Hiroji Yamashiro participates in a protest at Shiokawa Port, in the northern Okinawa prefectural town of Motobu, where soil that will be used for land reclamation in the construction of a substitute base for U.S. Marine Corps Futenma air base off the coast of Henoko in the prefectural city of Nago is being shipped out, on Sept. 9, 2021. (Mainichi/Shinnosuke Kyan)

       NAHA -- The approximately 9-year period spanning the administrations of former prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga has finally come to an end. But during that time, the Japanese government went forward with construction to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the central Okinawa prefectural city of Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago in the northern part of the prefecture, reclaiming the coastal waters.

       How has this period of time looked and felt to Hiroji Yamashiro, 70, who for years stood at the forefront of protests against the construction of the base as the chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center -- and stepped down from the position in September?

       Day after day, large trucks go into Shiokawa Port in the northern prefectural town of Motobu, unloading soil onto ships inside the port, soil that is headed to Henoko to be used to reclaim the coastal waters. On Sept. 9, Yamashiro had a placard with him that said "Henoko reclamation NO."

       After a general assembly of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center, Hiroji Yamashiro, right, talks about his resignation as the chairman of the organization at a press conference in the Okinawa prefectural capital of Naha, on Sept. 10, 2021. (Mainichi/Takayasu Endo)

       "It's not like my voice will reach them, or that the construction will stop, but I can't pretend that I don't see what's going on," Yamashiro said.

       Meanwhile, truck driver after truck driver pretends not to see Yamashiro as they go into the port. "At first I was really frustrated, but when this keeps continuing, you start to think, 'Maybe there's nothing we can do anymore.' It wears you down like a body blow. I understand that to retire (from my post) under these circumstances comes as a big shock to people ... "

       At a general assembly of Okinawa Peace Movement Center on Sept. 10, Yamashiro stepped down as chairman, citing his advanced age.

       The eight years during which Yamashiro served as the center's chairman overlapped with the same period that Abe and Suga held the reins of government in Tokyo. Then Prime Minister Abe, who had wrestled control of the government from the then Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in December 2012, applied to the Okinawa Prefectural Government for permission to reclaim the waters off Henoko in March 2013. Former Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima granted approval.

       Cap 3: Hiroji Yamashiro, center right, sings with protesters sitting in front of the gate of U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in an effort to stop construction trucks from entering the base, in the Henoko district of the northern Okinawa prefectural city of Nago, on April 25, 2018. (Mainichi/Takayasu Endo)

       In the November 2014 gubernatorial election, Takeshi Onaga -- who opposed the relocation of the Futenma air base -- beat Nakaima by a landslide. But the Japanese government did not stop its plans, and in April 2017 began dropping stones into the water to begin building a levee. In December 2018, the Japanese government began land reclamation work.

       "We were just constantly told there was 'no room for discussion,'" Yamashiro recalled. Okinawa residents indicated through national elections, the gubernatorial election and a prefectural referendum carried out in February 2019 that they did not want a new base in Henoko, but both Abe and Suga insisted that "relocation to Henoko" was "the only solution to eliminating the dangers of Futenma air base," and did not lend an ear to what the locals had to say.

       The government's attitude that there was "no room for discussion" was notable at the site where construction work was being carried out. When in August 2014 the government began drilling surveys in the area of the waters off Henoko that it planned to reclaim, it dispatched around 20 Japan Coast Guard patrol boats from around the country to stop protests taking place on the water. In front of the gates of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab, through which construction trucks entered, riot police from the Okinawa Prefectural Police carried people protesting the construction by the legs and hands and carried them away.

       "I realized then that those with power were frightening," Yamashiro said. "If they felt like it, they could do anything."

       Hiroji Yamashiro participates in a protest at Shiokawa Port, in the northern Okinawa prefectural town of Motobu, where soil that will be used for land reclamation in the construction of a substitute base for U.S. Marine Corps Futenma air base off the coast of Henoko in the prefectural city of Nago is being shipped out, on Sept. 9, 2021. (Mainichi/Shinnosuke Kyan)

       In October 2016, Yamashiro was arrested by the prefectural police. At the time, construction work to relocate several U.S. military helipads to the Takae district of the northern prefectural village of Higashi had begun, and Yamashiro and others were there raising their voices against the construction work. Yamashiro was arrested for alleged destruction of property by cutting barbed wire that had been put up to prevent people from entering the premises of the helipads. Other charges were added on, including interference with the duties of a public servant. A year and a half prior to his arrest, Yamashiro had been diagnosed with malignant lymphoma and had been recuperating for about six months. His stay in detention -- during which he could not meet with his doctor -- lasted approximately five months, and he was handed down a suspended prison sentence.

       Why did the Abe and Suga administrations proceed so heavy-handedly with the Henoko construction? Yamashiro explained, "Japan and the U.S. see Henoko as a strategically important location with regards to China. Building "a substitute base for Futenma" is just a pretext. The real purpose is to build a new base with high usability."

       The reason Yamashiro opposes the construction of bases is because he believes "another war must never be fought in Okinawa." Seventy-six years ago, Okinawa became the site of ground fighting between Japan and the U.S.; one in four local residents are said to have lost their lives. Yamashiro's father, who was 17 years old at the time, was mobilized, and was taken prisoner by the U.S. in Mabuni (currently the southern prefectural city of Itoman), said to have been where the last major battle took place. He was sent to Hawaii, where he spent time in a concentration camp. Yamashiro's mother, meanwhile, faced fierce ground fighting between Japan and the U.S. on the western Pacific island of Tinian, where she had immigrated to, and saw many people die.

       "I just thought that war was pitiful," Yamashiro said. "My parents' experiences and Okinawa's experiences have become a part of me, and I feel as though I'm dragging that anger and sadness around with me. But Mr. Abe and Mr. Suga probably won't even try to understand the feelings such Okinawans have. (Then Chief Cabinet Secretary) Suga even told (then Okinawa Gov.) Onaga, 'I was born after the war, so I'm at a loss when you bring up history.'"

       The year 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary since Okinawa was returned to Japan. But still, U.S. military-related facilities in Okinawa Prefecture comprise 70% of the area taken up by all such facilities in Japan. "This won't change going forward, " Yamashiro said. "The only thing Okinawa can do is accept reality, and confront Japan with confidence and with its head held high. It's the Japanese government that's widening the chasm between Okinawa and the main islands of Japan.

       Hiroji Yamashiro, center, sings with protesters sitting in front of the gate of U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in an effort to stop construction trucks from entering the base, in the Henoko district of the northern Okinawa prefectural city of Nago, on April 25, 2018. (Mainichi/Takayasu Endo)

       Although Yamashiro resigned as chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center, he has no intention of stopping going to protests. "For the rest of my life, I will stay an 'activist' and do what I can until the day I drop dead. Well, it seems like we're in this for the long haul, so I would like to take a bit of a break once in a while, too," he said.

       A security guard in front of the gate at Camp Schwab said to Yamashiro, "You're stepping down, Mr. Yamashiro? We're going to miss you." How did Yamashiro feel? "I'm grateful. We're in a fight with the Japanese government between us, but it's not like we as individuals hate each other from the bottom of our hearts."

       Both Yamashiro and Suga are graduates of Hosei University. Yamashiro, who had been in conflict with his "classmate" over the Henoko relocation issue said, "We're both stepping down from center stage. So I can only say, 'You must be tired.' And also, 'Since your term is over, stay quiet for a while.'"

       (Japanese original by Takayasu Endo, Naha Bureau)

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