Photo/IllutrationProtesters paddle kayaks in waters off the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, to underscore their opposition to construction of a new U.S. military base on Dec. 14, the one-year anniversary of land reclamation work that began here. (Minako Yoshimoto)

  • Photo/Illustraion
  • Photo/Illustraion
  • Photo/Illustraion
  • Photo/Illustraion

NAGO, Okinawa Prefecture--On the one-year anniversary of the start of land reclamation work for a new U.S. military base off the coast here, demonstrators paddled out to the site in a flotilla of kayaks and rubber boats.

The protesters set off from the beaches near the Henoko fishing port on Dec. 14 wearing cloths emblazoned with slogans such as “Stop the construction” and “Don’t kill the sea.”

One of the protesters, Hajime Shinzato, 66, said he will never give up raising objections to the project.

“Okinawans have repeatedly showed their opposition (through elections and a referendum),” said Shinzato, a resident of Haebaru in the prefecture. “We are going to continue our protests based on the popular will.”

The central government has been reclaiming land off the Henoko coast since Dec. 14 last year to build a new airfield that will take over the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture.

Daily protests continue against the construction work as trucks at the site continue to dump soil and sand into the sea.

Another participant in the sea-based protest, Toru Yamasaki, 51, a carpenter who resides in Nago, said, “It is extremely vexing that the work I find unjust has been pushed since last year.”