Thousands protest against US bases in Okinawa
NAHA (Reuters) — Thousands of people gathered on the Japanese island of Okinawa yesterday in one of the biggest demonstrations in two decades against US military bases following the arrest of an American suspected of murdering a local woman.
The protest marks a new low for the US and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in their relations with the island and threatens plans to have the US Marines Futenma air station moved to a less populous part of the island.
The US and Japan agreed in 1996 to close the Futenma site, located in a residential urban area, after the rape of a 12-yearold Japanese schoolgirl by three US military personnel spurred mass demonstrations against the American presence.
That plan has been on hold since residents living near the proposed relocation site protested against the move, worried about noise, pollution and crime.
Okinawa assembly members opposed to the move won a majority in the prefectural assembly election this month, providing renewed support for Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga’s plan to have the base move elsewhere.
Okinawa hosts 50,000 US nationals, including 30,000 military personnel and civilians employed at US bases.
The site of some of the bloodiest fighting between US and Japanese forces in World War Two, Okinawa remained under American occupation until 1972 and around a fifth of its land is still under US military control.