A bitter schism was created in the city of Yokosuka between those supporting and those opposing the stationing of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington at the U.S. naval base there. Calm was restored, however, when the ship actually entered port Sept. 25.
While the residents of Yokosuka have no choice but to believe American assurances of the safety of the nuclear reactors on the vessel, they face an even bigger problem with the noise created by carrier-borne aircraft.
I doubt that the governments of Japan and the United States have given serious thought to the dreadful noise that must be put up with by those living near the U.S. Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, and in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture — to which aircraft will soon be transferred from Atsugi.