Japan: A Report from the Henoko Protest · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Jeff at his Okinawa Blog reports on his experience “Living Dangerously on Okinawa's Coral Sea”, protesting environmental surveys for a new base at Henoko Bay. Jeff writes: ” It's a landmark day […] It is to be the first day in which the Self-Defense Force — the Japanese army — is used to disrupt a protest. Okinawans are the world's happiest people, full of warmth. Belly-laughter is ubiquitous. This morning, though, everyone is grim-faced. I see precisely two smiles during the first four hours. […] It could be the early hour, or it could be that we're about to face down the SDF. Or they could be thinking of what they stand to lose if they fail.”