(BIVN) – On Monday, the kiaʻi opposed to the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea delivered a letter to the Japanese Consulate on Oʻahu, asking that Japan withdraw all support for the observatory project and claiming that Governor Ige made misrepresentations to Japanese officials during a recent trip to their country.

The group of TMT opponents recorded their interaction with a representative of the Consul General of Japan outside the gates, and also held a press conference at the location. Kahoʻokahi Kanuha, whose name is listed as the contact on the Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu letter to Japan, did most of the talking.

The letter follows Governor David Ige’s visit to Japan during which he spoke to key stakeholders of the Thirty Meter Telescope. Governor Ige later told media that he “talked about hoʻoponopono sessions that are being engaged in,” and a “reconciliation commission” that he said he will be forming “to look into the broader issues of reconciliation with the Native Hawaiian people, the State of Hawaiʻi, and the United States of America, so that we can develop a road map of reconciliation on the issue.”

However, the kiaʻi in their letter to Japan said “there is no hoʻoponopono process taking place with Maunakea kiaʻi”, and said the governor’s reconciliation commission “is nothing more than an attempt to pacify the Hawaiian people and secure our consent to the TMT project.”

While TMT said it had no immediate plans to start construction (Hawaiʻi officials said least until after February), both the kiaʻi and law enforcement have agreed to stand down on the Mauna Kea Access Road, for the time being, so that the road may be open.

The full text of the letter (shared on social media in both English and Japanese) reads: