Ginowan school hit by hate calls after U.S. chopper incident

December 25, 2017

Ginowan, Okinawa Pref.- An elementary school in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, and the city's education board have been targeted by hate calls since a U.S. military helicopter window dropped onto the school next to the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station.

The school was built after the base, and there is "no room for sympathy," one caller said.

In the incident on Dec. 13, the metal-framed window dropped from a CH-53E large helicopter onto the playground. A schoolchild was hit by a pebble-like object that flew up when the window fell.

People in the southernmost prefecture "ran around to escape during (World War II) and saw their land bulldozed and made into U.S. bases," a senior official of the education board said. "I want these facts recognized."

According to the board, a total of 32 hate calls had been received as of Thursday.

After the incident, Etsuko Kyan, principal of the school, asked a senior official of the Marine Corps not to fly military aircraft over the school.

"Okinawa makes living thanks to the bases," a man claiming to be a Tokyo resident said on the telephone after the request was made.

"Even if something happens to the children due to a falling object, that'll be all right because money will be given," the man continued.

According to the Ginowan government, the city had to open the school at the location in 1969, mainly because of land shortages reflecting local overpopulation.

"At the time, Futenma was not as busy as now," a city government official said.

But the local education environment has worsened, as new functions were added to the base. Jiji Press