U.S. film director Oliver Stone joined other celebrities around the world in releasing a petition against the construction of a new U.S. military base off the coast of Henoko in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.

Stone was among 400 people who signed the statement in January directed at U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the people of both nations.

The signees state their opposition to building the base to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture, which has also been opposed by Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki and the prefectural government. 

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in February, Stone, 77, spoke about his true intentions in filing the international petition. 

Excerpts of the interview follow:

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I think if you talk to most Americans, they wouldn't even know that we had bases in Okinawa. Probably 2 percent of the people know where Okinawa is.

I visited Okinawa 10 years ago. I can’t forget the tasty “mozuku” seaweed that I had for lunch. But, joking aside, there were several unforgettable encounters in Okinawa.

We entered a cave called Todoroki no Go where the then Okinawa governor and many residents evacuated during World War II. We also visited the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum. I was very moved by the sight of the graves and the memorials.

There was a painting, too, the (Iri and Toshi) Marukis’ painting, showing us the Battle of Okinawa. It was splendid, well done, very specific.

Those are the memories of Okinawa.

When I was there it was mostly bases. A lot of U.S. troops. It felt like the old Vietnam frankly, from back in the 1965 era when I was first there as a schoolteacher before I was in the infantry.

It seemed to be an occupied base. The press in Okinawa was ferocious in supporting the anti-base movement. It tended to be very outspoken.

I felt like Okinawa was a colony. It felt like it was a military base to me, maybe because I only saw the bases. I saw that people were upset about the environmental damage that was being done, but they didn't seem to have any power to stop it.

I think there is still a feeling among the U.S. Marines that they acquired Okinawa with much bloodshed during World War II.

America has the most bases in the world. We are supporting more than 800 bases. Basically, it's all over Germany, all over Italy, and South Korea.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, we had a heavy arsenal of nuclear weapons on Okinawa.

Nobody has attacked the United States except Pearl Harbor and the 9/11. The 9/11 was nothing compared to Pearl Harbor.

Few people know what the American military is doing around the world. The relationship and structure between the United States, Japan and Okinawa have not changed for almost 80 years since the war ended. I even get the impression that Japan remains a satellite country, that dutifully does the U.S. bidding.

We also went on a boat in Oura Bay on the coast of Henoko. I got a real sense of how much tension was rising within the region. The governor and local residents were protesting.

Your Japanese leaders are gutless. They've always been gutless. They haven't fought for real sovereignty for that matter.

Most of the population in Okinawa is against the development of this new Henoko base. As many as 70 percent, I heard, have voted against it. It's been overruled out of Tokyo.

The construction on the new base is going ahead against the will of the people of Okinawa. There we go again. The national government is overriding the authority of the people, which is a slap in the face of the democratic movement.

I heard that it is considered taboo for celebrities to send out political messages in Japan. Sometimes you will get blocked if you try to make a certain kind of film. Unless it's very pro-American and very pro-military, you're going to have a hard time.

However, I have to fight. I have a pulpit, and I wish I could be speaking to millions of people. I'm a filmmaker.

Because I have children. I care about my grandchildren. I care what's going to happen and the hyper-militarization of the Pacific is alarming as Japan abandons its peace Constitution, doubles its military spending and becomes a crucial cog in the U.S. plans to contain China.

We need peaceful development and diplomacy; not more polarization and strengthened military blocs.