Japanese groups protest Marine band’s presence at music festival
By Greg Tyler, Sasebo
bureau chief
The 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force Band will perform Saturday at a
music festival on mainland Japan in Izumo despite opposition from at least two local
groups.
Chief Warrant Officer Jim Ford, officer in charge of the band
stationed on Okinawa, said 42 Marines will perform a 13-minute field show, and they also
will perform with other participants near the end of the daylong festival.
At least two citizen’s groups, including the Shin-Nihon
Women’s Group and the Japanese Communist Party, have submitted letters of protest to
Izumo Mayor Masahiro Nishio and the festival committee.
Izumo, in Shimane Prefecture, is holding the music festival as part
of its celebration of the 60th anniversary of its incorporation. Izumo is about 155 miles
from Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station in southwestern Honshu. The band will stay in
Iwakuni before attending the festival, Ford said.
“They (Izumo city officials) told us a small group from the
local Communist Party requested that we not play. There is no military based in that
immediate area, and I guess they just got a little uncomfortable,” Ford said Thursday
morning.
“I assured them that we travel all over Japan, and that we
always work to make certain we are great ambassadors for the United States, and actually,
that’s what they want … great ambassadors for the United States,” he said.
The groups’ concerns are based on recent criminal incidents
involving military personnel on Okinawa. They have asked Nishio to withdraw the
city’s invitation.
On Wednesday, Nishio said the band would participate. In a Japanese
news report, he stated that incidents on Okinawa are “altogether a different
matter” and should not impact the festival.
Naoko Sekioka contributed to this report.
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