Yesterday afternoon I took photos at a large protest rally held in Ginowan City. Around 20,000 people attended, with various speeches discussing the relocation of Futenma Air Station, the plight of the dugong, the noise from F-15 jets and the presence of U.S. bases in Okinawa. It seemed that many of the speakers wanted their concerns to be heard by President Obama who will visit Japan later this week.
I got some shots of the large crowds and a few of individual protestors. I met up with fellow Brits Simon and Dave for a chat, then a reporter for The Okinawa Times came over and asked our opinions on the protest. It’s difficult to give a spur of the moment answer to such as complex question, it’s even harder to do it in your second language with which you lack nuance. Basically my response was that it’s a complicated situation, but I hope there will be a positive outcome for all parties.
In today’s Okinawa Times there’s a little piece about the views of 3 serious English men. Will be interesting to see what President Obama has to say on the issue.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 
I vote Chris for President. With such political dogma and answers you are perfect – nothing will change.
The normal everyday citizens of a country always know what is best for their country’s interest.
Spectacular. Chris, my girlfriend has already said you’re good looking and she wants to meet you!
Lucky gaijins…
I think we both know that there was NO where near 20,000 people in attendance. Most likely under 5,000.
Hi Nate,
I got the 20,000 figure from the newspaper. Not sure of the exact number. I guess I could start by estimating the number in the stadium plus a similar number in the surrounding park area. I wonder if the event organizers (or police) had officials counting the number of people entering the park or if the number was a best guess by the newspaper. Would be interesting to find out.