(In Front of the Gate)
It is hot from the morning, as if the sun ray cuts into our skin. Over 40 people gathered in front of the Gate and resumed the sit-in protest against the new base construction. It seems that the riot police force recently handles the sit-in protestors more kindly, maybe because the congress and the newspapers have taken issue on the violent way the riot police force was removing the sit-in protesters. Three times a day; at 9:00 a.m., noon, and 3:00 p.m., the protestors were removed from the sit-in rally, and 162 truckloads were delivered for the day.
The picture below was taken from a high point in the neighboring town to show the current status of the landfill area. Slowly but steadily, the reclamation work is progressing, and appears to be completed by the end of this calendar year.
(On the Sea by the Pier in Awa)
One rubber boat and 19 canoes tried to stop the cargo ships leaving the Pier in Awa. Additional member of the Coast Guard were sent from Oura Bay to stop our protest, but we took evasive actions such as going under the pier and successfully delayed the departure of the cargo ships for 1 hour.
(Protest Rallies in Front of the Piers)
Loading ships with earth and sand was started early in the morning at the pier in Awa and in Shiokawa. We rallied in front of the dump trucks in a hot weather in order to delay loading.
Two reporters visited us from Korea to compile “the voice of people in Asia” from Kwang-ju in Korea, Hong Kong, and Okinawa to present at an art festival to be held in Taiwan in October.
I was impressed by their eager and fair attitude.
