The sleepy neighborhood of Araya in the city of Akita seemed like the perfect place for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to put a U.S. anti-missile system. The area has reliably backed the ruling party and has firsthand experience of a North Korean rocket flying overhead.
That is, until residents began to worry that Lockheed Martin Corp.¡¯s Aegis Ashore system might make their pocket of homes nestled near rice fields and the sea a prime target for Pyongyang in any conflict. Opposition quickly rallied against the project, helping oust an Upper House lawmaker from Abe¡¯s Liberal Democratic Party in July and forcing the Defense Ministry to redo site surveys.
¡°I don¡¯t think Aegis Ashore is needed, but at least I want them not to put it right next to this residential area,¡± said independent lawmaker Shizuka Terata, 44, who defeated the LDP incumbent in a district that had supported the party in 14 of the past 19 elections. ¡°As the mother of a child, I hated the idea.¡±
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