By Steve Liewer
Yokosuka bureau chief

PH3 Adam Eastman / U.S. Navy file photo USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) at anchor in Dili, East Timor.

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The mayor of the northern Japanese city of Tomakomai has objected to a planned port call by the USS Blue Ridge next month, but Navy officials say they have no plans to alter the visit.

The Navy's 7th Fleet had scheduled the Feb. 7-9 visit to coincide with the Snow Festival in Sapporo, about 25 miles northwest of Tomakomai on the island of Hokkaido. Diplomatic functions, sporting events and a community relations project also are planned.

"Hokkaido is a very popular place this time of year because of playing in the snow, because of skiing, and because of the Snow Festival," said Cmdr. Matt Brown, a 7th Fleet Command spokesman.

But Tomakomai Mayor Tadayuki Torikoshi on Jan. 16 asked Michael Meserve, the U.S. consul general in Sapporo, to route the Blue Ridge elsewhere, Meserve said. Torikoshi said he was worried Tomakomai's busy port would not have space for the 19,200-ton vessel, the 7th Fleet's flagship.

"The port is used by 17,000 foreign and domestic ships annually and 46 daily. Because it creates serious problems in distribution, the mayor wants the U.S. Navy to reconsider the plan," said Kojiro Kitamura, the city's planning and coordination director.

But Torikoshi's objections go beyond practical considerations.

A longtime Socialist Party member, Torikoshi objects to the presence of ships that could be carrying nuclear weapons. Although Navy surface ships typically do not carry nukes, it is against Navy policy to reveal whether a specific ship is carrying them.

City officials in Kobe, an industrial port southwest of Tokyo, hold similar views. Their regulations require warships to declare themselves nuclear-free before they stop there, a policy Torikoshi is said to admire. As a result, Navy ships avoid Kobe.

"(Torikoshi) has got his personal politics," Meserve said. "He has made election promises that he would bring a Kobe formula to Tomakomai."

Under the U.S.-Japan security treaty, Japan's central government retains authority over Navy port visits. However, Torikoshi heads a commission of city and prefectural officials who operate the port in Tomakomai, Meserve said. The commission could conceivably withhold critical pier services such as fuel, sewage, power and docking.

So far, the consul added, Torikoshi has not attempted to block the port visit. He said he thinks the mayor lacks enough votes on the commission to do so.

"He hasn't said yes; he hasn't said no," Meserve said. "Clearly, the mayor has his position on this issue. And it's clearly not the position of the majority of the people in Japan. Most people in Japan support the (security) treaty."

Brown said the 7th Fleet has no intention of changing its Tomakomai plans. He said the treaty requires the Navy to notify local officials about port visits, not seek permission.

"As far as I know, the Blue Ridge and the staff of the 7th Fleet will be going to Tomakomai," said Cmdr. Matt Brown, a 7th Fleet spokesman. "There's nobody who's said, 'Hey, don't go.' "

If Torikoshi does act to block the port call, Brown said, "We would have to address the issue, somehow. But (now), it's premature."

In recent years, most Navy ship visits to Hokkaido have been to Otaru, 10 miles west of Sapporo, or Hakodate, 100 miles to the south. A few also have stopped in Muroran, midway between Hakodate and Sapporo, including the Blue Ridge in September 1999.

In Otaru, local officials objected to a visit by the Yokosuka-based aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk last October. They said they feared huge crowds would overwhelm the streets of the small city, as had occurred during a visit by the USS Independence several years earlier. The Kitty Hawk did stop, but the problems didn't materialize.

Meserve said two other Yokosuka-based Navy ships are scheduled to visit Hokkaido during February. The frigate USS Gary will stop in Hakodate, and the destroyer USS John S. McCain will visit Otaru.

Chiyomi Sumida contributed to this report.