Thousands of Okinawans set to protest US bases

25 Apr 2010, 4:00 pm   -   Source: AFP, SBS Staff
6 Comments
Share This
+ Comment
6
A smaller demonstration than the one planned for Sunday, was held on Saturday. (pictured: AFP)

A smaller demonstration than the one planned for Sunday, was held on Saturday. (pictured: AFP)

The issue of a continuing US air base on Okinawa is dominating Japanese politics, and hundred of thousands of protestors were expected to march on Sunday.
  

RELATED

Up to 100,000 demonstrators on the Japanese island of Okinawa were set to protest against a US airbase Sunday in a row that is dominating national politics and souring ties with Washington.
  
The huge rally near Kadena Air Base, the largest US military facility in the Asia-Pacific region, is expected to include Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima and more than 30 town mayors.
  
Many on the subtropical island chafe at the heavy American military presence, a legacy of Japan's World War II defeat to the United States, complaining of noise, pollution and frictions with US soldiers.
  
The issue threatens the political future of centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has been pressured by both Washington and his left-leaning political allies to find a solution to the dispute.
  
The row centres on the unpopular US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which under a 2006 pact with Washington was to be moved from the crowded city of Ginowan to the quieter coastal Henoko area of Okinawa.
  
Hatoyama, after taking power in September in a landslide election, said the base may be moved off the island instead. But a search for alternative locations has met with more local protests.
  
"We can never accept the US base. If it happens, the whole of our fishery will be damaged," Hiroyuki Akamine, president of the fishermen's cooperative in one of the reported alternative locations, told AFP ahead of the rally.
  
The prime minister has set himself a deadline of late May to resolve the issue, while the United States maintains it wants Tokyo to stick with the original plan.

PM stakes future on resolving issue
  
On Friday, under questioning from a conservative lawmaker, Hatoyama staked his job on resolving the issue by the end of next month.
  
Ahead of crucial upper house elections due in July, Hatoyama has seen his approval ratings dive as criticism has grown of his dithering on the issue.
  
On the eve of the protest, the Washington Post said the Japanese government had indicated it would broadly accept the 2006 pact.
  
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada had presented an offer to US Ambassador John Roos on Friday, the US newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources.
  
Okada had suggested some changes, including altering the design of a new runway and moving parts of the Marine Corps facility to an island about 100 miles (160 miles) from Okinawa, it said.
  
But the government denied the report on Saturday and Hatoyama said he rejected the original 2006 plan to build the replacement US airbase in Henoko.
  
"It must never happen that we accept the existing plan," Hatoyama told reporters Saturday.
  
Hiroshi Ashitomi, 64, who has led the campaign against the relocation in Henoko, said: "Building a new military base here in this beautiful sea is never acceptable."
  
"Okinawan people won't accept the government's flip-flop that the relocation site is now back again to Henoko, after they found no other alternatives," he said in front of the emerald-green waters of Henoko.
  
The United States set up the Futenma airbase in 1945 as it took the island in one of World War II's bloodiest battles.
  
It did not return Okinawa to Japan until 1972 and still operates more than 30 military facilities on the island, strategically located near China, Taiwan and the Korean peninsula.
  
Under the 2006 agreement, Futenma facilities would be shifted to reclaimed land around Camp Schwab in Henoko and about 8,000 Marines would move to the US territory of Guam.
  
Japan, which committed to pacifism in its post-WWII constitution, relies for its security on its treaty partner the United States, which stations some 47,000 troops in the country, more than half of them on Okinawa.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Your Comments

Go deeper Dateline

Peter Lumsdon - from Buninyong Victoria, 2 years ago

Okinawa was once a separate kingdom (ironically the first in the world to disarm!) and at one stage paid homage to both Japan and China. People were used as human shields by Japanese in WW2, and O. was chosen for obvious reasons by J. militarists then as now as a military focus. David Suzuki's book ("The J. I never knew") mentions anti -O racism by some J. calling them "pigs', and while there I noted no love of the Emporer among older O. Pity you couldn"t show the O. art exhibition from WW2.

Lismore Liz

Marlene Hastings - from Lismore, 2 years ago

This base is a permanent reminder of the War for them., particularly the aftermath of the 2 Atom Bombs, For God sake - set them free. They are such a quiet and unassuming people.

War country

okinawan - from Japan, 2 years ago

The United States is the only country that has regularly repeated the war since World War II. The war is business for the United States. What a crazy country ! What a ugly country !

America

DK - from Sydney, 2 years ago

Totally agreed mate

hm

G - from DE, 2 years ago

I live in a city with a big US Base, and they have a huge impact on the economy here. So, it is not so easy to just take them away all of a sudden.

Will Japan be free some day ?....

Paul - from Melbourne, 2 years ago

The USA with its imperialistic policy, resemble a cancer in a human body. Once installed it will never goes...

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.