Protest against Japanese Navy

Press, 1 March 1982, Page 6

Protest against Japanese Navy

From

Bruce Roscoe

in Tokyo More than 200 residents and students of the Japanese naval port of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, launched a seaborne protest at the week-end against Japan’s participation in joint naval exercises with New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States. More than 100 other demonstrators simultaneously marched in a park near the. port. The protesters were aboard eight launches encircling three Japanese destroyers, Asakze, Shirane, and Tachikaze, as the warships sailed for waters off Hawaii .where the Rimpac (rim of

the Pacific) manoeuvres will be held for three weeks, starting later this month. Japan’s participation in the biennial manoeuvres, its second since 1980, comes at the request of the United States Government, which wants to raise Japan’s awareness of its defence responsibilities in the Pacific. Largely Communistbacked protesters, although far fewer than those who attempted to obstruct the destroyers’ departure for Rimpac 1980, assert that Japan's participation is unconstitutional and signifies a first step toward its inclusion in a military alliance with Pacific rim nations. a