About 160 U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa Prefecture began live-fire drills Saturday at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Kitafuji artillery range in Yamanashi Prefecture, Defense Agency officials said.
The marines used 155-mm howitzers in the drills, which are scheduled to continue until Nov. 12, four days before the conclusion of a comprehensive exercise at the range, the officials said. The live firing of artillery was approved to take place from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
It is the third time for the exercises to be conducted at the range, following ones in July 1997 and April 1998.
Japan and the United States agreed in 1996 to relocate the series of drills to five GSDF ranges outside Okinawa Prefecture on a rotating basis to reduce the burden on that prefecture.
The marines this year have conducted drills in Yausubetsu, Hokkaido, in June and in Higashifuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, in September.
The next drills are scheduled for the Hijudai range in Oita Prefecture in February.
Nuclear tests protested
NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Five groups of Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors and their supporters sent a letter to Russia through its embassy in Tokyo on Saturday protesting the country's two underground subcritical nuclear tests in October, group members said.
The letter, addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, states: "By conducting the tests, Russia has been losing trust in the world community and has shown that Moscow ignores people who are calling for the abolition of nuclear arsenals."
Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito released a similar statement Friday.