Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Seated on a chair in front of Japan’s Prime Minister’s official residence, Jinshiro Motoyama who served as head of the prefectural referendum committee, started a hunger strike at 10 a.m. on May 9.

The referendum on halting the construction of the military base at Henoko site was approved by 72.15 percent of Okinawa voters in February 2019.

Motoyama, a graduate of law from Hitotsubashi University is demanding the immediate abandonment of the Henoko base construction, the suspension of operations of the military base at Futenma and the agreements of the military partnership between Japan and the United States under the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) to be made public.

Motoyama said around 70 percent of the US military facilities exclusively used by the US Forces in Japan are located in Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6 percent of the total land mass of Japan, and remain in use for 71 years after WWII, leaving Okinawans with heavy pollution, increased incidents and safety issues.

Okinawa Prefectural Assembly says the Island  cannot accept the construction of a new base at Henoko because that will make the excessive base hosting heavy burden on Okinawa as well as the disparity of the burden within the nation permanent.

Motoyama told Arab News Japan that he would continue his hunger strike until May 15, the anniversary of the island’s reversion to Japan. Only the doctors could order him to stop his strike.