The beautiful Henoko and Oura Bays, in Okinawa, Japan.
And this image shows the planned expansion of US Marine Corps base Camp Schwab, to include a twin airstrip (drawn in red above), which would require filling those parts of the bays with over a million truckloads of sand and gravel. As one might suspect, this will have consequences for the local people, and for life in the bay...
The bays have seagrass beds that the extremely endangered Okinawan dugong feeds on. The dugong is a marine mammal, similar in appearance to the manatee. It is thought that there are now only 3 (or possibly only 2) of these animals still surviving, as the dugong in this photo, thought to be the offspring of one of the others, has not been sighted since 2015 when land reclamation for the base expansion project started.
Besides the dugong, the bays are also home to 261 other endangered species, including corals and sea turtles. Very obviously, the base expansion will have a devastating impact on these species, and will make certain the extinction of the dugong if allowed to go forward.
But there has been an ongoing, determined resistance to the base expansion.
For over 10 years, there have been daily protests, sit-ins, and civil disobedience by the local people and their supporters.
Among those supporting the resistance to the Henoko base expansion, and the resistance to the many other US military bases on Okinawa, is the group Veterans For Peace (https://www.veteransforpeace.org/ ), which sent delegations to Okinawa in 2015 and 2016.
Pictured here is the 2015 delegation, seen here blocking construction vehicles at the gate of Camp Schwab.
Pictured here is the 2015 delegation, seen here blocking construction vehicles at the gate of Camp Schwab.
Although I am not a veteran (I applied for, and was rejected conscientious objector status during the last few months of the conscription lottery) I have been invited to be a part of the 2017 delegation to Okinawa, which will be going in early December. And so....I'm now working on a 9' x 3' banner for the trip...Pictured above is the original sketch for the banner.
And here, the actual banner in progress. And seeing as I still have a ways to go on it, and much other work to do in preparation for the trip, I better get myself back into the studio and painting! More later...