Okinawa University Worried over U.S. Base on Chopper Crash Anniv.

August 14, 2018

Ginowan, Okinawa Pref.- About 130 staff and students of Okinawa International University reiterated their concerns over the adjacent U.S. Futenma air base, at a gathering on Monday to mark the 14th anniversary of the crash of a U.S. military helicopter at its campus.

"We must not let memories of the disaster fade away," Eiken Maetsu, 62, president of the university in the city of Ginowan in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa, said, urging the Japanese and U.S. governments to close the Marine Corps base and remove related equipment immediately.

The meeting was held near a tree that was burned in the accident.

On Aug. 13, 2004, a CH-53 transport helicopter of the Marine Corps that belonged to the Futenma base in Ginowan crashed into a building of the university and burst into flames. No civilians were injured in the accident, while three U.S. Marines suffered wounds. No one was killed.

Ahead of Monday's gathering, the participants observed a moment of silence for the late Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, who worked to reduce the prefecture's burden of hosting the bulk of U.S. military bases in Japan. Onaga died of cancer at the age of 67 on Wednesday.

Onaga had strongly opposed the planned Futenma base relocation to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another Okinawa city, and demanded that the base be moved out of Okinawa.

At the gathering, Maetsu mentioned a recent series of incidents involving U.S. military aircraft, including one in which a window of a flying Marine helicopter fell onto the playground of an elementary school in Ginowan last December.

"Okinawa residents are even more distrustful of the Japanese government, which is trying to continue to work on building a new U.S. military base in Henoko despite strong local protests," he said.

"Why must we spend our university lives while worrying about possible crashes of U.S. military aircraft and aircraft noise," said Rina Arakaki, 22, a senior student at the university's Department of Law.

She said: "Life is a treasure. What we want is just attend our schools without worry and spend our lives peacefully in our beloved Okinawa." Jiji Press