Teruya gave us a lovely breakfast very early, and the garden in the morning was beautiful.
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| early morning garden |
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| our spread |
Some of our group met early in the morning to join protesters at the gates of Camp Schwab to try to keep trucks from hauling dirt used for landfill work related to Henoko construction into the camp. We sat for some time in front of one of the gates where the trucks hauling dirt were meant to come. We were informed the riot police would come try to break up the protest as usual (it has become a routine, apparently) but we were to link arms with other protesters and try to delay the trucks as long as we could.
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| just a few protesters at another gate, not the one we were blocking |
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| a banner across the street from Schwab |
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| Scene at another gate. Signs say: "opposing all bases," "love and peace," "let's cease investigations into drilling at once," and "opposing new bases" (photo courtesy of tour member) |
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| This shows some of us among the local protesters, with some Japanese security personnel behind us. Signs say: "opposing all bases," "opposing the war bill," and "no new base at Henoko." (photo courtesy of tour member) |
"The war bill" refers to legislation looking to allow Japanese troops to fight abroad in supporting conflict for the first time since WWII. Many Japanese people see this as the first step toward re-militarizing and strongly oppose it.
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| us talking to the protesters, base security guards in the back [photo courtesy of tour member] |
We had to leave after a while to stay on schedule. The protesters had decided to get as many people together as possible, so it had been an especially busy day in front of Camp Schwab. Apparently just after we left the riot police came and got the protesters out of the way for the trucks to come through. They hadn't wanted to make a scene in front of an international audience like our group, but once we were gone the locals were fair game. It's pretty messed up.
On the bus ride to 沖縄国際平和研究所 (okinawa kokusai heiwa kenkyuusho, Okinawa International Peace Research Institute) we all swapped thanks for the trip and reflected on some high points. Chie also gave us a speech presentation on some facts about the bases that we had wanted to hear all trip.
When we arrived at the Peace Research Institute the staff explained some of the photograph displays to us. There were also many ビラ (bira, handbills) of both Japanese and American make from WWII. It's always interesting to see what tactics each side uses to try to get the other side to change its mind about fighting or lower moral.
After a short viewing of the displays we got to meet with the former governor of Okinawa Prefecture and founder of the research institute. He has dedicated his life to peace and educating people on the horrors of war and the Battle of Okinawa in particular. Most of what he spoke with us about were facts relating to the bases that he has repeated time after time in his writings and interviews, but he answered our questions and I learned for the first time that he once worked at Kadena.
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| My two heroes! |
Some of what the former governor spoke of was his time participating in the Battle of Okinawa. During his time as a mobilized civilian in the 鉄血勤皇隊 (tekketsu kinnoutai, Blood and Iron Corps) he lost his faith in people when he saw the supposedly honorable Japanese soldiers fighting and killing each other over a little food. The conditions were very bad. Okinawans in the Corps were given 2 grenades, as were many other Okinawans. One was to be thrown at invading Japanese soldiers. The second was for suicide in order to avoid capture.
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| Our whole group! (photo courtesy of accompanying journalist) |
Emma and I had both decided to stay in Okinawa ahead of time, and one other member of the group was already staying here on a research grant. The others, though, headed off to the next destination on their journey from Naha Airport. It was a tough goodbye after having such an active few days together.
I checked into my guesthouse after dropping the others at the airport and took the rest of the day easy. There was nothing more exciting I could do after meeting my most respected hero in the morning.
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