＣＮ）が沖縄のジュゴン保護を求める勧告・決議を３度採択するなど国際的に関心が高い。

　環境省は２００１年から３年間の調査で、延べ１２頭を確認したと発表。０７年のレッドリスト改訂の際には、成体の個体数を５０頭未満と推定した。専門家の間では「生息可能性は１０頭以下」と指摘されている。

　米軍普天間飛行場の移設先とされる名護市辺野古の周辺でも、たびたびジュゴンが目撃されている。移設に伴う防衛省の環境影響評価では３頭を確認。埋め立てを実施した場合でも、「環境保全措置で保全できる」としている。

　一方で、辺野古沿岸や隣接する大浦湾ではジュゴンが餌を食べた跡が多数見つかっている。日本の環境団体などは埋め立てで、ジュゴンの餌となる海草藻場が減少することや土砂を運ぶ船のルートがジュゴンの回遊経路と重なることなどから、ジュゴンの生息に大きな影響が出ると埋め立てに反対している。

　日米の環境保護団体などが米国国家歴史保存法（ＮＨＰＡ）に基づき、米国で起こした「沖縄ジュゴン訴訟」でサンフランシスコ連邦地裁は２００８年、「ジュゴンは同法で保護されるべきで、基地建設は同法違反」と判断。米国防総省に対し、当事者としてジュゴン保護に取り組むよう命じた。

　見方を変えれば、沖縄が“日本のジュゴン”のようであり、緊急の保護を必要としている。（福元大輔）

Severn Cullis-Suzuki "Love is the Movement" Japan Tour • Simultaneous screenings of Velcrow Ripper's Occupy Love

"If you can’t fix the environment, please stop breaking it!” Severn said to the world leaders at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. She was only twelve years old. A video of her speech presenting environmental issues from a youth perspective went viral, and Severn Cullis-Suzuki became known around the world as “The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes." 

Severn, daughter of Japanese Canadian scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki, is now 34-years-old and an environmental activist, speaker, television host and author. She has spoken around the world about environmental issues, urging listeners to define their values, act with the future in mind, and take individual responsibility. 

For the first time in six years, Severn returns to Japan for “Love is the Movement” – a series of talks about the future of the human race in the face of global environmental crisis. Issues covered include the localization movement, the fair trade movement, and other movements that focus on quality of life for our children and future generations. 

Severn Suzuki will be at Kyoto's Ryukoku University on February 21st.

Details (in Japanese) here: http://kokucheese.com/event/index/141937/

Other stops include Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Shiga. 

Simultaneous screening of Canadian filmmaker Velcrow Ripper's Occupy Love, the third film in the inspirational "Fierce Love" trilogy about global grassroots nonviolent environmental and democratic movements. 

Schedule (Japanese):  http://unitedpeople.jp/occupy/jouei. 

Details on the "Love is the Movement" Tour (in Japanese) here: http://www.sloth.gr.jp/events/sev2014/

All about Severn Suzuki here: http://severncullissuzuki.com/bio

"Love is the Movement" on Facebook (in Japanese): https://www.facebook.com/sev2014. 

Moral Arc of the Universe Bends Towards Justice: Mayor Susumu Inamine, defender of Henoko, wins reelection in Nago

(Photo: Shingetsu News Agency)

Shingetsu News Agency President Michael Penn, who covered the campaign and election in Nago:

It's victory for democracy, popular sovereignty, citizen's movement against the bribes and intimidation from Tokyo.

Agree with Penn's POV.  See the reelection not as win against Tokyo per se, but, instead, as a victory for Okinawan and local determination to use established democratic procedures to protect the traditional community and beautiful natural environment of Henoko, a fishing village situated in an exquisite coastal area.

Penn's photo of the moment of the announcement of Mayor Inamine's reelection (after sixteen years of struggle in Nago to save Henoko, and especially after the shock of Governor Nakaima's abrupt late December hairpin switch from his 2010 campaign promise to protect Henoko) brings to mind this quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, as Americans enjoy the peace and justice activist's birthday holiday weekend in the US:

"Now it isn't easy to stand up for truth and for justice...I haven't lost faith, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Mayor Inamine vowed to use his local authority to block the military landfill, proclaiming that his victory was an unofficial referendum on Henoko:

This election was easy to understand. It was about one issue, the Henoko issue...

Most of the politicians in Washington and Tokyo who have made deals concerning Henoko (and journalists writing about Henoko) have never visited Okinawa and this biodiverse coastal area, and, therefore, have no understanding of the precious ecosystem and cultural heritage at stake. It's much more than a "less densely populated area in the north of the island."

Biologists once called Okinawa the “Galápagos of the East” for its rich biodiversity. Although the herds of thousands of dugongs that once grazed on seagrass on Okinawa's coasts are gone, around fifty of the critically endangered sea mammals (cousins to the manatee) still swim with similarly endangered sea turtles in the coastal waters of Henoko. Together with rare birds, fish, crustaceans, insects (classified as rank 1, warranting the highest level of protection by the Okinawa Prefectural Government), the Henoko coast is still a prime habitat of the unique biodiversity of Okinawa. A colony of critically endangered blue coral was discovered in 2007. A World Wildlife Fund study found 36 new species of crabs and shrimps in 2009.  And Tokyo marine science researchers found a “rain-forest”-like variety of 182 different species of sea grasses and marine plants, four of which were probably new species, in Oura Bay in 2010.

In December 2013, Japan moved to designate Yanbaru, a subtropical rainforest (which includes the proposed military landfill site), a natural World Heritage site:

Environmental NGOs are concerned that the reclamation [landfill] and its concomitant introduction of invasive alien species like the Argentine ant would lead to the destruction of the vulnerable island ecosystem.

[The International Union for Conservation of Nature] IUCN has adopted three Recommendations/Resolution requesting the two governments [US and Japan] to review the construction plan.

The Okinawa dugong, a natural monument, is beloved in the mainland as well as Okinawa. Dozens of mainland Japanese environmental NGOs representing hundreds of thousands of Japanese people have supported their Okinawan counterparts and the elder residents of Henoko who have kept watch at a 24/7 sit-in Henoko since this struggle began in 1996.

On January 9, a plaintiffs group (and legal team of 126 people) announced they initiated a lawsuit seeking the cancellation of Nakaima's approval of the Henoko landfill:

Article 4 of the Public Water Body Reclamation Act requires that the landfill work properly and reasonably use national land. The act also requires the work to be environmentally friendly. The landfill approval by the governor does not meet the requirements of the act.

The plaintiffs and legal team are filing a suit against the Okinawa Prefectural Government. They seek cancellation of the approval. At the same time of the filing the action, they seek the stay of execution of the approval.

Kunitoshi Sakurai, a member of the Okinawan Environmental Network, and a professor and former president of Okinawa University, detailed the environmental protection problems in "Japan’s Illegal Environmental Impact Assessment of the Henoko Base," noting that Japanese backroom environmental assessment procedures and laws do not come close to the standards of other developed countries. The founding chairman of the Japan Society for Impact Assessment, Nagoya University professor emeritus Shimazu Yasuo described the Henoko EIA as the "worst in Japanese history."

Even a former Minister of Defense, Satoshi Morimoto, criticized what he described as the "sloppiness" of the Environmental Impact study and the concealment of “'inconvenient facts' of the appearance of the dugong...He asserted, "the Yambaru forest and rivers, whose biodiversity is recognized under both national and prefectural plans, cannot be protected under the planned relocation."

Additionally Earthjustice, a US environmental law firm,  the Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation (JELF) and  Okinawan environmental NGOS will file a new Dugong lawsuit in the US, at the same federal court in San Francisco (in which they filed the first Dugong Lawsuit in 2003):

The lawsuit aims to make the U.S. government stop the Japanese government from entering the area for the reclamation work. The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of the United States requires its government to protect cultural heritage around the world. If the government’s actions could affect cultural assets in other countries it must take that impact into account...

The plaintiffs, including the Okinawa dugong and three Japanese citizens, as well as six Japanese and American environmental associations have brought another action against Secretary of Defense and the United States Department of Defense for violations of the National Historic Preservation Act. They allege that the defendants approved plans for construction of the Futenma replacement facility without taking into account the effect of the construction of the military facility on the Okinawa dugong, which is a marine mammal of cultural and historical significance to the Japanese people...

The plaintiffs are same environmental groups and individuals who filed the Okinawa dugong lawsuit in 2003, which they effectively won. In the interlocutory decision, the judge decided that the dugong is subject to the National Historic Preservation Act, and that the government not evaluating the impact on the dugong was a violation of the law.

Kagohashi said, “We considered protective measures for the dugong in the previous case, but this new lawsuit aims to block the construction involved in the landfill. The American Environmental Law is very strict when it comes to the destruction of the natural environment. Our chances of victory are better in the United States than in Japan.”

The first Okinawa Dugong Lawsuit was filed in 2003. The same federal district court determined in the interlocutory decision of Jan. 2008 that the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) applied to the Okinawa dugong as a protected species.

The new lawsuit will not only take protective measures for the dugong as the original lawsuit did; it will additionally more fully address the issue of military landfill construction. U.S. environmental laws are more comprehensive and impartially administered than Japanese environmental laws. According to legal experts, the issue of whether or not a ban on the construction is in the interests of the general public will be a central issue.

In 1966, Ryukyus postal stamp commemorates the dugong's designation as a natural monument. 

(Image: Save the Dugong Campaign Center) 

"Who hopes for closing the sea of HENOKO?"

"Who hopes for closing the sea of HENOKO？20140113"

(Courtesy of Yoshio Akamine, StudioＯ Akamine Zoukeishitsu, Naha, Okinawa)

Okinawa’s Struggle at Final Juncture - Protect Okinawa Dugong and Biodiversity of Henoko/Oura Bay

Henoko and Oura Bay, Okinawa

Via our colleague and friend, Dr. Masami Mel Kawamura, at the Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa:

October 6, 2013
Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa
(Okinawa, Japan)

Okinawa’s Struggle at Final Juncture 
Protect Okinawa Dugong and Biodiversity of Henoko/Oura Bay 

The 17 year-long saga of the Okinawan people’s struggle against the US and Japanese governments’ plan to construct a US military base at Henoko/Oura Bay in Okinawa, Japan is at its final juncture. The Japanese government has submitted its application for land reclamation of the waters of Henoko/Oura Bay, ready to move on to the phases of reclamation and construction work. At stake are the rich biodiversity of Henoko/Oura Bay, including the endangered and Okinawa’s cultural icon Dugong, and the life of the local people. The Okinawan people are fighting through this final juncture with support from international communities in forms of IUCN recommendations/resolution, “dugong lawsuit” and IIFB statements.

Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture of Japan, consisting of some 160 islands with a population of approximately 1.4 million. The Okinawan people are recognized by UN as an indigenous people although the Japanese government has not recognized them as such.
While Okinawa consists of only 0.6% of all the Japanese landmass, 74% of US military bases in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa. A UN Special Rapporteur’s report in 2006 concluded the high concentration of US military bases should be regarded as manifestations of the continuing discriminatory policies and practices and human rights violation against Okinawa. By forcing the US base construction at Henoko/Oura Bay, the Japanese and US governments are further militarizing Okinawa.

The area of Henoko/Oura Bay presents a vulnerable ecosystem while being one of the most biodiversity-rich areas in Okinawa. The endangered Okinawa dugong, rare blue corals, and many other wild wonders inhabit the area and the livelihood of local communities is closely connected to the environment...

Update on US military base construction at Henoko/Oura Bay

Since 1997, the US and Japanese governments have been pushing forward their plan to construct a massive US military base at Henoko/Oura Bay, ignoring the Okinawan people’s opposition to the plan and environmental concerns. However, an enduring fight put forth by people from Okinawa, Japan and international community has not allowed actual construction to take place yet.

In March of 2012, Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima submitted his comments on the Environment Impact Statement prepared by the Japanese government for the construction plan. Nakaima contended that, even with the Japanese government’s proposed mitigation measures, it would not be possible to conserve the natural and social environments of the Henoko/Oura Bay area.

In March of this year, however, the Japanese government submitted to Governor Nakaima its application for reclamation of waters of Henoko/Oura Bay for the base construction, pressuring Nakaima to approve the application. Governor is expected to make his decision on the application sometime in December this year or in January of next year.

The international environmental community has been supporting the Okinawan people’s struggle against the construction plan. In 2000, 2004 and 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) adopted recommendations and resolution regarding the conservation of the Okinawa Dugong in the area of Henoko/Oura Bay. In 2010, in the closing statement of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity(IIFB) at COP10, the IIFB expressed its concern with regard to the plan and the construction plan’s potential impact on the area’s biodiversity. In 2012, the IIFB reiterated its concerns at COP11.

Update on Dugong Lawsuit

In the historical case of the “Dugong vs. US Secretary of Defense” or “dugong lawsuit,” the US federal district court in 2008 ruled that the US Department of Defense (DoD) violated the National Historical Preservation Act(NHPA). The court recognized Dugong as a historical and cultural property, applicable by the NHPA, which protects indigenous people’s culture and life. The court found that the DoD did not take into account the military base construction’s possible adverse effects on the cultural significance of the Okinawa dugong, when it drew the construction plan with the Japanese Government. The court ordered the DoD to comply to the NHPA. It is the first case that NHPA was applied to an undertaking outside US and to a creature as well.

In February of 2012, as the construction plan was deemed stalled, the court questioned the status of the construction plan and ordered the case to be closed. However, as the Japanese government completed its EIA and has submitted its application for land reclamation, the case is expected to be reopened anytime.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit has attracted international attention. Dr. Helen Marsh, renowned Australian marine mammals scientist, mentioned the “Dugong lawsuit” in her plenary speech for the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium, which was held on July 9-13, describing Dugong as one of the most powerful political animals.

For details on “Dugong lawsuit,” see Hideki Yoshikawa’s article “Dugong Swimming in Uncharted Waters: US Judicial Intervention to Protect Okinawa's "Natural Monument” and Halt Base Construction“
http://www.japanfocus.org/-hideki-yoshikawa/3044

Restoring the Soil, Restoring Ourselves: Yoshikazu Kawaguchi

Great photography and content about Yoshikazu Kawaguchi 

at filmmaker and photographer Patrick M. Lyndon's website. 

 Lyndon's and Suhee Kang's film, Final Straw, 

explores natural farming in Korea, Japan, and the U.S.

Ted Taylor's beautiful essay at KJ, "Even in 'Just Enough' There is Abundance," follows farmer Yoshikazu Kawaguchi's return to traditional organic farming and the development of his natural philosophy:

In fact, all life in the natural world is lived, as demonstrated in the interrelationship of all living things. Plants cannot exist without animals, and vice-versa. If there is good harmony between the organisms, plants, and animals, the cycle of life continues. As a farmer, Kawaguchi's role is simply to nurture this natural order, by cutting the weeds back just enough so that new rice shoots can grow, but later her allows the weeds to grow along with the rice in harmony. This leads to wholeness, with everything living together.

Final Straw, an upcoming documentary by Patrick M. Lyndon and Suhee Kang, also explores Kawaguchi's world  (and that of Seonghyun Choi and other natural farmers in Japan and Korea):

Environmental artist duo Patrick Lydon and Suhee Kang... are now in the final post-production stage for the Final Straw documentary. Due for initial screening in Spring of 2014, Final Straw is a cinematic exploration of Japanese natural farming, and a philosophical ride through the minds of amazing individuals who offer simple solutions to modern issues of sustainability, both on the farm and in the city. The film interacts with a cast of office workers, chefs, musicians, and farmers alike, all of who are students of the late Japanese farmer/philosopher, Masanobu Fukuoka.

It all started on a small mist-covered mountain farm in South Korea, and continued to include over 20 natural farmers in East Asia and the USA. The Final Straw is a story about food, life, and philosophy from individuals who have a great deal of delicious secrets, and a great deal of wisdom to impart about life. Yet, while the Final Straw is a deeply rooted exploration of natural farming, it’s also a film which teaches equally as much about how to live life as it does about how to grow healthy food. And today, with over 1/2 of the world’s population living in urban areas, it seems we need to revisit this connection with nature more than ever before.

Over the past 100 years, our gradual reliance on industry and separation from the natural world have pushed us into the most epically unsustainable and unhealthy time period yet known to humanity.

Food and diet have quietly become the leading cause of death in the U.S., and on a world scale, intensive chemical-based industrial agriculture have caused the deterioration of billions of acres of farmland, the starvation of millions of human beings, and the loss of over 75% of our planet’s agricultural diversity.

The destruction of natural resources continues at an alarming rate, and both governments and food producers are looking for answers to questions of human health and ecological sustainability, with a multi-billion dollar industry leading the charge to find the most economically profitable answer.

It’s slightly amusing then, that that on a few small farms tucked away in the mountain valleys of Japan and South Korea, Patrick and Suhee found a very simple 4,000 year-old answer to this very perplexing modern question.

Organic tea farmer Ayumi Kinezuka on protecting Japan's rich family farm culture, food safety, and the need for reconnection—with each other, with land and nature...

In this 5-min. video (via Reciprocity/Food Sovereignty Japan) 
Ayumi Kinezuka talks about her family farming cooperative; community-supported farming;  how her father embraced organic farming after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring,
 and Nouminren, the farmers' union.

Ayumi Kinezuka, after getting degrees in psychology and sociology at the University of California (Berkeley). returned home 10 years ago, to help carry on her family's organic tea farm near Fujieda, Shizuoka.

Her father, Toshiaki Kinezuka, is one of the pioneers of the global organic farming movement:  Thirty-seven years ago, he shifted his 2 hectare (5-acre) tea and orange farm to organic and founded a group with several tea growers that became Hito to No, Shizen wo Tsunagu Kai (Connecting People, Agriculture, and Nature). Their organic green and black teas are popular worldwide among tea enthusiasts.

In 2011, after they were hit (as was most of Japan) with fallout from the Fukushima meltdowns, the Kinezukas decided, at great financial loss, to destroy their entire crop from that year, even though the radiation readings of their tea were far below the Japanese government's safety standard.  The reason: as organic farmers, food safety is their integral to their ethos and they felt responsible to maintain their high standard of purity to protect their customers.

They are now continuing to recover from the accident, while strengthening organic food culture in many ways:  hosting WOOLF interns; deepening relationships with their consumers and other farmers, and welcoming urban dwellers in need of reconnecting with nature.

This is an inspirational family and community -- on every level.  The Kinezukas and their farming cooperative keep in contact with their customers and sell directly to them at their website, (naturalitea.com/), a trove of info on tea and the rich traditional Japanese way of life (reverencing nature, farming, food, relationships, and community).

In the second -part (5-min) of a 3-part series of video interviews,  

Ayumi Kinezuka relates why she became a farmer:

 it is a field in which she can help connect people with each other and with nature 

In the  final short video, she talks about miso-making, and rice-growing with friends (non-farmers who visit the Kinezuka farm during rice-planting, weeding, and harvesting seasons to enjoy connecting with the earth, others, and eating fresh, organic local foods).  She brings her social psychological and outreach skills to creating and deepening awareness, connections in all that she does.

Also in two (10- and 15-min.) videos at the same webpage, Toshiaki Kinezuka shares his story of why and how he became an organic farmer.

The above videos were made in January, 2011, during a peak  the Japanese organic farming movement, which had been developing steadily since the 1970's.  The multiple meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have hit farmers throughout Japan (not just in Fukushima) hard, especially organic farmers like the Kinezukas.

In this Women Rising radio interview (her interview begins at 20:30 of the tape), Ayumi Kinezuka describes her organic philosophy and how her family and their organic tea cooperative decided, at great financial loss, to destroy their entire 2011 crop  to protect the food safety of their customers.

I'm living in the community, hoping to protecting the rich culture we've inherited...There are not many young farmers...So when I came back ten years ago, one of the things I thought was very important was to have a network of young farmers because, first we need to share an understanding of our current situation...When I attended the youth meeting of Nouminren, I met a lot of young people and they are facing the same challenges.  As I talked to them, it was very inspiring, so I suggested to La Via Campesina to organize the youth...  Since 2008, we have started a regional youth gathering...

I think farming is not just the production of food. To produce the food is more like an expression of our own ideology or our own beliefs. So participating in La Via Campesina meetings and Nouminren meetings, I'm receiving a lot of information and education about how to perceive the world, how to perceive the current agricultural system, and so on. It's given me a lot of inspiration in that way...

I live in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is west of Tokyo, close to Mount Fuji. From the Fukushima nuclear power plant, it's about 400 km (260 miles) away.  I never imagined our farm would be affected when the accident happened. So after we harvested the tea, we sent our tea samples for testing and we found 350 becquerels of cesium in our tea. At the end of the second harvest season, after June, we found 150 becquerels. And the last harvest in October, there was 76 becquerels. Even though the government regulation at that time was 500 becquerels, and according to them, since it's below the regulation level, they say it's safe.

But as an organic farmer, we have never used any chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers in our fields to ensure the safety of our tea and food, and also to protect the environment. It was a very difficult time for us. We did not know how to understand this reality that our tea was contaminated.

So, collectively, since we're a group of organic tea farmers, we discussed and decided we were going to destroy all the tea we produced that year. All together, we destroyed more than 20 tons of tea that was produced in 2011.  Since then, we've been testing the tea at least three times a year to make it obvious to the consumer the truth about the tea.

We are very upset at what happened because we have been working so hard to build a community of organic farming, and at the same time, we've been working very hard to build very good relationships with consumers and producers. But all of a sudden, without our control, this accident put radioactivity into our tea. What's scary about radioactivity is that you can't see it, feel it, taste it, smell it, but it's still there. The accident contaminated our soil, air, water, and also all the plants, and, of course, our bodies too. We have to be very clear that we can't co-exist with this dangerous generation of power.

Now many people in Japan are living in cities so they are detached from nature. Even though human beings are part of nature, we forget that, and that is driving people crazy. So organic farming has the responsibility of connecting people back with nature. It is very nice when people come to my farm and they have a very beautiful smile on their face, and their eyes are just bright. That really tells us what is really essential for us to live as a human being. It's not just money, goods, iPhones, and computers. So I want to provide, as an organic farmer, not just safe food, but an opportunity for people to come back to nature and feel for themselves what it is like to be alive.

The Kinekuza Family taking a break.
 (via Samovar Life: photo and (great blog post on the Kinezuka tea festival))

World Food Sovereignty Day • Soil and Peace Festival @Hibiya Park, Tokyo - Oct. 20, 2013

Today is the international family farmer movement Via Campesina's World Food Sovereignty Day; and this weekend, Japanese organic family farmers and their supporters will join in a celebration of the best of visionary Japanese (organic, recycling, nuclear-free, GMO-free, fair-trade, Slow Life, satoyama, Tohoku-supporting) culture.

Via the Consumers Union of Japan:

There will be a Soil and Peace Festival in Hibiya Park, Tokyo, on Sunday October 20, 2013. Starting at 10:00 hundreds of farmers and activists and artists will hold a great event until the evening.

A great opportunity to meet your favourite NGOs and learn more about organic food, anti-nuclear campaigns and the future of Japan. Look forward to lots of inspiration! Music by Kato Tokiko and many others throughout the day, starting with a taiko performance by Gocco.

Website with more info (J) here.

Naomi Toyoda: The Human Cost of Uranium Weapons

The destructive US legacy of "regime change" in Iraq has been foremost in the minds of those who joined the global outcry against the Obama administration's call to bomb  Syria.  Images of white phosphorus bombings; prisoner torture at Abu Ghraib; millions of Iraqi refugees; stories of young widows and children forced to prostitute themselves to survive; and reports of perpetual violence in Iraq are now imprinted in our collective memory.

Many in Japan are especially sensitive to the suffering caused by depleted uranium (DU) to Iraqi hibakusha: children born with mutations and Iraqis of all ages suffering from cancer.

 Naomi Toyoda has covered the human cost and environmental devastion of the US invasion of Iraq, depleted uranium weapons, Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombing survivors, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. He is co-editor of The Unending Iraq War: Questioning Anew from Fukushima.

Toyoda's exhibition, The Human Cost of Uranium Weapons, toured Europe in 2006. The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons has an online gallery of the Japanese photojournalist's compassionate photographs which reflect the profound suffering caused by radioactive weapons in Iraq.

Depleted uranium (DU) is a radioactive heavy metal waste product of the nuclear power and nuclear weapons industry. Their nanoparticle fallout has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, and enters the body through inhalation and ingestion, where they pass through cell walls..  DU can cause or accelerate cancer, mutate genes, and affect the kidneys, immune system, nervous system, respiratory system, and reproductive system.  The United Nations Human Rights Commission considers DU munitions to be "weapons of mass destruction or with indiscriminate effect" incompatible with international humanitarian law.

The US is the largest producer and user of DU weapons. The US military has produced DU weapons from nuclear waste since the 1970's.  The US  used uranium weapons in Iraq in 1991; in Bosnia from 1994 to 1995;  in Afghanistan from 2001; and in Iraq from 2003. NATO used depleted uranium weapons in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro in 1999. The US tested depleted uranium in Puerto Rico and Okinawa; the UK tested it in Scotland.

The UN General Assembly has twice called for greater transparency over DU weapons use. In December 2012, 155 countries voted in favor, however the US, UK, France and Israel opposed the text, which also acknowledged public health risks from DU use.

On the 10th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, Democracy Now! interviewed  Al Jazeera reporter Dahr Jamail who described the legacy of the U.S. military’s use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus (a chemical weapon) in Iraq and the ongoing plight of refugees in an interview,  "Ten Years Later, U.S. Has Left Iraq with Mass Displacement and an Epidemic of Birth Defects, Cancers":

...in 2005 we saw 1,600 Iraqis with cancer out of 100,000, so a massive escalation that continues.

 And going on to Fallujah, because I wrote about this a year ago, and then I returned to the city again this trip, we are seeing an absolute crisis of congenital malformations of newborn. There is one doctor, a pediatrician named Dr. Samira Alani, working on this crisis in the city. She’s the only person there registering cases. And she’s seeing horrific birth defects. I mean, these are extremely hard to look at. They’re extremely hard to bear witness to. But it’s something that we all need to pay attention to, because of the amount of depleted uranium used by the U.S. military during both of their brutal attacks on the city of 2004, as well as other toxic munitions like white phosphorus, among other things.

 And so, what this has generated is, from 2004 up to this day, we are seeing a rate of congenital malformations in the city of Fallujah that has surpassed even that in the aftermath of—in the wake of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that were—that nuclear bombs were dropped on at the end of World War II. So, Dr. Samira Alani actually visited with doctors in Japan, comparing statistics, and found that the amount of congenital malformations in Fallujah is 14 times greater than the same rate measured in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in the aftermath of the nuclear bombings.

These types of birth defects, she said—there are types of congenital malformations that she said they don’t even have medical terms for, that some of the things they’re seeing, they’ve never seen before. They’re not in any of the books or any of the scientific literature that they have access to. She said it’s common now in Fallujah for newborns to come out with massive multiple systemic defects, immune problems, massive central nervous system problems, massive heart problems, skeletal disorders, baby’s being born with two heads, babies being born with half of their internal organs outside of their bodies, cyclops babies literally with one eye—really, really, really horrific nightmarish types of birth defects. And it is ongoing...

Stunningly, as bad as things were under Saddam—and we have to keep in mind this perspective of Saddam in the wake of a brutal eight-year war with Iran and then the genocidal sanctions for 13 years, from 1991 up until the beginning of this invasion in March 2003—as bad as it was under Saddam, with the repression and the detentions and the torture and the killings, the overall feeling of Iraqis today, in Baghdad and other places in Iraq where I went this trip, was that things are much worse now...

Doug Rokke. who has a PhD in health physics, is one of the many people who have had direct experience with depleted uranium who advocate against it.  When the Gulf War started, he prepared soldiers to respond to nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare.  In "War Against Ourselves," a 2003 interview at YES! Magazine, he describes how DU caused deaths of his colleagues:

DU is an extremely effective weapon. Each tank round is 10 pounds of solid uranium-238 contaminated with plutonium, neptunium, americium. It is pyrophoric, generating intense heat on impact, penetrating a tank because of the heavy weight of its metal. When uranium munitions hit, it's like a firestorm inside any vehicle or structure, and so we saw tremendous burns, tremendous injuries. It was devastating.

The US military decided to blow up Saddam's chemical, biological, and radiological stockpiles in place, which released the contamination back on the US troops and on everybody in the whole region. The chemical agent detectors and radiological monitors were going off all over the place. We had all of the various nerve agents. We think there were biological agents, and there were destroyed nuclear reactor facilities. It was a toxic wasteland. And we had DU added to this whole mess...

The half life of uranium 238 is 4.5 billion years. And we left over 320 tons all over the place in Iraq...

 What I saw...led me to one conclusion: uranium munitions must be banned from the planet, for eternity, and medical care must be provided for everyone, not just the US...but for the American citizens of Vieques, for the residents of Iraq, of Okinawa, of Scotland, of Indiana, of Maryland, and now Afghanistan and Kosovo...

War has become obsolete, because we can't deal with the consequences on our warriors or the environment, but more important, on the noncombatants. When you reach a point in war when the contamination and the health effects of war can't be cleaned up because of the weapons you use, and medical care can't be given to the soldiers who participated in the war on either side or to the civilians affected, then it's time for peace.

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More background:

Naomi Toyoda's website (The Asahi Shimbun)

"ICBUW-Japan commemorates 10th Anniversary - U.S. March 2003 Iraq Occupation"
(Int. Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), May 9, 2013)

"A decade on and depleted uranium contamination still blights Iraq" ((Int. Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), March 7, 2013)

"1/250th of a Second — Naomi Toyoda" (Peace Boat Voyage 62, June 7, 2008)

"Iraq – A Nuclear Polluted Land" (Naomi Toyoda, The Asia-Pacific Journal, 2003)

"A Speech by Naomi Toyoda at the EU Exhibition, The Human Cost of Uranium Weapons" (Int. Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, Hiroshima Office, May 14-16, 2007)

JIM-NET - Japan Iraq Medical Network (Japan-based network of NGOs, private medical clinics and private companies that provide technical, efficient and continuous support for Iraqi children with cancer)

Save the War Children: Ban Uranium Weapons (Website of Japanese photojournalist Takashi Morizumi)

"Discounted Casualties — the human cost of depleted uranium" (Akira Toshiro, The Chugoku Shimbun)

Child Victims of War (UK-based NGO that exposes the impact of modern warfare on children)

-JD