More than 90,000 residents of Japan’s Okinawa Island rallied on Sunday against the U.S. military base there, the largest in the Asia-Pacific region. Similar protests were held in Tokyo a day prior.
The protesters, holding banners like “No Base!” or “U.S. bases leave Okinawa!,” appealed to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to remove the air base completely from the island. Okinawa governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, also joined the rally as did more than 30 local town mayors.
Okinawa residents have been complaining of noise, pollution, and conflicts with U.S. soldiers, including the alleged rapes of a schoolgirl and another young woman.
Under a 2006 pact between Tokyo and Washington, the air base Futenma was to be moved from Ginowan city in the center of the island to a coastal area. However, one of Hatoyama’s election promises was to review the deal and move the U.S. military base completely off Okinawa.
Hatoyama, who is now under the pressure from the Washington to honor the 2006 agreement, said in the Parliament on Friday that he would “stake his job” to resolved the dispute by the end of May.
So far, any alternative location considered has sparked local protests against the idea.
The base, established in 1945, hosts more than half of the 47,000 American soldiers stationed in Japan under a security pact. The island was occupied by the United States until 1972 as a legacy of the Japan’s defeat in the World War II.
The protesters, holding banners like “No Base!” or “U.S. bases leave Okinawa!,” appealed to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to remove the air base completely from the island. Okinawa governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, also joined the rally as did more than 30 local town mayors.
Okinawa residents have been complaining of noise, pollution, and conflicts with U.S. soldiers, including the alleged rapes of a schoolgirl and another young woman.
Under a 2006 pact between Tokyo and Washington, the air base Futenma was to be moved from Ginowan city in the center of the island to a coastal area. However, one of Hatoyama’s election promises was to review the deal and move the U.S. military base completely off Okinawa.
Hatoyama, who is now under the pressure from the Washington to honor the 2006 agreement, said in the Parliament on Friday that he would “stake his job” to resolved the dispute by the end of May.
So far, any alternative location considered has sparked local protests against the idea.
The base, established in 1945, hosts more than half of the 47,000 American soldiers stationed in Japan under a security pact. The island was occupied by the United States until 1972 as a legacy of the Japan’s defeat in the World War II.
