Entries this day: US_for_Okinawa megumi pink_cow

US for Okinawa

8:09am JST Monday 1 February 2010 (day 14558)

US for Okinawa made a statement in Yoyogi Park yesterday. I may remember to post a copy of it here:

All of us at the peace action network, US for OKINAWA, have assembled here in the park today to
express our concern about the enormous burden that U.S. military bases are placing on Okinawa.
Already, U.S. military facilities occupy nearly 20% of Okinawa Island, and even the U.S. and
Japanese governments agree that Futenma Air Base poses a great safety risk to nearby residents and
agree it should be closed. However, we are appalled that closing Futenma is contingent upon
constructing new military facilities in Henoko, another part of Okinawa Island. A majority of local
residents in Henoko are strongly opposed to this new construction, and we can understand why.  It
would simply shift the problems of contamination, noise pollution, and safety hazards from one part
of Okinawa to another, and would also destroy much of the fragile ecoystem of Oura Bay. This will
likely lead to the extinction of the dugong from Japan, as well as yet again deny Okinawans access
to part of their traditional land and water.

We want you all to take a moment to imagine Yoyogi Park being appropriated from the general public
in order to construct a new military base here.  Imagine this park being surrounded by barbed wire
and soldiers who will threaten to kill you if you enter it without permission of the
U.S. government. Imagine all the beautiful trees being cut down to create runways, shooting ranges,
and weapon stockpiles.  This is just an imaginary scenario for us, but this is basically what the
people of Okinawa have experienced and are being threatened with yet again.

It's time for the U.S. to engage more with the rest of the world through diplomatic, economic, and
cultural ties rather than military means, and to stop adding to its collection of 1,000 military
bases around the world.  And it's time for the Japanese government to say loud and clear:  "Shut
down Futenma" and "No more new military construction in Okinawa."

We had a great turnout! Video cameras and signs, musicians and artists, lots of onlookers signed our petition or joined the video compilation "I'm for Okinawa!"

megumi

8:16am JST Monday 1 February 2010 (day 14558)

Before the US for Okinawa date was set, I had invited Megumi to dinner cause I've not seen her in a while. She became unavailable for the Wednesday we had scheduled, and by that time the US for Okinawa event had been scheduled, so I invited her to join us for that and then we could go have a tasty beverage. Walked down the big street from Harajuku to Omotesando (I think it's called Omotesandodori) and found a little cafe she had visited before, featuring a drink called TXpresso, which I thought was a typo E ==> T, but turns out it's "Tea expresso," and seems to be an expresso made with tea instead of coffee. I had a vanilla one of those and cheesecake; Megumi got a chai and chocolate cake.

Conversation included my plans to apply for 被爆者 partner for PB 69th voyage, and her ideas for movies / documentaries, from silly and fun, to cultural analyses, to oh man I forgot the third idea. We shifted to more personal growth work and talked about some of the ways people can do personal growth work in Japan, included RC and the Barbara Brennan (sp) [school].

I like Megumi.

pink cow

8:27am JST Monday 1 February 2010 (day 14558)

Met Mitsue for the second time at Pink Cow; this time for her English trial lesson with Mark. She joined, so I need to give her and Mark each other's contact info. And David's as well, because she wants to learn guitar, too.