Today, 6 August, is the Hiroshima Day. It is observed by millions all over the country. At the ceremony in Hiroshima this morning, the Mayor told a large gathering, said to be 50,000, that we will make effort to bring the nuclear weapons to zero by 2020. His message will be supported by thousands who, almost in every corner of the world, are acting in that direction.
In the past one year, out of the surviving hibakusha(radioactivity-affected people), 5,859 persons have been confirmed to be dead, bringing the total number of the dead to 286,816. This is because of the single bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The latest figure for Nagasaki will be made clear on the Nagasaki Day, 9 August.
Just on the eve of this day, a US helicopter crashed and burned up on the Okinawa Island yesterday evening. It is a Kadena-based four-seater, which is much smaller than the dreadful Osprey transport planes/half helicopters now being deployed in Okinawa. It crashed into a US base itself. Otherwise it could have triggered a tremendous damage on the civilian life in Okinawa.
About the Osprey, this writer has written on its multiple capability before. It is the US plan to station 24 of them at the bases in Okinawa. They want to use those bases for the training, so that the planes are ready to go anywhere, for any distance, at any time. 12 of them are there already, two arrived newly on 3 August, and the other ten were supposed to be joining the others in a day or two, but that has been put off because of the crash yesterday. Throughout the process, there was no conferring, no discussion, with the Japanese side. They were all by means of a one-sided notice from them to us. Who said that we were equal partners? An American strategist has called Japan a "protectorate" in his book, but is not this a much worse situation?
In the past one year, out of the surviving hibakusha(radioactivity-affected people), 5,859 persons have been confirmed to be dead, bringing the total number of the dead to 286,816. This is because of the single bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The latest figure for Nagasaki will be made clear on the Nagasaki Day, 9 August.
Just on the eve of this day, a US helicopter crashed and burned up on the Okinawa Island yesterday evening. It is a Kadena-based four-seater, which is much smaller than the dreadful Osprey transport planes/half helicopters now being deployed in Okinawa. It crashed into a US base itself. Otherwise it could have triggered a tremendous damage on the civilian life in Okinawa.
About the Osprey, this writer has written on its multiple capability before. It is the US plan to station 24 of them at the bases in Okinawa. They want to use those bases for the training, so that the planes are ready to go anywhere, for any distance, at any time. 12 of them are there already, two arrived newly on 3 August, and the other ten were supposed to be joining the others in a day or two, but that has been put off because of the crash yesterday. Throughout the process, there was no conferring, no discussion, with the Japanese side. They were all by means of a one-sided notice from them to us. Who said that we were equal partners? An American strategist has called Japan a "protectorate" in his book, but is not this a much worse situation?
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