Peace Philosophy Centre, est. 2007, provides a space for dialogue and facilitates learning for creating a peaceful and sustainable world. ピース・フィロソフィー・センター(2007年設立)は平和で持続可能な世界を創るための対話と学びの場を提供します。피스필로소피센터(2007년 설립)는 평화롭고 지속 가능한 세계를 만들기 위한 대화와 배움의 장소를 제공합니다. 和平哲学中心(成立于2007年)致力于提供一个对话与学习的平台,以建设一个和平且可持续的世界。Follow X: @PeacePhilosophy ; Email: peacephilosophycentre@gmail.com
제주도에서 군사주의와 싸우고 계신 여러분께, 먼저, 작년 연말 윤석열 대통령에 의한 '비상계엄령'에 의연히 들고일어나, 윤 대통령 파면까지 이끌어 낸 대한민국 시민의 힘에 경의를 표합니다.
한편 일본은, 자민당에서도 또다시 극우인 타카이치 사나에 총리가 취임하여, 11월 7일에는 국회에서 "'대만 유사'는 일본의 존립 위기 사태에 해당한다"라고 발언했습니다. 대만을 둘러싼 무력 분쟁이 발생하면 일본은 자위대를 발동할 수 있다는 도발에, 중국은 강하게 반발하고 철회를 요구하고 있습니다.
올해는 중국을 비롯한 대일 전승국에게는 '항일 전쟁 · 세계 반파시즘 전쟁 승리 80년'이라는 기념비적인 해입니다. 하필 이러한 올해, 가해국 일본의 정상에게서 '재침략 선언'이나 마찬가지인 발언이 나왔다는 것에 대해, 일본 정부도 일본 시민도 그 중대성을 충분히 이해하지 못한 듯합니다.
12월 8일, 저도 회원으로 있는 '무라야마 담화를 계승하고 발전시키는 모임'은 도쿄에서 기자회견을 열어, 1995년에 당시 무라야마 도미이치 총리가 일본의 '식민지 지배'와 '침략'을 반성하고 사과한 내각회의 결정을 상기시키며, 다카이치 총리의 '대만 발언'을 철회하도록 강하게 요구했습니다.
그 기자회견에서 저는 강조했습니다. 이것은 현재의 지정학적 문제라기보다, 첫째로 역사 문제입니다. 일본은 침략 전쟁에서 난징 대학살을 비롯한 인도에 반하는 잔학 행위를 하였고, 그것 80년이 지나도 도저히 용서될 수 없습니다.
그런데도, 중국은 일본의 군국주의와 일본의 인민을 굳이 나누어서 생각하여, 일본을 용서하였고, 1972년에 국교 정상화를 이루었습니다. 그때 일본은 '다시는 대만에 개입하지 않겠다'라는 약속을 했습니다. 그 약속을 다카이치 총리는 깨뜨렸습니다.
12월 13일, 지금 다시 일본인은 '다시는 전쟁하지 않겠다'는 일본국 헌법의 맹세를 떠올려야 합니다. 그러한 마음으로 '난징 대학살'을 기억하는 일본인은 곳곳에 존재합니다. 저는 그중 한 사람으로서, 제주도에 계신 여러분과 연대하고, 동아시아의 평화를 만드는 일에 동참하고 싶습니다.
Here is the English translation of my latest column in Okinawan newspaper Ryukyu Shimpo, November 25, 2025. It is about Abby Martin's new documentary film Earth's Greatest Enemy. Original Japanese text follows English.
In October 2022, when Abby Martin was filming and interviewing in Okinawa for this film, she said, “Okinawa was the starting point of my journalism.” The documentary film Earth’s Greatest Enemy, created by her and her partner, Iraq War veteran Mike Prysner, has now been completed. A nationwide screening tour in the U.S. has been underway since September 20. During her Okinawa reporting, Martin was pregnant with her second child, but in this film, we can see the healthy baby who was later born.
The film argues that the U.S. military is the greatest enemy to the global environment. The U.S. military is the world’s largest consumer of fossil fuels. When Abby covered the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, she began to question why the massive presence of the U.S. military was treated almost like a taboo, never properly discussed.
The answer was “money.” The military-industrial structure places the U.S. military in a protected sanctuary. Environmental law expert Tamara Lorincz states, “NATO, a military organization led by the United States, serves as a cover for major weapons manufacturers. NATO is a guaranteed market for U.S. weaponry.”
Through interviews with specialists such as political scientist Jodi Dean, Martin gradually exposes the essence of U.S. imperialism. The global network of U.S. military dominance sustains an economic system that secures the interests of the ruling class, and it is maintained “through inequality and expansion.”
Martin goes on to say that the very formation of the United States resulted from expansion through the use of force to secure fur and mineral resources. In the pursuit of military action and resource extraction, the United States took land and dignity from Indigenous peoples. Its imperial origins lie within its own history.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military dropped countless bombs. Even after the wars ended, long-lasting contaminants such as lead, mercury, titanium, tungsten, and depleted uranium have caused congenital disorders and cancer among children.
The harm caused by U.S. military operations affects U.S. soldiers and base-related personnel inside the United States as well. Water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina created as many as one million victims, yet the military’s responses and investigations have been insufficient. One victim stated, “I am fighting for the people who served. The U.S. military can go to hell.”
“Camp Lejeune is only the tip of the iceberg,” says Pat Elder, who has investigated contamination at more than 400 U.S. military bases worldwide. According to Elder, contamination on U.S. bases falls into four categories: “pesticides and herbicides,” “radiation,” “VOCs (volatile organic compounds),” and “PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).”
The film then turns to OKINAWA. The narrative leads viewers to imagine how the military contamination discussed so far has also affected Okinawa. Martin interviews Governor Denny Tamaki and is astonished: “You are an elected governor, yet you cannot even enter the bases to investigate contamination?”
The spotlight then shifts to the power of citizens who resist the empire. Scenes of resistance on sea and land at Henoko and Oura Bay, and the actions in Awa and Shiokawa to block the shipment of earth and sand, are captured vividly with the brilliance of the ocean.
According to Martin, audiences at screenings across the United States have expressed reactions such as “I was shocked by the absurd destruction at Henoko” and “I was inspired by the citizens’ resistance.” The release of a Japanese-language version of this film is eagerly awaited.