Akino Miyagi, left, a protester who opposes the U.S. military presence on Okinawa, exits Naha District Court on Okinawa, Japan, with her attorney, Nozomi Kanetaka, on March 6, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
NAHA CITY, Okinawa — A woman opposed to U.S. military presence on Okinawa was convicted in a Japanese court recently on 16 counts related to her protests the past four years, including a threat against the U.S. Consulate.
A three-judge panel in Naha District Court on Thursday convicted Akino Miyagi, 46, of Higashi village, of offenses against six sections of Japanese law, including the Road Traffic, Public Offices Election and Explosive Control acts. She was sentenced to three years in prison — suspended for four years — and more than $2,000 in fines.
Her lack of prior convictions spared her a prison cell, but she must serve extra time if she fails to pay the fine, Presiding Judge Tetsuro Sato said at sentencing.
Miyagi “repeatedly engaged in criminal acts to assert her beliefs,” Sato said. “It warrants severe accountability for her complete disregard to follow the laws.”
A self-described writer and butterfly scientist, Miyagi, after her sentencing, said she is undeterred as a protester. She said she had pleaded guilty in court to all but one of 17 counts.
“This sentencing will not change how I conduct my protest activities; I will continue doing them in the same way,” she told reporters outside the courthouse. “The range of what is permitted to do under the freedom of expression is only up to the point where it does not trouble the U.S. military or the government, such as the sit-ins or demonstration marches with placards in Henoko.”
The Japanese government is building a military airfield at Marine Corps Camp Schwab in rural Henoko to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan city.
In one incident, Miyagi carried a steel pipe filled with empty bullet casings and gunpowder on May 15, 2023, outside the U.S. Consulate in Urasoe city, according to court records. For that, she was convicted of violating the Explosives Control Act.
However, she was acquitted due to a lack of evidence on a related charge of threatening police with the pipe, Sato said.
Miyagi was convicted on one count of intrusion for interrupting an event Sept. 6 sponsored by the consulate at the Hilton Okinawa Chatan Resort, where she shouted, “Grenade!” during a ceremony.
Again on Aug. 26, 2022, Miyagi shouted, “Bullets!” and threw empty shell casings at a rally in Naha led by Liberal Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Atsushi Sakima, records state. For that, she was convicted of two counts of the Explosive Control Act and one count of the Public Offices Election Act.
Miyagi carried an empty bullet casing in protest again June 23 during the Irei No Hi ceremony at Peace Memorial Park in Itoman city, earning another conviction under the explosives act.
She told reporters she collected the empty casings on land once part of the Marine Corps’ Northern Training Area, now part of the Yanbaru World Heritage Site. The Marines returned nearly 10,000 acres to Japanese control in 2016. Yanbaru is a focus of her protest activity, Miyagi said outside court.
“This is where the Ministry of Defense stated that they had completed the removal of obstacles,” she said. “I will continue fighting until I can secure a promise for the removal across the entire area.”
Miyagi was also convicted of violating the Road Traffic Act three times in 2021 and six times in 2022. In one incident, she stood in front of vehicles and blocked traffic on Road 70 near the Northern Training Area, according to court records.
Miyagi may appeal the verdict , her attorney, Nozomi Kanetaka, told reporters.
