Yokohama Negishi Heights 1

Living in a gated estate with high security might be considered desirable to some, but to one Japanese family in Yokohama it has been a nightmare. 

A Japanese couple who own a house and land located within the US Navy’s Negishi Heights Housing Complex in Yokohama are suing the Japanese government for 115 million Yen damages after suffering a lifetime of inconvenience and hardship caused by the various hassles that come with living in an armed forces compound. Oral proceedings are scheduled for February 28 in the Yokohama District Court. 

As you enter the Negishi compound through a secure gate you drive past American-style homes set on spacious blocks with lawns and brightly coloured playground sets. Almost at the centre of the estate, however, is a small enclave of Japanese homes which look seemingly out of place. Their property boundary is marked with a sign saying “Private Property. No Trespassing.” in both Japanese and English. These privately owned homes pre-date the armed forces occupation and have somehow been absorbed into a Navy housing neighbourhood.

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The plaintiffs, Mr. Saji and his wife Midori must show their security pass at the gate every time they come home. Inviting friends or family members requires filling in paperwork and showing their passports at the gate, taxis are prohibited from entering the compound and parcel deliveries can only be made by designated companies. It took 25 years before they received approval to connect to the local water supply. Up until 14 years ago they were relying on water from a well. They had considered rebuilding the home but arranging security clearance for tradespeople was troublesome and Mr. Saji has done all the home repairs himself.

Although some allowances have been made, Mr. Saji laments that their lifestyle is still restricted despite being on Japanese soil. They recalled a number of incidents that occurred in the past, including having their car’s numberplate stolen while parked at home, Cherry Blossom trees dug out and stolen from their garden, being threatened by Navy personnel holding guns after leaving their footpath untidy, having their children chased by people related to US Navy residents and even being locked up in cars. When the Iraq War broke out in 2003, Mr. Saji said he was temporarily shut out by the guards at the gate.

In addition to the mental anguish, they are arguing that their land’s value is limited by this peculiar situation. Not wanting to leave these problems to their children, they made the decision to pursue legal action at the end of 2013. They had previously requested that the Japanese government buy or lease their property, but were not happy with the offer of an annual payment of 800,000 Yen for 10 years.

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Mr. Saji standing outside his home

The house was built by Midori’s grandfather as a holiday home in 1936. At the time the surrounding area was mostly farmland. It was also near a horse racing complex founded by the Meiji Emperor in 1866.  After the Imperial Japanese Navy abolished horse racing in 1942, the track was converted to a printing press.

The GHQ confiscated the facility and surrounding houses in 1947 and the area was developed into US Army base housing. Details are murky on exactly why the few Japanese households owned by Midori’s grandfather managed to remain in the estate. In 1951 it was handed over to the Navy and became the US’s first overseas Navy housing facility.

There are currently two Japanese households with seven residents who own 9000 sqm of land within the estate. The Ministry of Defense said that this is the only US housing complex in Japan with this unusual situation. The rest of the land is leased by local landowners to the Navy.

Negishi Heights has over 300 homes, a school, clinic, pool, community centre and other service buildings spread over 43 hectares. In 2004, the US agreed to relocate the navy housing to Yokohama and Zushi. Although the Navy has stopped assigning to families to Negishi, no progress has been made on returning the land to the landowners. Mr. Saji is worried that the neighborhood, which is slowly emptying out, will become a ghost town with limited or no services and could be forgotten by the Navy.

Sources:
The Kanagawa Shimbun, December 21, 2013.
The Sankei Shimbun, February 9, 2014.
The Tokyo Shimbun, February 20, 2014.

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