Hayao Miyazaki tells reporters he will do everything he can to prevent Henoko base construction

July 14, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

On July 13, Hayao Miyazaki, anime film director and joint representative of the Henoko Fund, established with the aim of preventing the construction of a new military base in Nago City’s Henoko district, gave a press conference for reporters affiliated with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo. Mr. Miyazaki expressed his own opposition to the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko, stating; “I am opposed to the building of a base on reclaimed land in Henoko. The majority of Okinawan people are opposed to the base’s construction. It will be difficult, but we [at the fund] will continue to do everything we can [to stop the base construction].” He expressed readiness to cooperate in various ways to prevent the new base construction.

The press conference was limited to members of the FCCJ. The entire conference consisted of Miyazaki answering reporters’ questions.

Miyazaki choked up when describing his decision to take the position of joint representative of the Henoko Fund, saying, “In April of the year that Okinawa was returned to Japan [1972], an Okinawan friend who was very dear to me came to Tokyo to go to university here. He had to bring with him his passport and a medical form stating he had received the necessary vaccinations. When I remember that, I feel a deep sense of regret for the way Okinawans were treated. That’s why I decided to become a representative [of the fund].”

When asked what he most wanted to express to the overseas media, he said he wanted them to broadcast the Okinawan people’s wish for removal of the bases.

He further stated that the security bills currently under deliberation in the Diet are “the opposite of my own views. It is impossible to stop the rise of China using military force. I think the reason Japan’s peace constitution was established was to force us to come up with alternative methods.”

He criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for trying to pass the security legislation quickly, saying; “He probably wants to leave his name in history as a great man who changed the interpretation of Japan’s constitution, but it’s despicable.”

(Translation by T&CT and Sandi Aritza)

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