Japanese near US base win aircraft noise damages suit

A Japanese appeals court yesterday ordered the government to pay 4.2 million dollars to residents living near a US base on Okinawa island to compensate them for military aircraft noise.
The ruling, which more than doubled the amount awarded earlier to 369 million yen, was a victory for the 387 plaintiffs living near the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which has long been unpopular with local residents.
Presiding judge Kawabe Yoshinori said the intense noise pollution, including low-frequency sound waves from helicopters, made it difficult for plaintiffs to have normal conversations and sleep at night.
But the Fukuoka High Court rejected the residents' demand for military jet and helicopter flights to be suspended between 7pm and 7am, saying the government cannot restrict the activities of US armed forces in Japan.
Okinawans have been the reluctant hosts of Japan's largest concentration of US forces for decades and have frequently complained about noise pollution and safety risks from low-flying US military jets near the airbase.
Tokyo and Washington in 2006 agreed to move the Futenma airbase from its current position in the densely populated area of Ginowan to a quieter coastal stretch of the southern subtropical island by 2014.