5544 people living near Kadena Air Base have sued the governments of Japan and of the United States over the noise pollution caused by early morning and night flights. On Monda, March 27th, the plaintiffs, supported by other groups with similar problems in mainland Japan, gathered in front of the Okinawa branch of Naha District Court to hold a meeting before bringing up the case before the court. One of the plaintiffs, Tomomi Machida from Higashi-Onna said, “When my little girl is taking a nap, she wakes up and starts to cry because of the roar from the jets. She is healthy now, but I wonder if she might start to have an ear problem in the future.” The lawyer for the New Yokota Airbase Law Suit, Nobuyuki Emoto, said he was very impressed with the large number of people gathered for this meeting. "My group, the Yokota plaintiff group, and the Kadena plaintiff group will team up and fight against for a common solution to this problem.” A leader of the Third Atsugi Jet Roar Suit plaintiff group also said, “As a person who has also suffered from noise pollution by the US Military, I feel reassured to know that more than 5500 people have launched the law suit.”
