50 signatures reached
To: The Consul General Ito and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Japan: Divest from TMT, Apologize to Ainu, Stop Violations on Okinawa
A coalition of peaceful and concerned people within Hawai`i, are alarmed
regarding Japan’s investment in the Thirty-Meter-Telescope (TMT), on the
sacred mountain of Maunakea on Hawai’i island.
We are coming together to formally request that Japan display ethical
research practices, by divesting from the building of the TMT.
The people of Hawai’i have risen up in the thousands to voice opposition
to the construction of the TMT for the following reasons:
Mauna-a-Wākea (Maunakea) is a sacred land to the Hawaiian people and has
already suffered irreparable harm by the 13 current telescopes on Maunakea.
The TMT will cause additional harm to a rare ecosystem situated within a
conservation district
The arrests of dozens of people, particularly the Native people of this
land, for research infrastructure is an unacceptable and contradicts
best practices around ethical relationships between research,
researchers, place, and community.
We are coming together to request that Japan formally apologize to the
Ainu people for the theft and abuse of Ainu remains for the purpose of
research.
The Ainu are the indigenous people of Japan and should not be subjected
to human rights violations in the name of research.
2096 Ainu remains have been removed from their place of rest and are
being held at the research institutions of:
Hokkaido University
Tohoku University
Niigata University
Osaka University
Sapporo Ika-Shika University
Osaka City University
Nanzan University
Tenri University
Okayama Rika University
Tokyo Ika-Shika University
The Ainu are the indigenous people of Japan and should not be subjected
to human rights violations in the name of research. The leaders of these
institutions have refused to offer a formal apology to the Ainu people
for such abuses in the name of research, which reflect poorly on Japan’s
relationships with Native people across the Pacific.
We respectfully request that the Government of Japan respect the popular
will of Okinawa and abandon the violation of Henoko’s revered Ōura Bay.
It is discrimination. Okinawa comprises just .6% of Japan’s territory,
yet is burdened with almost 75% of US military bases in Japan. Japan
unilaterally and illegally overthrew the sovereign nation of Ryūkyū in
1879, and continues the colonial treatment of Okinawa today. It is
understood that US bases in Japan proper face widespread opposition from
local communities that do not want to host bases either; its wrong for
the Japanese government to just impose them on Okinawans, as
second-class citizens.
It does not bring security. Base concentration exacerbates the very
regional instability Japan and the US are concerned about in the first
place. Rather than mere defense, US bases have been used for forward
deployment for generations of US wars abroad. Almost 1/3 of the local
civilians were slaughtered in the Battle of Okinawa, followed by 27
years of US military rule where much base lands were seized via bayonets
and bulldozers, that has cultivating animosity to wars and militarism by
Okinawans. Official records reveal an on-going legacy of toxic wastes
into local resources, debilitating noise pollution, inevitable accidents
(41 annual average), and crimes (150 annual average including heinous
violence). The fact that Japan has pledged public safety patrols by
local authorities to guard against abuses by the US military underscores
that the Okinawan people are less secure by this similar concentration
of military that provoked the Battle of Okinawa.
It’s destroying the environment. Õura Bay is currently being filled
with cement - home to one of the world’s last undamaged coral gardens, a
multitude of endangered and internationally protected species- with 3.5
million truckloads of foreign soil, while an estimated 30,000 trees have
been clear-cut for helipads in world heritage site candidate Takae. This
continued destruction of Okinawa’s scarce natural resources that have
sustained these islanders for millennia is a security threat to genuine
public safety, health and security.
We hope the Central Government seriously reconsiders their treatment of
the Native people of the Pacific whose bodies and sacred spaces should
not be violated in the name of research and militarization. Japan has
its own historical reverence for spaces that embody a spiritual or
cultural significance and command a mutual respect. We look forward to
the Japanese government addressing and making corrections to the above
issues which have negatively impacted the Native peoples from across the
Pacific.
Respectfully,
A Growing Pan-Indigenous Peoples
regarding Japan’s investment in the Thirty-Meter-Telescope (TMT), on the
sacred mountain of Maunakea on Hawai’i island.
We are coming together to formally request that Japan display ethical
research practices, by divesting from the building of the TMT.
The people of Hawai’i have risen up in the thousands to voice opposition
to the construction of the TMT for the following reasons:
Mauna-a-Wākea (Maunakea) is a sacred land to the Hawaiian people and has
already suffered irreparable harm by the 13 current telescopes on Maunakea.
The TMT will cause additional harm to a rare ecosystem situated within a
conservation district
The arrests of dozens of people, particularly the Native people of this
land, for research infrastructure is an unacceptable and contradicts
best practices around ethical relationships between research,
researchers, place, and community.
We are coming together to request that Japan formally apologize to the
Ainu people for the theft and abuse of Ainu remains for the purpose of
research.
The Ainu are the indigenous people of Japan and should not be subjected
to human rights violations in the name of research.
2096 Ainu remains have been removed from their place of rest and are
being held at the research institutions of:
Hokkaido University
Tohoku University
Niigata University
Osaka University
Sapporo Ika-Shika University
Osaka City University
Nanzan University
Tenri University
Okayama Rika University
Tokyo Ika-Shika University
The Ainu are the indigenous people of Japan and should not be subjected
to human rights violations in the name of research. The leaders of these
institutions have refused to offer a formal apology to the Ainu people
for such abuses in the name of research, which reflect poorly on Japan’s
relationships with Native people across the Pacific.
We respectfully request that the Government of Japan respect the popular
will of Okinawa and abandon the violation of Henoko’s revered Ōura Bay.
It is discrimination. Okinawa comprises just .6% of Japan’s territory,
yet is burdened with almost 75% of US military bases in Japan. Japan
unilaterally and illegally overthrew the sovereign nation of Ryūkyū in
1879, and continues the colonial treatment of Okinawa today. It is
understood that US bases in Japan proper face widespread opposition from
local communities that do not want to host bases either; its wrong for
the Japanese government to just impose them on Okinawans, as
second-class citizens.
It does not bring security. Base concentration exacerbates the very
regional instability Japan and the US are concerned about in the first
place. Rather than mere defense, US bases have been used for forward
deployment for generations of US wars abroad. Almost 1/3 of the local
civilians were slaughtered in the Battle of Okinawa, followed by 27
years of US military rule where much base lands were seized via bayonets
and bulldozers, that has cultivating animosity to wars and militarism by
Okinawans. Official records reveal an on-going legacy of toxic wastes
into local resources, debilitating noise pollution, inevitable accidents
(41 annual average), and crimes (150 annual average including heinous
violence). The fact that Japan has pledged public safety patrols by
local authorities to guard against abuses by the US military underscores
that the Okinawan people are less secure by this similar concentration
of military that provoked the Battle of Okinawa.
It’s destroying the environment. Õura Bay is currently being filled
with cement - home to one of the world’s last undamaged coral gardens, a
multitude of endangered and internationally protected species- with 3.5
million truckloads of foreign soil, while an estimated 30,000 trees have
been clear-cut for helipads in world heritage site candidate Takae. This
continued destruction of Okinawa’s scarce natural resources that have
sustained these islanders for millennia is a security threat to genuine
public safety, health and security.
We hope the Central Government seriously reconsiders their treatment of
the Native people of the Pacific whose bodies and sacred spaces should
not be violated in the name of research and militarization. Japan has
its own historical reverence for spaces that embody a spiritual or
cultural significance and command a mutual respect. We look forward to
the Japanese government addressing and making corrections to the above
issues which have negatively impacted the Native peoples from across the
Pacific.
Respectfully,
A Growing Pan-Indigenous Peoples
Why is this important?
Japan has historically disregarded and disrespected Native people of the Pacific. On 11/29/19, a group of concerned citizens came together in a show of Pacific solidarity to deliver a statement to the Consulate General of Japan. Restrictions were placed on the group. Only one person was allowed to enter the Consulate under the supervision of armed Federal agents to deliver a hard copy of the statement to an aid of the Consulate General. Please sign the Petition so we can insure that our requests are considered. Japan's investment in TMT is symptomatic of a long history of disregard and disrespect of it's own Native Ainu and Okinawan people.
Even when we attempted to approach the Consulate with protocol, ceremony and respect, we were met with law enforcement. One participant in today's rally for solidarity and justice, shares her account of being told that representatives of the Consul General refused to accept her gift of lei:
https://youtu.be/iAhfKFMmti8
Even when we attempted to approach the Consulate with protocol, ceremony and respect, we were met with law enforcement. One participant in today's rally for solidarity and justice, shares her account of being told that representatives of the Consul General refused to accept her gift of lei:
https://youtu.be/iAhfKFMmti8