Word: narita
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...smashed the slanted windows of the tower. Six rioters shinnied through the broken windows and proceeded to batter radar and communications consoles. Five frightened technicians who had been in the tower fled to the roof, from which they were evacuated by a police helicopter. The swift demonstration paralyzed Narita. Casualties numbered 34 police and 20 demonstrators injured, including one youth who was severely burned when a fire bomb exploded prematurely in his hand...
...disturbance. Irritated by the continuing demonstrations that have kept the completed airport idle since 1973-at a cost of $100,000 a day in maintenance and interest payments on construction loans -the Prime Minister had flatly declared that "Japan's prestige is at stake" and insisted that Narita would open for business in April. Now it could take months to repair the damage...
...that a modern and commonplace facility like an airport drove so many people to such maniacal extremes? The trouble began in 1966, when government planners searching for a site for a jet-age airport chose Narita, which lies in a rolling truck-farm belt. Ignoring the consensus system, which is considered a cardinal virtue in Japanese society, the planners never bothered to consult with the residents of the region, whose families have farmed the same tracts for generations. To the dismay and fury of the farmers, the government began to expropriate the land. Thus was organized the Anti-Airport League...
...relentless protests compounded what had been bad airport planning in the first place. Few airports in the world are as distant from the city they serve as Narita. The designers envisioned a 125 m.p.h. bullet train and a freeway to link the airport with Tokyo. But protests halted the necessary land acquisition, and neither system was built. As a result, when the airport finally opens, travelers will be forced to take a two-hour, $50 taxi ride (or two-hour, $8.50 airport bus) to the city; and because of heavy traffic, they will be required to check in at least...
...make matters worse, airlines are resentful because they must pay airport fees that are 30% higher than those at Haneda. They also worry about flight safety. Narita has only one 13,000-foot runway, which is periodically subjected to severe crosswinds. Even the jet-fuel handling system has been complicated by the disorders. Unable to acquire land for an underground pipeline, airport managers must transport fuel by railroad tank car. Because the protestors have tried to blow up at least one train, shipments move under heavy police guard...