Okinawa marks 50 years since US rule ended
TOKYO: The Japanese island of Okinawa marks 50 years since the end of US rule Sunday, with discontent simmering about the ongoing presence of American troops and fears about growing regional tensions.
The post-World War II US occupation of Japan lasted until 1952, but it took another 20 years for Okinawa, the country’s southernmost prefecture, to regain its sovereignty.
The anniversary was marked with official ceremonies in Tokyo and Okinawa, with the island’s governor Denny Tamaki calling attention to the “excessive burden” he said is placed on residents in his prefecture as it hosts the bulk of United States bases.
The long-festering controversy was highlighted by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, too.
“The government takes this fact seriously, and will continue to make an utmost effort to reduce this burden,” he told the ceremony in Okinawa.
Longstanding concerns for Okinawans about the US troop presence – and more recent worries about the threat of a military confrontation involving China – remained palpable.
“I’m not in the mood to celebrate at all,” Okinawan native Jinshiro Motoyama told AFP ahead of the anniversary as he sat outside a Tokyo government building on a week-long hunger strike.
Like many Okinawans, he feels the region bears an unfair burden in hosting the majority of about 55,000 US military personnel in Japan and is protesting to draw attention to the issue.
Okinawa accounts for just 0.6 percent of Japan’s landmass but hosts about 70 percent of all US military bases and facilities.
And that presence has produced a host of issues – from crashes and noise pollution to crimes involving servicemen, including the 1995 gang rape of a local schoolgirl.
“Only when issues surrounding US bases have been resolved in a way that satisfies Okinawans can we celebrate,” said Motoyama, a 30-year-old graduate student.
A nationwide poll by broadcaster NHK this month found 80 percent of Japanese consider the current disproportionate distribution of United States forces “wrong” or “somewhat wrong.”
A key flashpoint is the planned relocation of Okinawa’s Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, sometimes dubbed the “world’s most dangerous base” due to its proximity to residential areas.
It is scheduled to move to lesspopulated Henoko, but many Okinawans want it transferred elsewhere in the country, with 70 percent of local voters rejecting the relocation plan in a nonbinding 2019 referendum. — AFP