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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAHA 000204 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR PGOV JA
SUBJECT: ONE SMALL STEP FOR THE FUTENMA REPLACEMENT FACILITY 
 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  In the first tangible step towards building 
the Marine Corps Airs Station Futenma Replacement Facility 
(FRF), late the afternoon of September 15 the Okinawa Defense 
Facilities Administration Bureau (DFAB) and Nago City Board of 
Education officials entered Camp Schwab to begin a cultural 
assets survey.  Despite protestors blocking the gates, blanket 
media coverage and some city officials' initial reluctance to 
enter into the fray, the GOJ proved itself willing to use 
suasion and force, including the police, to take a necessary 
preliminary step toward construction on Camp Schwab in support 
of the FRF.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The afternoon of September 14, 30 - 40 protestors at 
the front gate of Camp Schwab successfully blocked members of 
DFAB and the Nago City Education Board from entering the site 
for the MCAS Futenma replacement facility.  DFAB and Education 
Board officials need to enter Camp Schwab to conduct a cultural 
assets survey, which is required along with an Environmental 
Impact Assessment prior to beginning construction of the FRF. 
Although city education board officials retreated after only 
five minutes of confrontation on September 14, DFAB officials 
did enter Camp Schwab that day to begin the survey, according to 
DFAB Deputy Director Mamoru IKEBE.  Ikebe told us he was under a 
lot of pressure from Tokyo to make sure the surveys were done on 
schedule, and not get pushed away by protestors as had happened 
with the aborted environmental surveys in support of the 1996 
Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) FRF plan. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Okinawa Prefectural Police (OPP) officials arrived at 
Camp Schwab the following morning of September 15 and began 
clearing protestors in order to allow DFAB and Nago City 
officials again to enter the base.  The OPP informed us it had 
sent 20 police to Camp Schwab and estimated about 30 people were 
blocking the gate.  DFAB officials entered the base, but Nago 
City Board of Education officials turned back without entering 
Camp Schwab before the OPP finished clearing the protesters. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  According to the account of events given us by Nago 
City Mayor Yoshikazu SHIMABUKURO, the Mayor then ordered Nago 
Board of Education Superintendent Susumu INAMINE to conduct the 
survey.  Shimabukuro said Japanese Defense Agency (JDA) 
officials in Tokyo were pressuring him, too, to make the survey 
happen.  Shimabukuro said he would not give in to the 
protestors, and criticized the OPP for not doing more to prevent 
protestors from blocking the entrance to Camp Schwab.  He 
complained that OPP knew there would be protestors and should 
have supplied more police protection to better control the 
situation.  He also complained that some of the board members 
sympathized with the protestors, and that was why they had 
turned away so quickly.  The fact that Shimabukuro, as well as 
DFAB officials, had pushed Board of Education officials to 
return to Camp Schwab was widely reported by the local press. 
 
 
NAHA 00000204  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶5. (SBU)  At 1645 on September 15 the DFAB requested permission 
to re-enter Camp Schwab the same day, which Marine Corps Bases 
Japan granted.  DFAB's Ikebe confirmed that three of the Nago 
City Board of Education's experts on cultural assets did begin 
the survey, adding he appreciated the Marines' help in providing 
access that late in the day.  The DFAB told reporters that, with 
the introduction of three cultural experts into Camp Schwab, the 
survey had clearly been effected. 
 
¶6. (U)  Superintendent Inamine told reporters that his experts 
had not conducted a survey, as there were too few of them, and 
they had too little time.  What they had done was assess where 
and what kind of survey should be conducted, he continued, and 
further surveys would occur after September 19.  Superintendent 
Inamine stressed to the press that his job is to protect 
cultural assets.  In one article, the Ryukyu Shimpo remarked 
that events showed the Board of Education's intention to 
continue the survey despite protests.  Another article cited a 
highly placed member of the prefectural governor's staff 
complaining about the GOJ's strong-arm tactics in carrying out 
the survey.  In separate analytical pieces, the Ryukyu Shimpo 
claimed that the flow of events and conflicting statements 
brought into sharp relief the growing divisions between the GOJ, 
OPG, and Nago City. 
 
¶7. (U) Both daily newspapers noted that MOFA's Special 
Ambassador on Okinawa Issues Shigeie told reporters that moving 
ahead with the FRF was an important part of easing the burden on 
the people of Okinawa.  He said the GOJ anticipated that by 
gaining people's understanding and proceeding with GOJ plans it 
would be possible to close MCAS Futenma and return it to its 
owners. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Comment:  In this first showdown with demonstrators at 
the gate of Camp Schwab, the GOJ demonstrated a previously 
unseen willingness to twist arms and follow through, including 
using the police to remove demonstrators.  DFAB's Ikebe and Nago 
City Mayor Shimabukuro both said they were receiving intense 
pressure from Tokyo to ensure the Board of Education survey team 
entered Camp Schwab on schedule.  They, in turn, put pressure on 
the Board of Education, which finally went in for its 
preliminary assessment. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Although the local anti-base newspapers were slow to 
admit the protestors had failed to keep the Board of Education 
team from entering Camp Schwab, and highlighted the limited 
purpose of the Board of Education's September 15 visit, the 
local media in general recognized this was a significant step 
forward on the FRF plan.  In our view it is a positive sign that 
at the first attempt by opponents to use physical means to block 
progress on FRF, the government authorities chose to call in the 
police, and not to back down.  This bodes well for 
implementation of the FRF project. 
MAHER