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okinawa
What US Militarism Has to Do With Japan's Quest to Slaughter More Whales
Whaling, it turns out, has very little to do with whaling and much more to with how powerful nations want to dominate the world's oceans.
Aug 26, 2024
In early August, the crew on Japan’s new whaling factory ship dismembered a male fin whale, the first commercial catch of the species in several decades. A few days earlier, Paul Watson was arrested in Nuuk, Greenland. He sits in a Danish prison, waiting a decision on his extradition to Japan. Given the Japanese courts’ record of 99.9% conviction rate for criminal cases, and issues with Japanese justice system, if extradited, he will probably spend the rest of his life imprisoned.
A few months ago, a paper led by Norwegian government scientists showed that there are around 50,000 fin whales in just one small part of the Southern Ocean. Also in Antarctic waters, the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research has been running a research program which, as the the Institute states, is the “aimed at the sustainable use of whale resources in the Antarctic Ocean.” A new era of commercial whaling in the Antarctic looms.
Forty years ago, the International Whaling Commission introduced the whaling moratorium—a pause in slaughter, to allow whale populations to recover. At the time, the belief by most in the whale conservation community was that by the time that whale populations finally recovered, those still engaged in whaling would have given up, making the moratorium permanent. That’s not what’s happened. Three nations—Japan, Norway, and Iceland—still engage in commercial whaling.
There are many arguments against whaling: it’s cruel, it has to be subsidized, most people in whaling nations don’t care about it, it’s traditional in very few places in Japan, whales don’t eat all the fish, instead they’re ecosystem engineers that contribute to carbon sequestration. These points have been made for many years, and have never had the slightest impact on the Japanese whaling bureaucracy. They’re not only irrelevant, they’ve proven pointless.
Whaling, it turns out, isn’t about whales at all. Japan’s primary interest in commercial whaling is to maintain their geopolitical clout to exploit other marine wildlife (“living marine resources”) internationally. Tuna, for example. This point’s been made recently in a couple of forums. For the Japanese government, whaling’s a thin-edge-of-the-wedge problem. The moratorium was a big win for marine conservation that couldn’t be repeated with other international fisheries.
Given this framing, the actions of the Japanese whaling industry over the past forty years are rational. Whaling is primarily about asserting dominance in international negotiations over access to marine wildlife, so whether or not Japanese people eat much whale meat is irrelevant. What matters is access to other fisheries by Japan’s pelagic fishing fleets. Subsidizing whaling is a minuscule price to pay. The primary role of Japan’s new floating factory, the Kangei Maru, is as a flagship, a symbol of Japanese hegemony in international maritime negotiations. So its $48 million price tag is trivial. A Ford class US aircraft carrier, with a build cost of around $13 billion and an annual upkeep of $700 million, puts that in perspective. The Kangei Maru’s costs are a rounding error.
Despite Japan leaving the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in late 2018, the Japanese fisheries bureaucracy still controls the activities of the pro-whaling bloc. This September, the IWC meets again. One rumor currently swirling is that the Japanese will rejoin the IWC with a reservation to commercial whaling, one way to demolish the whaling moratorium. Another appeared a couple of weeks ago, when the prestigious scientific journal Nature published an opinion piece calling for the IWC to be dismantled. The article’s first author is a former chair of the IWC, who with his coauthors, argue that the IWC is now a “zombie” organization that has outlived its usefulness and should be dismantled.
Interesting timing.
Once, the threat of US sanctions in response to “diminishing the effectiveness” of the IWC regulated the manner in which the whaling bloc engaged there. That threat—obviously—no longer exists. How have the whalers brought the U.S. to heel on whaling? What’s their lever?
There was a belief in the NGO community that the threat of withholding IWC quotas on U.S. Inuit bowhead whaling was driving U.S. acquiescence. The pro-whaling bloc engaged in brinkmanship on this several times in the past. But the “Aboriginal Subsistence” whaling issues at the IWC have been resolved, removing this threat. Besides, ending the IWC would put bowhead whaling management back entirely with the U.S., internally. It can’t be that.
It’s here the military comes in. The U.S. has around 55,000 military personnel based in Japan. This is, for example, almost the size of the Australia’s active duty defense forces. Their weaponry includes some the most advanced in the U.S. arsenal. Most of those personnel are based in Okinawa, where there were over 6,000 criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel in the 50 years since the island was handed back to Japan in 1972. That’s a couple of crimes a week. And they include reported 134 rapes, or two to three reported rapes per year, including recent charges of the sexual assault of a child. Understandably, there is a vocal anti-US-base movement in Okinawa that regularly engages in mass protest.
These put Paul Watson’s “accomplice to assault” and “ship trespass” charges in context.
At the same time, the U.S. is reconstituting its forces in Japan, a buildup in response to the perceived threat to U.S. hegemony now posed by China. The Japanese government has leverage. Getting its way on whaling is Japan’s price for U.S. bases.
What could happen? Possibilities include Japan rejoining the IWC with a reservation that allows it to conduct commercial whaling wherever it wants. Perhaps the IWC will collapse. The recent Nature article shows that destroying the IWC is being considered. Returning the management of whaling to whaling nations? We know how that worked. And allowing Japan’s return to the IWC with a reservation will return the IWC’s role to that of a toothless body overseeing mass slaughter.
The huge U.S. military presence in Japan matters to the national security apparatus of the United States. The bureaucracy has worked with the Japanese government to see commercial whaling return. The return of commercial whaling is the U.S. military's quid pro quo for its regional dominance in the Pacific—not to mention its rapists in Okinawa.
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Okinawa Governor Meets AOC and Others in DC Over Burden of US Military Bases
Governor Denny Tamaki traveled to DC to lobby US officials to oppose construction of a new US base in Okinawa and urged diplomacy with China.
Mar 15, 2023
Denny Tamaki, the recently re-elected Governor of Okinawa, traveled to DC for a weeklong trip to lobby lawmakers and officials to reduce the disproportionate burden of US military bases in Okinawa, which hosts over 70% of US military presence in Japan. The Governor met with leading US officials including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other lawmakers and aides, as well as government officials, diplomats, and academics, to discuss the critical issues pertaining to the US bases and stress the need for diplomacy to ease tensions with China.
Tamaki told reporters he met with AOC for over 30 minutes to brief the Congresswoman on the local opposition against the construction of a new US base at Henoko. He explained the US and Japanese governments are ignoring the will of Okinawans through this construction, as well as noting that toxic PFAS chemical contamination of soil and water from the bases are worsening and require immediate studies by the US government. During the meeting, AOC indicated concern over these issues and expressed willingness to work together on a solution, including through potential legislation. She told the Okinawa Times that her office will review the contents of the meeting and consider what action is necessary.
During last week’s visit, Governor Tamaki also met with Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Representative Jill Tokuda (D-HI), as well as aides of Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA), and the Senate Armed Services Committee. Other meetings including with State Department officials, the Japanese Ambassador, and DC think tank experts, sought to emphasize the need for constructive dialogue. A panel discussion co-hosted by the Quincy Institute, Okinawa Prefectural Government, and George Washington University, with Tamaki, professor Mike Mochizuki, and senior research fellow Michael Swaine, stressed the importance of addressing the issues with the bases and for the US to engage diplomatically in the Asia-Pacific, instead of escalating its already high military presence.
As US tensions with China continue to rise, Governor Tamaki asked lawmakers “to tell the US government to conduct diplomacy peacefully and relieve tensions to not bring war to Okinawa''. With increased Japanese military spending, expanded US-Japanese joint military drills, and plans from Tokyo to station surface-to-air missiles in Okinawa, Tamaki instead brought to the US a message of diplomacy, urging dialogue over military buildup on the issue with Taiwan.
The Governor’s visit follows growing opposition to the US bases in Okinawa, including from organizations such as the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), as well as DSA state and local elected officials in the US who signed a recent letter outlining the issues and opposition to the bases. While hardliners against China dominate US mainstream politics, people in the Asia-Pacific region who feel their voices are ignored by the US government are the ones paying the burden of this rising militarism.
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'Alarming' Levels of 'Forever Chemicals' Found in Water Near US Bases in Okinawa
"The U.S. military is supposedly there to protect people. It does the opposite."
Dec 28, 2021
As the U.S. military continues construction of a controversial new base at Henoko Bay, Okinawa, the recent discovery of extreme levels of highly toxic "forever chemicals" in local waterways and groundwater has renewed long-standing opposition to the American occupation of large portions of the Japanese archipelago.
"Imagine the uproar if China were responsible for this PFOS contamination. But since the U.S. is to blame, it will be swept under the rug."
The Asahi Shimbunreported Tuesday that water quality checks near U.S. bases in Okinawa found "alarming" levels of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) at 38 locations, or more than 70% of tested sites.
More than 1,000 nanograms of PFOS and other substances per liter of water--or 20 times higher than the Japanese Environment Ministry's provisional target of 50 nanograms per liter--were detected at eight sites near two U.S. bases. Groundwater collected from below a private home in Kadena town tested at 2,300 nanograms per liter of PFOS and other substances, or 46 times higher than the government target.
"The U.S. military is supposedly there to protect people. It does the opposite," said Jon Reinsch, a Seattle-based writer specializing in American bases in Okinawa. "Imagine the uproar if China were responsible for this PFOS contamination. But since the U.S. is to blame, it will be swept under the rug."
\u201cPFOS exceeds state-set levels at 38 sites near US bases in Okinawa\nThe US military is supposedly there to protect people. It does the opposite.\nhttps://t.co/rjbWYBoFDs\u201d— Jon Reinsch (@Jon Reinsch) 1640708012
Commonly called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade and accumulate in the human body, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)--which include PFOS, PFOA, and GenX--have many uses, from nonstick cookware to waterproof clothing to firefighting foam.
According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS is linked to cancers of the kidneys and testicles, low infant weight, suppressed immune function, and other adverse health effects.
A study published in October by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found nearly 42,000 potential sources of PFAS that could contaminate drinking water throughout the United States. Additionally, EWG reported in August that Pentagon documents showed at least 385 U.S. military facilities nationwide are contaminated with PFAS.
In Okinawa, elevated PFAS levels have been detected in waterways, soil, residents' blood, and the drinking water consumed by 450,000 people.
In August, the U.S. Marines at Air Base Futenma defied a desist order from local authorities and dumped 64,000 liters of PFOS-contaminated water into the public sewer system, an act that sparked protests and drew condemnation from the Okinawan and Japanese governments. The toxic wastewater was produced during firefighting drills using foam containing PFOS and other hazardous chemicals. Cleanup costs, expected to run around U.S. $800,000, will be shouldered by the Japanese government.
"We are at a loss for words at the erratic attitude and behavior of the U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa Prefecture."
"We are at a loss for words at the erratic attitude and behavior of the U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa Prefecture," Asahi Shimbun editors wrote at the time. "The act is downright impermissible... The U.S. forces' high-handed manner will only deepen the rift between themselves and the Okinawans and entrench the latter's mistrust into something indelible."
That mistrust is as old as the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, which was conquered during the closing months of World War II at the cost of over 100,000 civilian lives.
Since then, U.S. troops--who occupy 31 bases in an archipelago roughly half the land area of Long Island--have committed thousands of crimes, including dozens of alleged murders and over 120 alleged rapes, often with impunity due to a status of forces agreement (SOFA) written by Americans for their own protection.
U.S. military forces have also fired and lost nuclear weapons in local waters, leaked the deadly nerve agent sarin, and exposed residents to chlorine gas, to name but a handful of the most egregious environmental incidents over the decades.
Although the 1995 gang-rape of a 12-year-old girl by two Marines and a sailor led to a revision of the U.S.-Japan SOFA so that Japanese authorities could convict and imprison Americans who commit the most heinous offenses--a development that led to scores of convictions--crimes against Okinawans and the local environment continue to this day.
"Japanese officials are kept totally in the dark about what amount of toxic materials [Americans] possess and how they are administering those substances," the Asahi Shimbun editors wrote. "That is because the supervisory authority over U.S. military bases in Japan lies with the U.S. forces under the status of forces agreement. A supplementary agreement on environmental stewardship took effect in 2015, but the competence of Japanese authorities in that field remains ambiguous."
Peace groups have pointed to toxic contamination as one of the numerous reasons to halt construction on the relocated Futenma air base at Henoko Bay.
\u201c\u201cThe U.S. military recently began releasing toxic chemicals (PFAS / PFOS) into Okinawa's water supply, despite outcry and protest from Uchinanchu at every level, including Okinawan government officials.\u201d #ClimateJustice #BuildBackFossilFree https://t.co/ntkbE6avII\u201d— CODEPINK (@CODEPINK) 1634224909
"This new base will wreak havoc on the environment, violate human rights, oppress Indigenous Luchuans, and desecrate the dignity of war victims (including Indigenous Okinawan civilians and American, Okinawan, Japanese, and Korean soldiers) whose remains are believed to reside in the soil being used by the U.S. to fill the ancient coral reef of Henoko," CodePink says in a petition urging the Biden administration to immediately end construction on the facility.
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