[Introduction]

Two years have passed since Shurijo Castle, which was said to be the symbol, soul, and identity of Okinawa, was destroyed by fire and had a great impact on Japan, but the cause of the fire is unknown. Did you know that no one remains liable?

Immediately after the fire, many words of warm support were received from all over the country, and donations for reconstruction were collected. In order to respond to such warm support, it is necessary to investigate the cause of the fire, clarify the location of management responsibility, and renew the management system to prevent recurrence.

However, in reality, Okinawa Prefecture does not pursue deeply, leaving the cause and responsibility behind, and only "reconstruction" is moving forward on its own. The cause of the fire is also a liability issue. Two years have passed, and I feel that the awareness of Okinawans is beginning to diminish, with a feeling similar to giving up that no one can cut into responsibility anyway.

I want to throw a stone in this situation. That is the wish of the plaintiffs, and through the process of the trial, we will identify the cause of the fire, clarify the location of the management responsibility, and request that the management system of Shurijo Castle after reconstruction be renewed. I want to.

(Photo: Burnt remains of Shurijo Castle)

[Summary of the case]

The owner of Shurijo Castle is the country. The country outsources the management and operation of Shurijo Castle to Okinawa Prefecture, and Okinawa Prefecture to the Okinawa Churashima Foundation, a designated manager.

The Churashima Foundation, which carries out all the actual operation and management of Shurijo Castle, is obliged to do its best for the maintenance and safe management and operation of Shurijo Castle as a designated manager, and pays a fixed fee of 200 million yen to Okinawa Prefecture. Instead, I earned about 1.1 billion yen a year from the entrance fee income minus the payment.

And in October 2019, the Shurijo Castle fire broke out.

Seven of the buildings were completely burnt down, and about 400 cultural properties displayed inside the burnt down building were burned down. Many cultural properties that survived the fire are damaged by the fire and need to be repaired.

Despite such a serious fire, the cause of the fire was not clarified, and the Churashima Foundation, which was actually managing it, was not held responsible and as a designated manager as before. I am in charge of managing the burn marks.

(Photo: The burnt remains are currently a viewing course under the control of the Churashima Foundation)

Due to the problem of the form of the lawsuit, our resident lawsuit is appealing to Okinawa Prefecture to claim 160 million yen as compensation for fire damages to the Churashima Foundation, which is responsible for management. The complaint was filed on 16 August and the trial began on 16 November.

Through this trial, he pointed out the actual situation of sloppy operation and management, and raised questions such as if the Churashima Foundation had managed it well, even if a fire broke out, it would not have been so important. I will clarify it.

Also, in the process of proceedings, I would like to highlight the cause of the fire and the responsibility for supervision of Okinawa Prefecture and the national government.

(Photo: First trial held on November 16, 2021)

[Plaintiff's thoughts on Shurijo Castle fire]

There are many questions about the fire at Shurijo Castle. Here is a brief introduction to some of them.

(1) There may be a management structure that obscures the whereabouts of responsibility.

Since prefectures and countries are responsible for supervising the Churashima Foundation, which is a management practitioner, the structure is such that if the Churashima Foundation is exempted from responsibility for fires, the national and prefectural governments are also exempted from responsibility.

(2) The cause of the fire may be identified.

The final report of the Naha City Fire Department examined all possible causes of the fire one by one, and the only possibility was the power cord of the LED lighting installed by the Churashima Foundation and the extension to which it was connected. Pointing out the code. However, the cause of the fire remains unknown because the damage caused by the fire was so severe that it could not be identified.

(Photo: Around the LED lighting cord suspected to be the cause of the fire)

③ Regarding the spread of damage caused by the fire, it may be responsible for management such as the smoke detector did not work and the security guards did not respond properly.

If appropriate fire alarms were installed and operated, prompt notification to the fire department when a fire was found, monitor monitoring and firefighting guidance, and unlocking of gates and bollards in the castle area were properly implemented, the damage could be avoided. There is a possibility.

I would like to clarify the above points through proceedings.

[Thoughts of the parties]

The Shurijo Castle fire was a major social problem and its impact was enormous, so I don't think it's okay if the cause and responsibility are unreasonable. I'm angry that this too obvious thing isn't done properly.

In addition, in the current situation where the cause of the fire and the responsibility for management are not clear, even if Shurijo Castle is rebuilt again, the fear of repeating the same mistakes cannot be ruled out.

From the perspective of preventing recurrence, I just strongly hope that these things will become clear at the court and that I will welcome a new departure with a refreshing feeling.

In order to respond to the voices of many people who have warm hearts and support for the future of Okinawa and for the reconstruction, we will support the proceedings to " clarify the responsibility of the Shurijo Castle fire". Thank you for your cooperation.

[Use of donations]

Since this proceeding is an appeal that "Okinawa Prefecture should claim damages from the Churashima Foundation," the plaintiffs have nothing to gain financially even if they win the proceedings. Whether you win or lose, all costs are your own trial. Please help us to reveal the truth of the Shurijo Castle fire.

The following expenses can be considered, but first of all, we are thinking of allocating 300,000 yen as the minimum necessary expenses for the proceedings, and the lawyer fee and public relations expenses as the next step.

Thank you for your support.

Litigation costs

・ Lawyer fee x 2 people

・ Lawyer's Tokyo ↔ Okinawa round-trip transportation accommodation fee × number of appearances

Attorneys' fees will be accepted under exceptional conditions, but business trip expenses will be incurred due to the trial in Okinawa.

・ Appraisal fee

・ Expert opinion writing fee

Due to the competition for specialized fields, it is expected that the cost of requesting the creation of appraisals and opinions will be incurred.

・ Other costs for trial

Public relations expenses

・ Event production cost x 2 times

・ Public relations expenses such as printing fees

Other expenses

【About us】

(Photo: After the first trial of the plaintiffs)

The plaintiffs in this case are eight Okinawans. It is called "Okinawa Citizens' Association for the management responsibility of Shurijo Castle fire".

There are various areas where occupations such as housewives and company owners live, but they all have their own feelings for Shurijo Castle and are stunned by the irresponsible development after the fire.

Mitsuru Kaneshiro, one of the co-representatives of the plaintiffs, entrusted himself to the Churashima Foundation and was not informed of what happened to the exhibits that were open to the public at Shurijo Castle. I have a feeling of distrust. A detailed report of what was burned down and what was damaged in the 1400 exhibited cultural properties has not been released even after two years.

My name is Hiroshi Ishioka and I am the administrator of this crowdfunding. I am the other co-representative of the plaintiffs.

Although he is a musician, he also runs a facebook page dealing with Okinawan culture and social issues, and the quarterly magazine "Life Doho". Shurijo Castle should be returned to Okinawa even before the fire. I was complaining.

I think that this fire is an important message from Shurijo Castle to the people of Okinawa, and so far I have held three symposiums to think about the meaning of the fire and where Okinawa should go. ..

The plaintiffs have different feelings about Shurijo Castle, but they all agree that it is wrong to proceed with reconstruction without taking responsibility.

Each person was able to communicate their thoughts and keep in touch, and at one point I began to think that this had to be tried.

(Photo: Press conference)

Fortunately, we were able to meet Shinichi Tokunaga, a lawyer who has dealt with a number of resident lawsuits.

The plaintiffs soon came together when they heard from the teacher that it was possible to sue the residents, and that they could finally get rid of the long-standing moyamoya disease.

After that, with the introduction of Dr. Tokunaga, I became acquainted with Dr. Yoko Hakari, a lawyer who is interested, and opened the way to a proceeding with a two-lawyer system.

We will approach the hidden truth of the Shurijo Castle fire.