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| Yokosuka’s Duty-Free Beer, Zushi’s beaches |
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逗子海岸に捨てられたビール瓶。これを撮影したのは逗子のウィンドサーフィンのインストラクターであり、僕のFaceBookともだちであるＩさんです。以下のコメントとともにFaceBookに怒りのメッセージが出たのです。
「最近逗子に遊びにきている 外国人の多分横須賀人 頭に来るほど 嫌いだ ゴミを浜に捨てるなと言ってもこれだから ベースに直接文句いいに行こうかな誰かツテありますか オバマさんでも良いけど 奴無税の酒飲んで 明日は逗子市の清掃員にかたずけさせれば良いと思っているのか 逗子市ももっと協力してよ と ボヤきます」
そこでこれを現在、日本で勉強中のダステイン・ライト（インフォネット会員、 橋場 恵梨香さんの夫）に拡散を依頼したところ、 彼のサイトに以下が掲載されました。本の小さなつぶやきが波のように伝わっていく。FaceBookの潜在力を感じました。なんとなくもっと大きな動きが出てきそうな予感がします。
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Here is the original post, which I’ve tried to translate in its “FB post-ish” form:
“Recently coming to play at Zushi…a lot of foreigners…probably from Yokosuka…I’m pissed off enough to hate them. Even though we say not to throw trash away on the beach, this is what happens…I wonder if there is someone at the base I can complain to directly…Obama would be fine…the bastards are drinking duty free alcohol, thinking that it’s fine that the City of Zushi cleaners will pick up after them tomorrow…I grumble to myself “hey, City of Zushi, you need to cooperate more.”
I don’t know the person who posted this, nor is there any way that I can know for sure that it was American workers who left all the trash, though given Zushi’s proximity to the giant U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, I can see why this person makes this assumption (also, are those “Mickey’s” bottles? I’ve never seen this god-awful American beer sold in Japan and imagine they were indeed probably procured at a U.S. base PX).
I’m posting this simply to offer an example of some of the lesser-known grievances that some local Japanese people have with the large base presence in Japan. The crimes committed by soldiers and workers at the bases, the pollution (air, soil, noise), land confiscations, and the dangers of living within a heavily militarized are all often more than enough to bring protesters out in the streets. However, it is also the building up, over times, of smaller grievances, like broken beer bottles on a beach, that can activate anti-base sentiments.
The view from Zushi on a prettier day, during a visit in 2011.
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