500 Protesters Demand the Deployment of the Osprey in Okinawa: A Typhoon Blocked the Anti-Osprey Rally on the Other Hand

In the midst of flooding media coverage in opposition of the deployment of the Osprey, approximately 500 protesters called for installments of the new transport aircraft of the US military forces during a popular rally on Saturday in Naha, Okinawa. During “8/4 Citizens’ Call for the Deployment of the Osprey to Better Respond to China’s Military Threat,” participants emphasized the necessity of the deployment of the Osprey to Okinawa so as to check on China’s invigorating military activity in the East and South China Seas.

The rally, organized by the Action Committee to Defend Senkakus and Okinawa from a Chinese Invasion, chaired by Tokutome Hiroomi, took place in the public plaza in front of Okinawa’s prefectural government office in Naha. Guest speakers took turns to address the general public from the podium.

“I want to change the public opinion in this prefecture by demonstrating how the Osprey is needed through this event and demonstration,“ said Shimoji Reiko, chairperson of the Female Assembly to Protect Freedom and Prosperity in Okinawa. Also, Tsuiki Shugaku, the leader of the Happiness Realization Party, stated that “Okinawa and the Senkakus are the most dangerous areas in Japan due to a looming threat of Chinese invasion. It’s odd that people throw a hard ball at the US by judging the Osprey to be a defected carrier because the Osprey’s accident ratio is lower than the average for airplanes in the Marine Corp.”

Participants chanted “China is targeting Okinawa” and “We need to deploy Osprey for Japan’s defense” during a march after the event while walking through Kokusai-dori and Shintoshin Koen.

According to a female part-timer, 50s, “There are more people who waved their hand to us or received our flyers than I expected.” A house-wife in her 50s said, “The mass media reports as if a consensus were already in existence among the Okinawan people in opposition to the Osprey. I feel that their reports are not truthful .”

Despite the approaching Typhoon 11, the event was blessed with clear weather. Participants rejoiced: “Heaven supports us in our actions for the deployment of the Osprey!”

On the contrary, “The No Osprey Okinawa Citizens Assembly,” advertised a gathering of 50,000 people in Ginowan Park on August 5, and postponed it due to weather conditions. According to a report from the local media, the Okinawa Times, the prefectural congress and trade unions that commission the rally have not yet been able to reschedule their event since the park is already booked for the next couple of months.

In July, Typhoon 4 blocked 800 Chinese ships that were going to land on the Senkaku Islands. They could not depart their port due to bad weather.

It’s too fortunate, to be a mere coincidence, that the sun shone for the pro-osprey rally, and the typhoon prevented the anti-osprey demonstration. It’s possible that the typhoon was wind from a supernatural god that blew in this way to express the god’s will.