Landfill in East Henoko Starts

Ministry of Defense started landfill at east district offshore the Camp Schwab of United States Force in Henoko, Okinawa, on November 28th. Although Governor of Okinawa firmly opposes construction of U.S. Force’s base in Henoko, which will be an alternative facility to Futenma Air Base, the government of Japan and the U.S. keep on building new base as the only choice for removing danger of Futenma Base located in urban area.

The governor of Okinawa has an authority to approve building a military base in the prefecture. The landfill was approvedby former governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, in 2013. After Nakaima’s successor, Takeshi Onaga, withdrew the approval in 2015, the government of Japan sued Okinawan government, demanding confirmation that Onaga’s decision was invalid. The Supreme Court supported the argument of national government in 2016.

 

When national government realized that the seabed for landfilling was as soft as mayonnaise, it submitted revised plan for construction of new base to Okinawan government. Incumbent governor, Denny Tamaki, refused the plan. Tamaki lost the lawsuits for coercive procedure of landfill and proxy decision to continue the construction by national government. The construction of new U.S. base has been made against protest by local government.

 

The national government started landfill in the south area of Camp Schwab in 2018, and the construction there has mostly been finished. The national government began building seawall in the east area in August 2024 and started reinforcement of seabed in December. The main process for landfill, dumping sand into the sea, began in the east district on November 28th.

 

The reinforcement of soil requires driving 70 thousand piles into the seabed 70 meters under the sea surface. Although only 2.9 thousand piles have been set, it is still 4 percent of whole process. The construction is expected to be finished in April 2033. The soil needed for the landfill is estimated as much as 20.2 million cube meters for building new base in Henoko. Some argue that the soil for landfill includes bones of missing people in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.

 

People in Okinawa protested the construction of new military base in Henoko. In the referendum on building a base in Henoko in 2019, 72 percent of voters opposed the construction. Those people concern that the landfill will change the environment of Oura Bay, to which Camp Schwab faces, where coral reef spreads and is rich in marine animals including wild dugongs.

 

The greater concern for Okinawa is that the new base can be a military target for possible foreign offender. For the people in Okinawa, where one-fourth of residents were killed in a deadly battle in the World War II, it is the highest priority that the island will never again be battlefield in a war. The government of Japan keeps on ignoring that sentiment of Okinawa, rather focusing on implementation of security measures with an ally.

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