Ryukyu Shimpo wrote that in response to the parachute drop training conducted at Kadena Air Base on July 9, the Okinawa Prefectural Government lodged a protest with the U.S. Consul General to Naha and the commander of the 18th Wing both in writing and by phone and called for such drills to be halted. The paper wrote that based on the view that parachute drop training should only be permitted as an “exception” at Kadena, a prefectural government official stated that it is regrettable that such drills have been conducted repeatedly at the base. The paper wrote that officials at the 18th Wing and the U.S. Consulate General reportedly told the prefectural government that based on a bilateral agreement between the United States and Japan, the U.S. military should be able to use Kadena Air Base for parachute drop drills when it is difficult to conduct them on Ie Jima Island and that the U.S. military is making efforts to minimize any impact the training might have on the local community as much as possible.