Japan threatens to kick out US troops

[Okinawa]

Japan threatens to kick out US troops

Japan is threatening to ask US troops based on the island of Okinawa to leave the country amid growing resentment over crime.

Comment: The crimes started when the Global Elites decided to make The Ryukyu Kingdom an independent region of the world. Documentation goes back over a hundred years. Genocide/Democide was condoned by the United Nations Organization, Bankers, a.k.a The Rockefeller Network, and the Japanese council on foreign relations.

By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
Published: 6:11PM BST 07 Oct 2009

The new government is reviewing an agreement with Washington on US military facilities following through on a campaign pledge to islanders who have borne the brunt of the American presence for more than 60 years.

Around 50,000 American troops are based in Japan, around two-thirds of the total are in Okinawa. Resentment against their presence has grown in recent years due to a series of crimes committed by service personnel.

Many of the crimes are relatively trivial, but other cases have brought tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets. In February 2008, a case against a marine accused of raping a girl aged 14 was dropped after she withdrew the accusation, apparently to avoid the ordeal of a trial.

The case revived bitter memories of the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in 1995 by three US servicemen.

Katsuya Okada, the foreign minister, said he wants the American military to remain in Japan but that the concentration on Japan's most southerly islands needed to be reduced.

"The only way this presence can be sustained in the long term is to make sure that the burden on the Okinawans is decreased in some way," he said. "Only by accomplishing these goals will we be able to ensure that the US-Japan alliance will be sustainable."

Another long-standing complaint against the US forces is pollution and the noise their aircraft make during practice flights, particularly at bases that are in the most densely populated parts of the island.

The most seriously affected municipality is Ginowan, which surrounds the Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station.

The previous Japanese government had reached an agreement with Washington to transfer 8,000 Marines and their dependants to the Pacific island of Guam by 2012, close the Futenma facility and transfer its functions to an enlarged US base on the north-east coast of the prefecture.

The plan has been attacked by people living close to Camp Schwab and environmentalists, who claim that the proposal for new runways built on reclaimed land will devastate the local flora and fauna.

The US has stated that it wants to stick with the existing plan. John Roos, the US ambassador to Tokyo, said on Friday that Japan will be given time "to analyse, to review, to ask questions and, hopefully, come to the conclusion that it is in both parties' best interests."

It is not at all certain that Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister, agrees with that assessment as he has been a vocal critic of U.S. foreign and financial policies, as well as expressing a desire to follow a more independent security line than previous Japanese governments.

Mr Hatoyama himself has indicated that he would support reducing the burden on the people of Okinawa by moving the activities of Futenma out of the prefecture entirely.

Work to review the agreement began in the Japanese cabinet on Friday, with no deadline set for a decision, according to Mr Okada.

The urgency of the situation is underlined by the arrival in Japan in November of President Barack Obama, who will arrive with hopes of settling the contentious issue once and for all.

Will Hatoyama also remove the CIA/MI6 and UN/NATO operatives that are abusing the Okinawan society? What about the millions of Asians that have been murdered, and continued to be murdered due to the presence of these criminals?

[luckee1]

We knew this was coming.

[Joseon]

If somebody came to your home and trashed your place, pillaged your belongings and raped your children, how would you personally feel? Is anybody surprised that Japanese and many foreigners are disgusted with American military presence?

[luckee1]

If somebody came to your home and trashed your place, pillaged your belongings and raped your children, how would you personally feel? Is anybody surprised that Japanese and many foreigners are disgusted with American military presence?

Joseon, we are all on the same side.  I was stationed in Iwakuni and in Okinawa, I am aware of the trashing that we Americans have done.  To be honest with all, I think the cultural change we did is a worse crime.  The elders are not honored as they were in years ago.  The health of the Japanese has deteriorated accordingly.  If we were not there, it would have happened but not at the rate it has.

[Okinawa]

I am aware of the trashing that we Americans have done.  To be honest with all, I think the cultural change we did is a worse crime. 

The trashing will be sustainable...

NATO's Post-conflict Tasks include the stabilization of the educational system. In doing so, foreign military personnel are in the schools, promoting the NWO's agenda. Culture creation, global warming, brainwashing through imported content, coercion, networked alliances, censorship etc., are at the heart of this illusion of democracy.

[Okinawa]

US airbase could stay on Japan's Okinawa, says governor http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091014/wl_asia_afp/japanusdiplomacymilitary
by Shingo Ito Shingo Ito – Wed Oct 14, 12:09 pm ET

TOKYO (AFP) – The governor of Japan's Okinawa prefecture said a US military base could stay on the island, officials said Wednesday -- the latest twist in a row weeks before President Barack Obama visits the country.

Japan's new centre-left government, which took power last month, has said it wants the air base moved off the island or even outside Japan, which would reverse a 2006 pact that a conservative government reached with Washington.

The renewed debate over where to move the controversial US Marine Corps Futenma Air Base -- now located in a densely populated urban area of Okinawa -- has cast a cloud over a scheduled November 12-13 Tokyo visit by Obama.

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima on Tuesday submitted a position paper to the central government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in which he said the priority now was to move the base away from its current urban setting.

"It's best to transfer the facility outside of the prefecture, but I would concede to a plan for the relocation within the prefecture in order to get rid of the danger (of its urban location) as soon as possible," Nakaima said in the statement, according to local government officials in Okinawa prefecture.

The governor urged the central government to "clarify its policy on the relocation of the air base and present specific proposals at an early date."

But he argued that the planned new runways should be built "at the farthest possible place from the shore" to reduce aircraft noise for residents, and said the environmental impact would have to be studied ahead of construction.

The Futenma base on the island, which hosts more than half of the 47,000 American troops stationed in Japan, has long angered residents because of aircraft noise and frictions between the community and US service personnel.

Hatoyama has said he wants to review a 2006 accord with Washington under which the current base would be closed, thousands of Marines moved to Guam, and others moved to a new US base to be built by 2014 in an Okinawa coastal area.

The premier -- who has said he wants a "more equal" relationship with the United States, Japan's traditional top ally, but also voiced admiration for Obama -- said he wanted to seek more local opinions on the divisive topic.

"We have to listen to the opinions not only of the governor but of all the people in Okinawa," Hatoyama told reporters on Tuesday.

"We cannot ignore the Japan-US accord, which includes some important parts," Hatoyama said, adding that he still wanted to consider various opinions.

Shizuka Kamei, head of the People's New Party -- one of Hatoyama's two small coalition partners -- took a stronger line, telling reporters: "Japan has long said yes, yes, yes to America, but that era is over."

Kamei, who is also financial services minister, added: "Our new government is to discuss security issues with America on an equal footing. With that as a condition, we want to consider how we can resolve the Okinawa issue."

Mizuho Fukushima, head of the other coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, insisted Hatoyama keep his pledge to remove the base from Okinawa, saying: "I will work hard and maintain opposition to building a new base."

Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, said during a visit to Japan last weekend that he hoped "real progress" would be made on the issue before Obama's visit.

But Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Tuesday that Tokyo does not expect to reach a breakthrough on the issue before Obama's visit.

[Okinawa]

"We have to listen to the opinions not only of the governor but of all the people in Okinawa," Hatoyama told reporters on Tuesday.

"We cannot ignore the Japan-US accord, which includes some important parts," Hatoyama said,

Should the people of Okinawa know that Emperor Hirohito had made secret deals with the United Nations / UK / USA / ... which planned for the Okinawa genocide/democide of the inferior peasants?

Should the people of Okinawa be told Emperor Hirohito agreed to the separation of Okinawa from Japan numerous times after WWII?

Should the people of Okinawa be told that the long term plans for the Kingdom is to isolate it, making it 1 of the regions of the world?

Should the people of Okinawa be told that they do not live in a democratic society?

[luckee1]

Should the people of Okinawa know that Emperor Hirohito had made secret deals with the United Nations / UK / USA / ... which planned for the Okinawa genocide/democide of the inferior peasants?

Should the people of Okinawa be told Emperor Hirohito agreed to the separation of Okinawa from Japan numerous times after WWII?

Should the people of Okinawa be told that the long term plans for the Kingdom is to isolate it, making it 1 of the regions of the world?

Should the people of Okinawa be told that they do not live in a democratic society?

yes indeed!

[Okinawa]

Japan PM says will not rush U.S. base decision http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091024/ts_nm/us_japan_usa
By Yoko Nishikawa Yoko Nishikawa Sat Oct 24, 1:49 pm ET

HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) – Japan's prime minister sidestepped questions on Saturday about reports he was about to agree to keep a U.S. military base on Okinawa island, a move that would settle a dispute with Washington but upset locals.

Japan's Asahi newspaper said on Saturday it was increasingly likely he would agree to the plan, and Sankei newspaper has said he would tell U.S. President Barack Obama, when he visits next month, that the matter would be settled by year-end.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama denied the Obama visit was a deadline for solving the spat which is highly sensitive both for relations with Washington and for internal political reasons.

"As I said before, it is not something we need to rush because President Obama will come to visit," Hatoyama told reporters in the Thai seaside town of Hua Hin, where he was attending an Asian summit.

A broad plan to reorganize U.S. forces in Japan was agreed in 2006 with Japan's long-dominant conservative party after a 1996 deal failed to gain support of local people.

Many residents on the island of Okinawa, home to about half the 47,000 U.S. military forces in Japan, complain about crime, noise and pollution associated with the bases and say they have borne an unfair share of the burden for the security alliance.

Central to the reorganization deal is a plan to move the functions of the Marines' Futenma air base from a crowded urban area of Okinawa to a more remote part of the island, and shift 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam.

Hatoyama, who took office in September, said during the election campaign he wanted the base moved off the island, which lies 1,600 km (1,000 miles) from the mainland -- something U.S. officials said would undermine broader security agreements.

Foreign Minister Katsyua Okada said on Friday it was unrealistic to shift the functions of Futenma off Okinawa.

But Hatoyama said that was merely Okada's view. "I am the one to make a final decision," he said.

Asked whether moving the base off Okinawa was still an option, Hatoyama said: "Saying it is difficult is not the same as saying it is out of the picture."

"The agreement between the United States and Japan is important. But what we advocated during the election is also important," he added. "And we should respect the feeling of people in Okinawa the most."

FIRST BIG TEST

The long-planned reorganization of the U.S. military presence in Japan is the first big test of ties between Washington and a new Japanese government that wants more equal relations with its closest security ally.

How Hatoyama copes with the dispute could also affect voter support for his month-old government, now riding high at about 70 percent in most polls, especially if he looks indecisive.

"When we make a final decision, we need to convince people of Okinawa and the Japanese public of our decision and need to gain their understanding," Hatoyama said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates this week made a blunt call for the planned realignment to be implemented and for Tokyo to decide on the issue before Obama's visit.

The diplomatic dispute highlights questions about the overall future of U.S.-Japan alliance, which turns 50 next year, as both face the challenge of China's rising clout.

Hatoyama stressed relations with Washington remained key.

"I have mentioned (the U.S.-Japan alliance) because it is important to send a message that both the United States and East Asia are important," he said.

"It is true that I am trying not to be one-sided."

(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Linda Sieg; editing by Robin Pomeroy)

[Okinawa]

Japan govt coalition partner rejects US base proposal http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091024/wl_asia_afp/japanusmilitarydiplomacy
Sat Oct 24, 1:32 am ET

TOKYO (AFP) – A coalition partner of Japan's centre-left government on Saturday voiced opposition to a fresh proposal for keeping a controversial US base within the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday the Marine Corps Futenma Air Base should not be moved off Okinawa but could be merged with other US military facilities in the island.

But Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party, one of the two minor coalition parties, rejected the proposal and insisted that the base must be moved off the island.

"I oppose the hasty and coercive proposal," Fukushima told reporters. "We should not be in a hurry even if it takes some time before reaching a final conclusion."

[Okinawa]

Demo of 21,000 people demand closure of Futenma air base
The Japan Times: Monday, Nov. 9, 2009

GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Around 21,000 people protested against the planned relocation of a U.S. military airfield within Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Japan, in a sign of growing local frustration over the new Japanese government's vague stance in reviewing the transfer plan. KYODO PHOTO

The protesters called for the immediate closure of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station located in a downtown residential area of Ginowan and urged Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to reject the transfer of the facility to a coastal zone in Nago, northern Okinawa, in his talks with Obama slated for Friday in Tokyo.

Demonstrators braved the heat to pack into an open-air theater in a seaside park in Ginowan, central Okinawa, and adopted a resolution stating, "The small island of Okinawa doesn't need a base any more. We oppose the construction of a new facility in the Henoko (district of Nago) and (Futenma's) relocation within Okinawa."

They accused U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates of "intimidating" the Japanese government over the relocation issue when he pressed Japan last month to stick to a 2006 bilateral deal on the Futenma transfer and to resolve the matter before Obama's arrival.

Under the 2006 pact, the two countries agreed to transfer the heliport functions of the Futenma facility to the Marines' Camp Schwab in the less densely populated city of Nago by 2014.

The demonstrators also urged the Japanese government in the resolution "not to cave in to U.S. pressure and convey Okinawan people's voices without hesitation to the United States in bilateral negotiations from 'equal' position."

The rally brought together the heads of U.S. base-hosting local municipalities as well as Diet members elected from Okinawa who belong to the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners — the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party.

The DPJ, which came to power in September after a sweeping election victory, has promoted the idea of moving the Futenma airfield out of Okinawa or even out of Japan, even though it would go against the 2006 accord signed as part of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.

But Hatoyama has recently appeared evasive on the issue, saying Tokyo will take time to consider the matter, as the issue has developed into a major headache for bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said in a television program earlier in the day that Hatoyama and Obama are likely to skip in-depth discussions on the Futenma relocation during their talks because they are unlikely to find a breakthrough.

Okada has complicated the issue by advocating merging the Futenma functions with the nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base. The proposal had been considered but dismissed during past negotiations between Tokyo and Washington due to operational difficulties and local protests.

Over 2,000 people staged a rally Saturday in the town of Kadena in protest against Okada's proposal.

While Okinawa makes up only 0.6 percent of Japan's land mass, it accounts for around 75 percent of the land area for facilities exclusively used by U.S. forces in Japan.

Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga, who took part in the rally, and other participants are scheduled to make an appeal to the defense and foreign ministries as well as the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo over the Futenma issue ahead of Obama's arrival.

At the rally, Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha said the Futenma facility is "the most dangerous base in the world" and urged Hatoyama to tell Obama that Japan will not allow a new U.S. military facility to be constructed in Okinawa. In that way, the two countries can create "new future-oriented bilateral relations," he said.

In August 2004, a Marine helicopter crashed on the campus of Okinawa International University in Ginowan. The campus is located adjacent to the Futenma air station.

Zenshin Takamine, chairman of the Okinawa prefectural assembly, said the burden on Okinawa residents of hosting bases "has exceeded a level acceptable" to the people. He also blasted Gates for "pressuring" Japan to abide by the 2006 accord, saying the U.S. defense secretary still regards Okinawa as a "U.S. colony."

A majority in the assembly is opposed to the transfer of the Futenma heliport functions to Camp Schwab, following an assembly election in June last year. In July 2008, the assembly adopted a resolution objecting to the planned relocation of the Futenma base to Nago.

Takekiyo Toguchi, a resident of Nago, said the Japanese people "took a historic step forward" by realizing a change of government in the Aug. 30 House of Representatives election and that a different approach on the base issue will prove that the country has changed.

Claiming the construction of V-shaped runways in the coastal area would destroy the rich marine environment, Toguchi urged Hatoyama and Obama to "hear local voices." "By allowing the construction of the new military facility, we will indirectly aid killings. Don't create a 'base for murder' anymore," he said.

Toguchi's 12-year-old son also asked why the planned relocation of the Futenma base to Nago is still being discussed, although a referendum in the city conducted in 1997 clearly showed a majority of local residents opposed the plan.

"Are adults allowed to break their promises? I hope Mr. Hatoyama will not ruin our future," he said at the gathering.

The Nago city government accepted the transfer of the Futenma base to its Henoko district despite the referendum result, in exchange for stimulus measures for the local economy provided by the central government.

The Japan Times: Monday, Nov. 9, 2009
(C) All rights reserved

[Okinawa]

Okinawa police investigate possible hit-and-run involving U.S. military vehicle
Monday, Nov. 9, 2009

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Okinawa prefectural police said Sunday they have begun examining a vehicle used by U.S. military personnel in connection with the death of a man in the village of Yomitan in a possible hit-and-run accident.

The vehicle was brought to a garage close to the site where the man's body was found. The police said hair was found on the broken windshield of the vehicle.

The police said they will conduct a DNA test to see whether the hair on the vehicle is that of the deceased.

A passerby phoned the police after finding the man's body near a road about 1 km from the Yomitan village office around 5:15 p.m. on Saturday. There was bleeding from the head.

The man was later identified by a relative as Masakazu Hokama, 66. An autopsy revealed that a broken upper spine contributed to his death, the police said.

The Japan Times: Monday, Nov. 9, 2009
(C) All rights reserved

[Okinawa]

Hatoyama, Obama will skip in-depth talks on Futenma: Okada
Monday, Nov. 9, 2009

Kyodo News
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama are unlikely to engage in in-depth discussions on a bilateral dispute over the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps airfield in Okinawa Prefecture when they meet in Tokyo later this week, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Sunday.

"There has been a tacit agreement (between the two countries) that silliness, in which the top Japanese and U.S. leaders discuss the issue but can't decide on anything, should be avoided," Okada said during a TV Asahi program.

He also said the issue over the Futenma airfield should be resolved by coming up with a solution acceptable to the various parties, including people in Okinawa.

Resolving the dispute by the end of December will be desirable, but it might take longer than that, the minister said.

In May 2006, Japan and the United States agreed to move the heliport functions of Futenma Air Station located in downtown Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to a less densely populated area in Nago, northern Okinawa, by 2014. The two countries also agreed at the time on the transfer of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan, which came to power in September after a sweeping election victory, has promoted the idea of moving the Futenma airfield out of Okinawa, or even out of Japan, in view of the heavy U.S. military presence in the southernmost prefecture.

At present, the government led by the DPJ is exploring several options, including merging the heliport functions with the nearby Kadena Air Base — a plan opposed by Washington and the people of Okinawa.

The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved

[Okinawa]

Japanese FM Rules Out Base Deal During Obama Visit
Posted By Jason Ditz On November 8, 2009

Though the rising dispute over US military bases in Okinawa has been a hot subject for Japanese foreign policy, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada says that his government will not finalize any deals during President Obama’s visit later this week.

Tensions have been rising between Japan and the United States since Japan’s Democratic Party (DPJ) took power in August, the first major regime change the nation has seen since World War 2. The DPJ ran on the basis of ending US dictation of Japanese foreign policy, and called for a renegotiation of the Okinawa base deal.

But the US has absolutely ruled out any renegotiations, and has demanded the new government accept the deals the previous government signed, even though the unpopularity of those deals was in no small way responsible for the DPJ’s election. The US has grown impatient with the delay, and Japan has threatened to oust them entirely from Okinawa.

Which it seems may suit the Okinawans just fine, as an estimated 21,000 organized a massive protest along the beach calling for the removal of the US Marine base. Okinawans have complained that since the US occupation, they have been asked to bear an inordinate amount of responsibility for housing American forces, and the crime and pollution they bring with them.

[Okinawa]

Thousands protest at Japanese US air base
By Isabel Reynolds, Reuters
Monday, 9 November 2009

Protesters wearing traditional hats bearing slogans participate in a mass rally against a US base in Ginowan

Thousands of Japanese gathered in sweltering heat on the southern island of Okinawa yesterday to demand that a US Marine base be moved out of the region, days ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama.

The row over the re-siting of the Futenma air base threatens to stall a realignment of the 47,000 US military personnel in Japan and sour defence ties between the two countries, seen as key in a region home to a rising China and an unpredictable North Korea.

It could also prove a domestic headache for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose support ratings have slipped since his landslide election victory in August.

"Okinawa's future is for us, the Okinawan people to decide," Ginowan mayor Yoichi Iha told a supportive crowd which spilled out of an open-air theatre by the beach. "We cannot let America decide for us."

Organisers put the number of protesters at 21,000.

Under a 2006 US-Japan agreement, the Futenma Marine base in the centre of the city of Ginowan is set to be closed and replaced with a facility built partly on reclaimed land at Henoko, a remoter part of the island, by 2014.

The deal, which Washington wants to push through after years of what a military official called "painful" negotiations, is part of a wider plan to re-organise US troops and reduce the burden on Okinawa by moving up to 8,000 Marines to Guam.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has urged Japan to approve the plan ahead of Obama's visit, which is scheduled to start on November 12.

Hatoyama, who has vowed to build a more equal relationship with the United States, said in the run-up to his August election victory the base should be moved off the island.

That view was supported by 70 per cent of Okinawa residents in a poll published this month by the Mainichi newspaper.

"I think getting rid of Futenma would be a good starting point for the removal of all the US bases from Okinawa," said a 60-year-old woman at yesterday's protest, who gave her name only as Shinzato.

Okinawa, controlled by the United States until 1972, makes up only 0.6 per cent of Japan's land mass, but hosts about half the US troops in Japan. Those who live near the bases complain of noise, crime, pollution and accidents.

"It's such a wonderful place. It makes no sense to build it here," said Hiroshi Ashitomi, a long-time anti-base campaigner.

Environmentalists are anxious to protect marine life including coral and rare dugongs in nearby waters.

Others have different priorities.

"Nature is important, but the primary responsibility of a politician is to protect people's lives and property," said Kosuke Gushi, a regional assemblyman with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party that signed off on the plan while in government.

He and other backers of the existing plan, including Ginowan businessmen, say they are concerned re-opening the issue will mean an indefinite delay to the closure of Futenma, where a 2004 helicopter crash added to fears over safety.

Gushi also sees the row as potentially undermining Japan's US-dependent security policy, leaving the country vulnerable.

"If we can't provide the bases as we have pledged to do under the US-Japan security treaty, the Americans could pull out and say they are no longer responsible," Gushi said.

Hatoyama has said he needs time to review the existing base plan, but his Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa has more or less endorsed the current agreement.

[luckee1]

Marine base debate opens rift in US-Japan ties
By ERIC TALMADGE, AP
1 hour ago

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20091110/AS.Japan.Base.in.Limbo/

_{Marine base debate opens rift in US-Japan ties
In this Feb. 12, 2007 file photo, helicopters and transport planes are seen on a tarmac of Futenma Marine Corps Air Station next to Okinawa residential quarters in Ginowan in Okinawa, Japan. For decades, it has been a rallying point for Okinawans frustrated by the realities of sharing their tiny island with tens of thousands of U.S. troops. So when Tokyo and Washington agreed three years ago to move Futenma to a more secluded place _ the product of nearly 12 years of talks _ the deal was hailed as a huge breakthrough. Then Japan got a new government. Now, with President Barack Obama visiting Friday, Nov. 13, and Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, Japan's fledgling liberal Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has put the plan on hold, and the debate about the future of Futenma and its nearly 4,000 Marines is fast becoming a major test of their countries' alliance. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye, FILE)}

TOKYO — Political wrangling by Japan's new government over plans to move a major U.S. Marine base on Okinawa has opened a wide rift in Washington's most important Asian alliance ahead of President Barack Obama's visit later this week.

The relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is the centerpiece of a sweeping realignment plan for the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan.

Washington and Tokyo agreed three years ago to move the airstrip, which is located in a crowded city and for decades has stood as a symbol of the heavy burden the tiny island of Okinawa has to bear to support Japan's military alliance with the United States.

But, in one of its first significant diplomatic moves, Japan's newly elected liberal administration has put the whole deal on hold.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who took office in September, has refused to accept any deadlines for signing off on the deal to move Futenma to a more remote part of Okinawa. With no progress likely during his Friday meeting with Obama, he was expected to focus on Japan's offer of $5 billion in new aid for Afghanistan and to discuss climate change and economic issues.

Obama tried to smooth over the dispute in remarks before his departure.

"I'm confident that once that review is completed that they will conclude that the alliance that we have, the basing arrangements that have been discussed, all those things serve the interests of Japan," Obama told NHK, Japan's public broadcaster.

Even so, the two sides remain so far apart on the Futenma move that Senior White House Asia adviser Jeffrey Bader told reporters Monday that Washington does not believe the base issue is "ripe for resolution or a focus" of the two-day visit, which was delayed by a day for Obama to attend a memorial service for victims of the Fort Hood shooting.

The U.S. security relationship with Japan is more crucial than ever, with China's influence and military strength rising rapidly and North Korea honing its nuclear and missile technologies.

But senior American officials say that as long as the Futenma move is on hold, they can't move forward with a bigger effort to reshape their footprint in the Pacific — including a plan to move 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

"What seemingly has been brought to the fore is the commitment on the part of this government to an agreement that we made with the Japanese government, between our two countries," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said before a recent meeting with Japan's foreign minister. "We think it is urgent to examine and commit as rapidly as possible."

Before taking office, Hatoyama said he wants the base moved off Okinawa or pulled out of Japan completely. He has since essentially frozen plans to move the base to a location farther north on Okinawa by 2014 and vowed to "fundamentally review" a broader effort to revitalize the U.S. military's presence in Japan.

Hatoyama's position reflects long-standing skepticism among Japanese progressives about whether the country needs so many U.S. troops, although most generally agree the presence has contributed to regional stability.

Hatoyama has tried not to upset the U.S., but he is also keenly aware of his campaign promises to lighten the load on Okinawa, which makes up less than 1 percent of Japan's land but hosts about 75 percent of all the U.S. bases.

"This is an issue that needs careful consideration," Hatoyama said under sharp questioning in parliament last week by members of the staunchly pro-U.S. Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled Japan for most of the postwar period and signed off on the 2006 Okinawa deal. "We must not hurry to a decision."

That stance has not gone over well in the Pentagon.

In two high-profile and unusually pointed visits intended to pave the way for Obama's two-day visit, Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly told Tokyo they wanted Japan to sign off on the realignment plan in time for the president's arrival.

Mullen warned delays could foster distrust.

Japan has long been one of Washington's most reliable military partners. It pays more than $2 billion a year to support the U.S. troops — more than any other host nation.

Along with the U.S. Marine contingent, Japan is the home port for the U.S. 7th Fleet, including the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its battle group, and several important U.S. Air Force bases and ballistic missile defense batteries.

But as Okinawa's population has grown and become more prosperous, the space taken up by the U.S. bases has become a more pressing issue.

More than 20,000 people protested the military presence on Sunday in one of the biggest demonstrations since outrage over the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by two Marines and a sailor pushed U.S. military and Japanese government officials to negotiate the realignment plan in the first place.

"This protest has demonstrated our renewed opposition and our desire for the base to be moved elsewhere, if it is relocated at all," said Yoichi Iha, the mayor of Ginowan, which surrounds the base. "I think the Hatoyama government has shown understanding of our position."

Kenzo Fujisue, a senior member of Hatoyama's party and an expert on relations with the U.S., acknowledged that Hatoyama's position on Futenma has caused growing concern in Washington, but stressed that Japan must make its own decisions.

"It is good for Japan to discuss this thoroughly and squarely, rather than being a yes-man, as it used to be," he said.

___

Associated Press Writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.

[Okinawa]

Base relocation remains thorn in side of Japan-U.S. ties
By ERIC JOHNSTON, Staff writer
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009

OSAKA — On April 12, 1996, Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota was meeting with prefectural officials when Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto telephoned with big news.

"It's been decided that Futenma will be returned. However, a replacement facility will probably be necessary. Please cooperate," Hashimoto told Ota. The governor, however, told Hashimoto he'd have to discuss the issue with other prefectural officials.

"U.S. Ambassador Walter Mondale is coming in five minutes. There's no time," Hashimoto replied. When Ota said he would not cooperate where he could not, Hashimoto said that, as Ota spoke English, he could tell Mondale that himself.

A few minutes later, the governor received a call from Mondale and merely thanked him for agreeing to return Futenma. Afterward, Hashimoto and Mondale announced the agreement, unaware they'd begun a process that more than 13 years later remains unresolved and is now a full-blown bilateral political snafu.

The saga of Futenma is one of misunderstandings, poor communication, bureaucratic rivalries, opportunistic politicians and business leaders, indifferent central government bureaucrats and deep opposition among Okinawans, critics say. In addition, arrogance on the part of U.S. officials, especially former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the architect of a 2006 agreement, has been blamed by many Okinawans and Americans for making a bad problem worse.

To break the impasse, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has floated the idea of integrating Futenma into Kadena Air Base in central Okinawa instead of straddling a cape near Nago. But the idea is nothing new.

It was, in fact, originally suggested by Japan back in 1996 during negotiations with the U.S, while the Americans offered unused land within the Kadena Ammunition Storage Area. Both ideas were nixed when the U.S. side opposed relocating to Kadena Air Base due to operational and safety concerns, as well as the bureaucratic rivalries between the air force at Kadena and the marines at Futenma.

Residents living near the base and munitions area also vigorously opposed the plans. After the prefectural assembly passed a resolution later in 1996 opposing Futenma's relocation within the prefecture, Kadena was no longer an option.

Other alternatives surfaced during bilateral negotiations in the mid-1990s. One was to fill in a sea area west of the city of Urasoe, south of Futenma. It was close to Camp Zukeran, where many marines live, and the waters were shallow.

The U.S., however, objected, saying that because it was on Okinawa's western coast, it couldn't easily be defended. Nakagusuku Bay, off the marines' White Beach Training Area, was also considered, but Ota opposed that plan, saying it would interfere with commercial development plans.

But Camp Schwab, farther north on Okinawa Island, was mentioned by both the U.S. and Japan as a possible location.

By November 1996, the sea off Camp Schwab emerged as a preferred location, even though Nago passed a unanimous resolution opposing an offshore airstrip. A month later, the U.S. and Japan released a "final" report that called for pursuing a sea-based facility to absorb the operational functions of Futenma, construction of a 1,300-meter runway, and for the current Futenma facility to be returned by 2003 at the latest.

The report did not specify an exact location for a replacement facility but said it was to be located off the east coast of Okinawa, so Nago was clearly in the running.

Despite considerable opposition, many Nago businesspeople favored the project. They presented their own plan, which called for a heliport to be built on reclaimed land with more local workers and participation by local construction firms. This, they told Tokyo, was the only way to overcome the opposition.

Nago seemed to be the best option for the U.S. and Japan, but local politicians in Okinawa fiercely opposed the move.

A nonbinding plebiscite was held in December 1997 in which 52 percent of Nago voters said no to an offshore heliport. Three days later, Nago's mayor met Hashimoto, told him he was ignoring the plebiscite, accepted the heliport, and then announced he would step down.

Two months later, a candidate in favor of the heliport won the mayoral election by a mere 1,100 votes. But Okinawa Gov. Ota rejected the heliport, creating distrust in Tokyo and Washington and further straining relations between Okinawa and the central government. The governor has the authority to approve the land fill necessary for the heliport, and thus can halt the entire relocation plan.

Ota, however, was replaced in the 1998 election by Keiichi Inamine, who convinced voters he could break the impasse between Tokyo and Okinawa and bring economic prosperity if local firms benefited from the construction of the new facility and nearby residents were not affected by the noise.

Inamine proposed a facility to be shared by the U.S. military and commercial airlines and a 15-year time limit on the facility, both of which were opposed by the U.S.

Yet Washington understood Inamine was the only candidate who might get a replacement facility built. Then U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen gave Inamine's campaign a boost by saying the U.S. would review the heliport proposal if the central and prefectural governments agreed on an alternative.

Pressure from Tokyo and Washington on Inamine to fulfill the 1996 agreement grew after he took office. So he put together a study group of potential sites, although critics would later question just how serious he considered other locations. In September 1999, Inamine announced that the area off Nago was the best alternative.

As a carrot, the central and prefectural governments promised a ¥100 billion economic stimulus package for northern Okinawa Island. Not long afterward, Nago passed a resolution accepting a relocation facility, although what kind of facility would be built had not been decided.

Despite all of the political maneuvering and promises of money, opposition to relocation within the prefecture remained strong, and no further progress was made, creating concern in Washington when George W. Bush became president in 2000.

By 2003, the year by which Futenma was originally supposed to have been relocated, the U.S. Defense Department under Rumsfeld was drawing up plans for a major force realignment in Asia.

Negotiations between Japan and the U.S. eventually produced a comprehensive realignment agreement in 2006, the centerpiece of which was the relocation of Futenma to the cape near Nago in the Henoko district, where Camp Schwab is located, by 2014 in exchange for transferring 8,000 marines and their dependents, who at the time numbered around 9,000, to Guam.

To the shock and dismay of Okinawans, the agreement called for a previously unheard-of two runways in a V pattern and a facility to be built partially offshore but closer to land than the prefecture or Nago wanted. It would not be a joint civilian-military facility or have a time limit.

The plan was roundly criticized by all sectors of Okinawan society, while many marines on Okinawa privately said it was unworkable and simply stiffened local opposition.

Inamine was replaced by Hirokazu Nakaima in the November 2006 election. Nakaima campaigned by saying he opposed Tokyo's plans for the facility. But he later began qualifying his statements and by this fall had reversed his position completely, calling acceptance of the Henoko replacement facility inevitable.

Despite ongoing talks over the past three years and widespread local opposition to the Henoko plan, neither Tokyo nor Washington had offered any major concessions by the time the U.S. elected Barack Obama as president last November. Throughout the negotiation process, Washington had been dealing with a Liberal Democratic Party-ruled government in Tokyo. All of that changed in August.

Now, Washington faces resistance not only in Okinawa, where the prefectural assembly is in the hands of opponents belonging to the new force in power, the Democratic Party of Japan, but also among Diet members from Okinawa who are also calling for Futenma to be relocated outside of the prefecture.

In Tokyo, key DPJ figure Yukio Hatoyama told Okinawans in 2008 that he favored moving Futenma out of the prefecture. Now the prime minister, he has said that no decision on Futenma will be made before Obama arrives and that he wants to get the opinion of the Okinawan people on the issue.

But what Hatoyama may be trying to do now is to do away with the 13-year-old history of negotiations between the U.S., Japan and Okinawa, start from scratch and possibly come up with a new agreement in a couple of months, which critics say is impossible.

As Obama arrives in Japan, he finds no realistic alternatives on Futenma's relocation on the table, and growing warnings that Japan's relationship with the U.S. is now under pressure.

As one U.S. State Department official in Japan recently joked, Obama might show he's worthy of his recent Nobel Peace Prize by steering the Futenma issue to a successful conclusion, although successful for who remains an open question.

Interesting, Eisaku Sato received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for his negotiations with the US for reverting Okinawa back to Japan, and removing nuclear weapons. Both the revision of Okinawa and the removal of nuclear weapons were illusionary, as was the Peace Treaty (exchange of notes, rather than a proper treaty). See Skeletons in the closet: Foreign Ministry launches probes into secret dealings with U.S. for more info.

Sato received the Nobel Peace Prize for numerous lies,
Obama for the destruction of the US and the creation of a world government,  oh wait, this is true...

[Okinawa]

Washington, Tokyo at odds on military base closures
13/11/2009

TOKYO, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama are still at odds on a U.S. marine base on Okinawa.

Obama arrived in Tokyo on Friday to kick off his Asian tour.

Newly appointed Hatoyama said in his election campaign earlier that he would not only close the U.S. military base in the city of Futenma, but from the entire southern Japanese island of Okinawa, where some 37,000 U.S. military personnel are based.

"It is a fact that we did campaign on this issue, and the Okinawans do have high expectations," Hatoyama said at a joint press conference with Obama after their meeting.

Washington has so far only agreed to talks on "the implementation" of the Okinawa agreement, which calls for a relocation to Guam of some 8,000 military personnel, but does not expect any major changes in the agreement itself.

"It will be a very difficult issue to resolve, but as time goes by, it would become even more difficult," Hatoyama said.

Japanese experts say the creation of a working group on the military issue is only a show by the prime minister to prove that he is making efforts on his campaign promises.

During the press conference, Obama praised his Japanese counterpart on international security, in particular on what Japan has done for the war in Afghanistan.

Hatoyama pledged $5 billion to Afghanistan in the areas of education and humanitarian aid.

Obama said the promise "underscores Japan's prominent role" in the broad international effort in Afghanistan.

[Lucian Solaris]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

I fully support the removal of US troops from Japan.  I want to thank Japan for helping us save a little bit of money on our defense budget ^_^

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG (Private)

iJ4EAREKAAYFAkr+VpAACgkQTQAbueC+KraNyAIAmtvOIImC+o0aNEepieREuygf
vz930TB0b44Sx2EKNzmm+zcSxdIIahQ2cSe/AQFDkGQhFksMq5Plkqms8bHbgwH/
RKnm2yyMvu8rXMhFlffeKZC+iSWxoxK83rea7A0G0fbLBw0dEsLAkhkis9ptz/Zt
kqo2VmTugfm2C2NleFWfGA==
=CkDT
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

[Okinawa]

Obama, Hatoyama prioritize alliance: Cooperation on nuke arms, emissions; no Futenma deal
Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama vowed Friday to bolster the bilateral alliance and cooperate on pressing global issues, including climate change and nuclear disarmament.

The two also touched on the sensitive relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa. The issue has cast a shadow on bilateral relations. They said it was their common goal to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Earlier this week, the two governments decided to form a ministerial-level working group to find a way to resolve the issue, just in time to avoid direct conflict at the summit.

The working group "will focus on the implementation of the agreement that our two governments reached with respect to the restructuring of the U.S. forces in Okinawa, and we hope to complete this work expeditiously," Obama said during a joint news conference. "Our goal remains the same — and that is to provide for the defense of Japan with minimal intrusion on the lives of the people who share the space."

But the contentious relocation of the Futenma base continues to loom over the Hatoyama administration.

In 2006, the then Liberal Democratic Party-led government signed a bilateral agreement with the U.S. to move the Futenma base's flight operations in Ginowan to U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in Nago on the northern part of Okinawa Island by 2014.

But Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan, which came to power in August amid a strong wave of anti-LDP sentiment, has promised to consider moving the base outside the prefecture or even outside Japan.

Obama arrived at Tokyo's Haneda airport aboard Air Force One earlier in the day on his first official trip to Japan. He will depart Saturday for Singapore to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit.

"I began my trip here in Tokyo because the alliance between the United States and Japan is a foundation for security and prosperity not just for our two countries but for the Asia-Pacific region," Obama said.

With the 50th anniversary of the revision of the Japan-U.S. security treaty coming up next year, the two leaders promised to strengthen the bilateral ties to aim for a "world without nuclear weapons."

"I told Obama that the Japan-U.S. alliance is the foundation of everything in regards to Japan's diplomacy," Hatoyama said. "But the times and the situation of the world have changed and I suggested to further advance and develop the alliance, to create a constructive and future-oriented new Japan-U.S. alliance."

During the evening talks at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, Hatoyama and Obama issued a joint statement, pledging the two governments to work closely toward nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize last month for his vision of a nuclear-free world.

The statement declared that North Korea and Iran should "uphold and adhere to their respective international obligations." Pointing out Pyongyang's recent missile launches and nuclear test, the joint statement stressed, "North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a major threat to peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the entire international community."

Japan and the U.S. also urged North Korea "to return immediately to the six-party (Pyongyang denuclearization) talks without precondition."

Hah

[Okinawa]

2006 U.S. forces deal hard to scrap: Okada
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada admitted Monday it would be difficult to "completely scrap" the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord on reorganizing the American forces in Japan that includes the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa.

He made the remarks after meeting strong resistance from local governments over his call to consider merging the Futenma flight operations, now in Ginowan, with the nearby U.S. Kadena air base instead of moving the base farther north to Nago, as per the bilateral accord.

At a news conference to wrap up a two-day visit to the prefecture, Okada also said it is still "too early" to talk about the feasibility of moving Futenma's operations to Kadena.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reiterated earlier in the day in Tokyo that Japan will engage in discussions on the Futenma issue with the United States in a high-level working group, without acknowledging that the 2006 accord serves as a premise to transfer the facility to Camp Schwab in a less densely populated area near Nago.

"If there is only one answer from the beginning, then there would be no need for Japan and the United States to discuss the matter," Hatoyama told reporters.

After his first visit to Okinawa since becoming foreign minister in September, Okada is expected to accelerate his study into the feasibility of the Kadena-Futenma merger plan, as he hopes to settle the issue before the year runs out.

But it is uncertain how Japan can work out a clear policy on an issue that has recently put new strains on ties with its key security ally.

On Monday, Okada explained to heads of local governments hosting the Kadena base that the idea to incorporate Futenma's operations with Kadena "is one option that I am considering," while realizing that a reduction in aircraft noise would be a prerequisite.

Tokujitsu Miyagi, mayor of Kadena, of which more than 80 percent of the area is used for the air base and related facilities, told Okada it is impossible for his town to accept the merger proposal.

"(I told Okada that) it's impossible to trust (him) even if I am told that our burden will be reduced," Miyagi told reporters after his meeting with the foreign minister, noting a Japan-U.S. agreement over noise prevention has not been effective.

On the Futenma issue, the U.S. is pressing Japan to swiftly abide by the 2006 bilateral accord to relocate Futenma to Nago, while the new Hatoyama administration has been eager to review the agreement on realigning the U.S. forces in Japan.

But Okada said he must admit he has to consider the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord "as a premise to a certain extent" because it has been agreed to by the two nations.

"It's extremely difficult to discuss (the issue) by starting over with a clean slate when there is already a certain agreement on the U.S. forces realignment," he said.

Under the accord, which took years to reach, the Futenma aircraft operations would be shifted to an airfield to be built in Nago by 2014.

The plan involves constructing two runways in a V pattern straddling a cape adjacent to Camp Schwab. Once the replacement airfield is built, around 8,000 marines and their dependents would be transferred from Okinawa to Guam.

Earlier in the day, Okada visited the Kadena air base, the largest U.S. air base in East Asia. It has two 3,700-meter runways and is home to some 50 F-15 fighters, aerial tankers, rescue helicopters and other aircraft. Residents living nearby have long been frustrated with the noise.

Consolidating Futenma's flight operations, mainly involving helicopters, to Kadena is an idea that has already been considered and dismissed in past negotiations with the U.S.

But Okada has said the shift to Kadena would probably be quicker because new runways would not be needed.

[Okinawa]

U.S. official presses implementation of 2006 base deal
By MASAMI ITO, Staff writer
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

Wallace Gregson, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, said Tuesday in Tokyo that adhering to the 2006 bilateral agreement is the only way to proceed on relocating the Futenma military airfield.

Gregson came to Japan to attend the first session of the Japan-U.S. high-level dialogue, attended by Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and U.S. Ambassador John Roos.

"The U.S. government believes that the current agreement is the only option that can be put into practice," Gregson was quoted as saying by a Foreign Ministry official. "It took 15 years of discussion and the U.S. government as a whole takes this position."

The first meeting of a minister-level "working group" to look into the relocation plan was held Tuesday afternoon at the Foreign Ministry.

Some analysts, however, said that creating the panel was just a way to buy time and avoid criticism that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and President Barack Obama couldn't come to an agreement during their summit in Tokyo last Friday.

[Okinawa]

Okada's Futenma-Kadena merger gambit fizzles
By MIYA TANAKA, Kyodo News
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada may have wanted a breakthrough on the thorny issue of where to relocate the Futenma airfield in Okinawa when he revived in late October the previously rejected idea of incorporating it into the nearby Kadena air base.

But consolidating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma with Kadena is not gaining traction, thanks to strong local resistance that was on prominent display during Okada's recent two-day visit to Okinawa.

"I wouldn't say that there's no possibility at all, but we don't know whether it would take 10 years or 20 years to put the plan together. It's that difficult," Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima told reporters after meeting with Okada on Sunday.

At a briefing Monday, Okada said little when asked about "the fruits" of his first visit to the prefecture since assuming his post in September.

"There was a limited amount of time, but I was able to hear from the heads of the local governments concerned and was able to understand the reality more," Okada said, without elaborating.

The Futenma relocation is weighing heavily on the new administration, which is caught between U.S. pressure to swiftly abide by the bilateral accord already reached and the Democratic Party of Japan's stance on the issue before it came to power.

Under the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord that took years to hammer out, the flight operations at the Futenma base in downtown Ginowan are to be moved to an airfield to be built in a less densely populated area in Nago in northern Okinawa by 2014. The plan involves the construction of two runways on landfill near the coast at Camp Schwab.

Okada said it is still "too early" to talk about how he views the feasibility of the Kadena merger while indicating just a day earlier that the prospects weren't very positive.

"The Kadena plan has an advantage in that it would take less time (for the Futenma relocation than the existing plan) because the base already has runways. But the people in Okinawa, especially those close to (Kadena), are strongly opposed," he said. "I have to walk on an extremely narrow path."

Kadena Mayor Tokujitsu Miyagi, who has worked in the past to prevent Futenma from being consolidated at Kadena, the largest U.S. air base in East Asia, also bluntly turned down the possibility of a merger during talks with Okada on Monday. Reflecting his awkward position on Okinawa, which was hoping that the DPJ-led government would move the Futenma base out of the prefecture, Okada remained on the defensive throughout his trip and reiterated that the DPJ's campaign pledges did not specifically refer to Futenma.

"It is not a fact that we promised in our manifesto to relocate Futenma outside the prefecture or outside Japan," Okada told Nakaima during their talks after the governor referred to growing expectations among people in Okinawa regarding the idea.

[Okinawa]

Yes We Can (But We Won't) Obama, Hatoyama and Okinawa http://www.counterpunch.org/lummis11132009.html
Counter Punch Weekend Edition
November 13-15, 2009
By DOUGLAS LUMMIS
Naha, Okinawa

Walking distance from the US Consulate in Okinawa is a Starbucks coffee shop.  My wife and I sometimes go there, because they let you sit at the tables and work, so long as you sometimes order coffee.  When Kevin Maher was US Consul, he also used to come in from time to time.  Once, when he was sitting right next to us, we heard him apparently ingratiating himself with  a young Okinawan girl, in his reasonably good (though somewhat whining) Japanese:  “I have no friends at all here.  People put up signs saying, ‘Maher go home’”.  And the girl responding dutifully, “Oh, you poor thing!”

Maher was a Bush neocon appointee, well known for his arrogance and rudeness toward the Okinawan people.  Last year when the US military insisted on its alleged right to land a shipload of GIs on the small Okinawan island of Ishigaki for “recreation”, Maher sailed in on the ship with them and made the local newspapers by shouting “Baka yaro!” (roughly, “you idiots!”) at the local demonstrators.  This from a career diplomat.  Not long after that he got into the papers again when, at the same Starbucks, an Okinawan customer walked up to his table and dumped a cup of hot coffee in his lap, shouting “Go Home! or words to that effect.

In his election campaign Obama made no promises to the Okinawans (politicians don’t make promises to people with no vote), but many Okinawans, like many people all around the world, including in the US, allowed their hopes to be roused by that most-marvelously-ambivalent-of-all-possible-slogans, “change.” Very soon after the election the news came in that Maher, far from being canned or given a desk job, had been promoted to the position of Director of the State Department’s Office of Japan Affairs.  So far as the Obama Administration is concerned, “Change” doesn’t apply to Okinawa.  The face that Obama has turned toward Japan as a whole is that of Maher.

But if Obama made no promises to Okinawa, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) did.  In its recent campaign, one of its public promises was to put an end to the plan to build a new US Marine Corps heliport on the sea off the town of Henoko, in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island.

Some background:  in 1995 three US GIs kidnapped and gang raped an elementary school girl here. This event triggered an explosion of pent-up resentment against the US military bases in Okinawa.  An all-Okinawa rally was held that drew some 60,000 people, a significant percentage of the prefecture’s 1.2 million population.  The US and Japan decided they needed to do something, and what they came up with was to promise to shut down the US Marine Air Station at Futenma, which is located smack in the middle of heavily populated Ginowan City, on the condition that it would be relocated offshore from the less-populated town of Henoko in the north.

This launched a powerful opposition struggle that continues today.  Residents of Henoko oppose the new base because it will destroy the sea that has always been their livelihood. Especially old folks remember that it was the sea that kept them alive, gave them food, during the Battle of Okinawa and after.  Ecologists point out that the planned location of the heliport is right in the middle of the northernmost habitat of the rare sea mammal, the dugong, and that construction will probably contribute to that animal’s extinction.  Women from Ginowan, where the base is now, have traveled to Henoko and gone door to door, not to try to persuade people there to accept the base, but to warn them of its dangers:  explosive aircraft noise, accidents, pollution, crimes by GIs, etc. – all the things they have been bearing in Ginowan for so long.  And most Okinawans, including those directly affected neither by the removal of the old base nor by the construction of the new one, are enraged by the idea that the US and Japan think they can pacify them by simply moving a base from one part of Okinawa to another.

Protest has been fierce and sustained.  People from Henoko have been holding a daily sit-in at the Henoko fishing port; recently they celebrated their 2000th day of consecutive sit-in.  Under the leadership of Henoko resident Higashionna Takuma, a team of sea kayakers was trained that has been nonviolently harassing the construction surveyors who come in the measure and test the sea bottom, and have delayed the project by many months and possibly years (and possibly forever).  A court case was filed in San Francisco (Okinawa Dugong et. al. vs. Rumsfeld) arguing that the construction plan violates US laws requiring the protection of cultural properties in US construction projects overseas; in 2005 the judge handed down a favorable decision, but there has been no hint that this has affected US policy.  In election results, in referenda, in opinion poll after opinion poll, Okinawans have made clear that they want this base out of their territory entirely.

It is true that the movement is divided on how to put their demand.  The anti-war purists insist that the movement should make no statement whatsoever as to where the base should go:  they say that it is wrong to relieve their suffering by imposing it on someone else, and that anyway as pacifists they should demand the base should not be moved, but abolished.  A second group sees the issue not only as one of peace, but also of anti-colonialism.  They point out that the bases are in Japan because of the Japan-US Mutual Security Treaty, which was negotiated in Tokyo without consulting Okinawa (when it was first signed Okinawa was still under US military rule).  Most Japanese today seem comfortable with that treaty (the movement against it, once strong, has dwindled to almost nothing), and their comfort is made possible largely by the fact that 75 per cent of the US bases authorized under that treaty are located in tiny Okinawa, which comprises a mere 0.6 per cent of Japanese territory.  They argue, if the Japanese people want US bases in their land, as their lack of opposition to the Security Treaty seems to indicate, isn’t it fair to locate those bases near the homes of the people who want them, rather than the homes of those who don’t’?  (Imagine, if you can, the US government making a treaty with some foreign government to allow their bases on American soil, and then putting 75 per cent of those bases in Puerto Rico.)  Another option that is talked about is Guam, which is, at least formally, US territory.  But Okinawans who see themselves as a colonized people see Guam’s Chamorros as another colonized people, and argue that it would be far better to send the base to Okinawa’s colonizer, Japan.

Until a few years ago the option to move the base to Japan was almost a taboo subject, mainly because mentioning it would make mainland Japanese upset and angry, and saying that one opposed it would elicit from them warm praises for one’s generosity.  But more recently the taboo has been breached, and the option has become part of the public debate.  And once the taboo was lifted, it turned out to have very wide support among Okinawans.  So in the recent national election, the DSP made the removal of Futenma base some site outside of Okinawa, either to the mainland or outside of Japan altogether, and the cancellation of the Henoko project, a campaign promise.  In return for this they got electoral support from Okinawa that was crucial to their takeover of the national government.

The question now is whether they will have the backbone to keep this promise.

From even before the DPJ’s election victory, the US has been putting pressure on it to break that promise.  Before the election, when the DPJ victory was seen to be a sure thing, Secretary of State Clinton came to Japan and with the lame-duck reactionary prime minister Aso Taro signed something called the Guam Agreement, a redundant instrument that was aimed at binding the incoming Japanese Government to the policies decided by the outgoing one:  the Futenma base would be moved to Henoko, some troops would be moved to Guam, the Japanese Government would pay for the move, etc.; all stuff already decided.  Then when Secretary of Defense Gates came to Tokyo in October, after the Hatoyama government came to power, he was pointedly rude, violating rules of diplomatic protocol (refusing to go to a dinner party held in his honor, etc.) and made as clear as he could that the Obama Administration will accept “no change” in it Okinawa policy.  Either the Marine Air Station is moved to Henoko, or else it stays in Futenma, and that’s it.

With this, the Hatoyama Government has started to waffle.  Defense Secretary Okada has begun explaining that there is a difference between a “public promise” and “what one says during an election campaign,” and people are beginning to wonder if the metamorphosis if the DPJ into an ordinary establishment party has already begun.  After the election, Under Secretary of State for Asian Affairs Kurt Campbell said at a symposium (one can imagine the benevolent smile on his face) that the US will not be much harmed by the new Japanese Government, and that “a certain degree of independence” on the part of Japan should be welcomed.  A useful slip: it means that in his view the previous Japanese Governments had not even that much. We’ll soon see if the new administration can do any better.  As I write this, Obama is on his way to Tokyo.  For the last three days one of the local Okinawan papers has had an English language page filled with appeals to Obama to understand Okinawa’s very special situation, and to give up the Henoko base plan.  It would be wise for him to do so.  For whether or not the US puts on a tough performance, or whether or not the Japanese government waffles, the Henoko residents will fight against the base as long as it takes.

Douglas Lummis is a political scientist living in Okinawa and the author of Radical Democracy. Lummis can be reached at ideaspeddler@gmail.com

[Okinawa]

Okinawans frustrated by Futenma standoff http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100107f2.html
By ERIC TALMADGE, The Associated Press
Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010

GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. — When the U.S. took over the airfield here in the closing days of World War II, it was surrounded by sugar cane fields and the smoldering battlegrounds of Okinawa. It is now the focus of a deepening dispute that is testing Japan's security alliance with the United States and dividing the Hatoyama government.

A city has grown up around the base, and helicopters and cargo planes from the U.S. Marine Corps facility buzz so low over Futenma No. 2 Elementary School, whose playground fence borders the facility, that the windows rattle and teachers stop class until the aircraft are on the ground.

"It's just too much," said the school's vice principal, Muneo Nakamura. "I understand the political role the U.S. bases in Japan play. But we have to live here."

That Marine Corps Air Station Futenma must go is not the dispute. U.S. military officials agree the base must be moved. The problem is where.

The U.S. says Futenma cannot be shut down until a replacement is opened elsewhere in Okinawa, an idea most in the prefecture oppose. They have the ear of the government that took office in September.

The standoff has clouded relations between Tokyo and Washington, delayed a plan to restructure America's military presence in Asia and divided Japan's political leadership. It comes as China's rising military strength and North Korea's nuclear threat are changing the security landscape in Asia, underscoring the importance of the U.S. and Japan keeping the issue from creating a major rift.

In Ginowan, the city of 92,000 where the base is located, patience is wearing thin.

The Futenma facility, home to about 2,000 marines and one of the marines' largest facilities in the Pacific, is surrounded by urban sprawl.

The population density outside the base is roughly equivalent to central Tokyo. Intense training by helicopters and planes off a 2,800-meter runway has prompted residents to dub Futenma "the most dangerous base in the world."

The base takes up roughly a quarter of the city's land. Residents must drive around it, causing traffic jams, delays and frustration. Sewer and water lines have been detoured around its perimeter.

"This base violates so many regulations and safety rules that it would be illegal to operate it in the United States," Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha said. "The situation has just been left to fester for too long, and no one has been willing to accept responsibility to do anything."

He also accused the marines of regularly ignoring agreements on when and where they can fly. The city is installing a ¥2 billion radar system this year to keep tabs on them. A court has ruled the noise levels are unacceptable, and ordered the government to compensate residents. An appeal is ongoing.

Lt. Col. Douglas Powell, a spokesman for the Okinawa marines, said no flights are conducted after 11 p.m. and the airstrip is closed Sundays.

"Night training flights are limited to the minimum required to fulfill assigned missions and maintain aircrew proficiency," he said. "Flight patterns can vary due to weather conditions such as wind velocity and wind direction. Marine corps pilots make every effort to minimize overflight of civilian population centers, but, first and foremost, must ensure safe flight operations."

Progress on the Futenma issue has generally only occurred after major incidents have sent Okinawans into the streets in protest.

Following a public uproar over the rape of a local schoolgirl by two marines and a sailor, Tokyo and Washington agreed in 1996 to close the base. The deal bogged down in the details, including finding an alternative site both sides could agree on.

After a helicopter from Futenma crashed on the Okinawa International University campus near the base in August 2004, another agreement was announced in 2006. The university was closed at the time and only the flight crew was hurt.

That "strategic road map" included moving the facility farther north to a less crowded area and reducing the U.S. presence in Okinawa by shifting 8,000 marines from Futenma and other bases to Guam.

But the decision to replace Futenma with another on the outskirts of Nago sparked intense protests.

The new base would likely require bulldozing beaches near Camp Schwab.

"We are not going to let them destroy our ocean to build another military base," said Hiroshi Aratomi, the coleader of a group that has held a daily sit-in for the past five years. "We will be glad to see Futenma go, but not at the price of simply substituting it with another base in our backyard."

The protests by Nago residents have effectively thwarted efforts to finally settle on a site and have the sympathy of Okinawans in general, who would prefer that no replacement facility be built in their prefecture at all.

The U.S. insists the base must stay somewhere in Okinawa so the marine units remain cohesive. Tokyo is listening to the protesters, at least for now.

In large part, that reflects domestic politics. Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party, has threatened to pull her party out of the ruling coalition if the base remains in Okinawa.

Her threat is seen as a major factor behind Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's reluctance to decide on the issue.

"I am optimistic something can be done to move the base off Okinawa or out of the country," Fukushima said after a meeting with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima last month. "We must do our best to see that it is closed soon."

[Okinawa]

Course unclear for Japan-U.S. alliance http://www.japantoday.com/category/commentary/view/course-unclear-for-japan-us-alliance
By Takehiko Kajita
TOKYO —

Despite last week’s accord between Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to further deepen the Japan-U.S. alliance, it is unclear what will actually be achieved in light of a disagreement over a U.S. military air base that has strained bilateral relations.
   
Both the top Japanese and U.S. diplomats spoke highly of the bilateral alliance, saying it has underpinned security in the Asia-Pacific region for the past 50 years.
   
They formally agreed to launch talks to further deepen the alliance, with foreign and defense ministers from the two nations holding a meeting in the first half of this year for a midterm review and seeking a final conclusion in November.
   
Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the current bilateral security arrangements, Clinton said, ‘‘It is an opportunity to mark the progress we have achieved together for our people and for the people of the region and the world.’‘
   
Okada said he hopes the upcoming talks will result in a new document replacing the 1996 Japan-U.S. security declaration, which expanded the scope of the bilateral alliance from one configured for the Cold War era to one encompassing the entire Asia-Pacific region.
   
But questions arise on whether the project will proceed as hoped for, in light of the tension spawned by the bickering over where the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture should be relocated.
   
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan has delayed the decision on the relocation issue until May, indicating that Tokyo could renege on the previously agreed plan to transfer Futenma’s helicopter functions to another site in Okinawa by 2014.
   
There is no guarantee, however, that the Tokyo government and the ruling coalition can reach a decision by then because the Social Democratic Party, a minor coalition partner, insists that the air base facility be moved off the southernmost island prefecture entirely.
   
Hatoyama appears determined to keep the three-way coalition intact, which also includes the People’s New Party, another small party, as the DPJ lacks a majority in the House of Councillors even though it is an overwhelmingly dominant force in the more powerful House of Representatives.
   
Another reason for doubts is Okinawa’s lingering resentment about what its residents see as an unfair burden in maintaining the Japan-U.S. alliance. Okinawa hosts about half the 47,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.
   
While the city of Nago has offered to be home to the facility to Futenma, a mayoral election there on Jan 24 could turn the tide. In the election, an incumbent who accepts the relocation plan under a 2006 bilateral deal will face off with a contender who is opposed to it.
   
Should the central government decide to go ahead with the Nago plan by the election, it would face difficulties in carrying it out because environmental assessment procedures at the planned transfer site in a coastal area will likely be disturbed by local protests.
   
‘‘I’m afraid the net result of what the Hatoyama government is doing would be that the Futenma base will remain put permanently,’’ said a Japanese government official who requested anonymity.
   
Apart from the Futenma dispute, there is another source of doubt about the alliance talks—why it is necessary at this point and in which direction Japan wants to navigate them.
   
The Hatoyama government has pledged to deal with the United States on a more ‘‘equal’’ basis, while emphasizing closer relations with China.
   
After the talks with Clinton, Okada was vague about what will be among major elements to be considered to strengthen the alliance. He said security environments in East Asia, including China’s moves, should be scrutinized, but admitted it is difficult to predict how the talks will evolve.
   
Asked about his own vision for a future alliance with the United States, he said only, ‘‘It may be better for you to pose the question to the prime minister.’’

© 2010 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.

[Okinawa]

Base foe Inamine to be next Nago mayor: Stance against Futenma may further strain U.S. ties
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100125a1.html
Monday, Jan. 25, 2010
By MARIKO YASUMOTO, Kyodo News

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Base-relocation opponent Susumu Inamine was headed for victory in Sunday's mayoral race in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, making it unlikely the city will host a U.S. Marine Corps base Japan and the United States formally agreed to relocate in 2006, late projections by Kyodo News showed.

The local race was being closely watched by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who said he will factor the result into his decision on whether to relocate Futenma air station from the densely crowded city of Ginowan further north to less-crowded Nago, or transfer it outside the prefecture.

The transfer to Nago was agreed to in a bilateral accord Japan and the United States signed in 2006.

Late projections showed that Inamine, 64, was set to beat his sole rival, Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, 63, who has expressed willingness to accept the existing plan if the government led by Hatoyama's ruling Democratic Party of Japan decides to fulfill the bilateral accord.

Under the 2006 deal reached with Japan's previous government, which was led by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, Nago, which has a population of about 60,000, would build a new heliport base along the coast of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab near the Henoko area to accommodate Futenma.

Inamine campaigned until Saturday, vowing not to allow another base into Nago and to finally end the long-standing dispute, which has long divided the city.

Shimabukuro meanwhile made virtually no mention of the relocation issue, arguing that it is a matter neither a mayor nor the local people should decide on.

Instead, he highlighted the achievements of his four-year term, including the creation of 1,000 jobs by luring companies from outside the city and maintaining economic stability by taking advantage of base-related subsidies provided by the state.

Inamine was running as an independent but had support from the DPJ and its coalition partners — the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party — and the Japanese Communist Party.

Shimabukuro, also running as an independent, had the backing of two opposition parties — the LDP and New Komeito.

Since the result could have a bearing on the Futenma issue, however, the DPJ apparently refrained from taking a leading role in Inamine's campaign, unlike in local elections before the pivotal House of Representatives election last August.

In the meantime, Shimabukuro's office turned down overtures for campaign speeches from LDP Diet members, including former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, citing the sluggish popularity of the once-dominant ruling party, which was crushed by the DPJ in the Lower House election.

Inamine also drew support from civic groups opposed to the construction of a new U.S. base, while Shimabukuro was largely backed by construction firms that have benefited from and expect to continue benefiting from state subsidies and related public works projects.

Among the 44,896 eligible voters, 14,239 residents, or around 30 percent, cast early ballots, according to the city's election board.

In Tokyo, Hatoyama repeated last week that his administration would conclude negotiations on the Futenma issue with the U.S. by the end of May.

Since taking office last September, the 62-year-old leader has been evasive on the issue, which has been widely viewed as straining Japan-U.S. ties.

[Okinawa]

Okinawa vote pressures Japan on US Marine base http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8914262
Monday January 25 2010
TOMOKO A. HOSAKA

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese voters delivered another blow to a stalled agreement to relocate a key American military base on Okinawa by electing a mayor on Sunday who campaigned on a promise to oppose the project.

The vote in the Okinawa city of Nago increases pressure on Japan's left-leaning government to mothball an agreement with the U.S. about the base — risking a rift between the allies at a time of rising Asia security concerns from North Korea's nuclear program and China's rising military strength.

Residents of Nago chose challenger Susumu Inamine — who campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area — over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro.

Nago is where Washington and Tokyo agreed in 2006 to move the Futenma U.S. Marine airfield from a more crowded part of the southern Japanese island.

After securing victory, Inamine celebrated with jubilant supporters gathered at his office.

"I fought this campaign vowing to resist the base," he said. "I intend to keep that promise as we move forward."

While the city mayor has little power to decide national policy, the vote could prove pivotal in Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's upcoming decision on whether to implement the relocation pact.

The deal was part of a broader realignment of American troops forged after a helicopter from the base crashed into a university near Futenma. More than half of some 47,000 American troops stationed in Japan are in Okinawa, where many residents complain about noise, pollution and crime linked to the bases.

The Futenma facility, home to about 2,000 Marines, is one of the corps' largest facilities in the Pacific. The United States insists the base must stay somewhere in Okinawa so that the Marine units remain cohesive. But some Japanese politicians have suggested moving the facility off the island altogether, or even out of the country.

Japan's new government — led by a party that was in the opposition when the relocation deal was inked — is now reconsidering that agreement, an about-face that has strained ties between the two allies.

Hatoyama has postponed a decision on Futenma until May, and Sunday's election was seen as a litmus test of local sentiment.

Nago's 60,000 residents are increasingly opposed to hosting a new base, which would likely require bulldozing beaches near an existing Marine facility in the area about 900 miles (1450 kilometers) from Tokyo. The issue sparked intense protests and dominated debate between the two mayoral candidates. Shimabukuro, the outgoing mayor, supported the base for the jobs and investment it would bring.

Turnout was high, with nearly 77 percent of the city's 45,000 registered voters casting ballots. Inamine won with 52.3 percent of the vote, according to the city's election office.

Inamine, an independent, ran with the support of Hatoyama's ruling Democratic Party of Japan. His victory Sunday will make it increasingly difficult for the prime minister to resist pressure to shelve the deal, ruling party lawmaker Hideo Hiraoka said.

"The option to bring forward the (relocation) plan in line with the bilateral accord will almost disappear," Hiraoka told Kyodo News agency.

The Obama administration has already expressed frustrations with Tokyo's delays in finalizing the relocation of the Futenma base — now in the larger Okinawa city of Ginowan with 92,000 people. — saying it is delaying a sweeping realignment plan for U.S. military in the region.

Part of that plan involves moving about 8,000 Marines and their families from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam by 2014, but the American military says that plan cannot move forward until Futenma's replacement facility is complete.

Still, it is unclear what steps Washington could take if Japan's government puts public pressure in Okinawa over its commitments to its ally.

Under a security pact signed in 1960, U.S. armed forces are allowed broad use of Japanese land and facilities. In return, the U.S. is obliged to respond to attacks on Japan and protect the country under its nuclear umbrella.

Any tension between the allies could distract efforts to present a united front as North Korea defies attempts to shut down its nuclear weapons program and China continues to poor money into building up its own vast military.

The outcome of the Nago election, however, puts the Japanese government in an uncomfortable position. Mikio Shimoji, policy chief of the People's New Party, told Kyodo that the outcome of Sunday's election shows that the four-year-old plan to move the base to Nago should be renegotiated despite Washington's dismay.

I think we should compile a new proposal in consideration of this popular will," Shimoji said.

"I expect the United States to respect the people's will of the friendly nation," he added.

[Damascus]

I hope they kick us out, but I am really displeased that they continue to use physical interrogation methods to get their 90% confession rate on crime.

[squarepusher]

There's really no legitimate basis for those Okinawa military bases other than hegemony. It's quite absurd really to consider Japan even an independent country - it's still an occupied country by the American New World Order shocktroops. Why else do you figure their biggest market is (and has always been) the US right after World War II? They're the little 'elfs' inside the US' Santa Clause Christmas machine making all the little toys for US Walmart happy slaves to gobble up. Japan's workforce has a relatively high IQ (number 3 in the world after Hong Kong and China) and is incredibly hard working to the point of exhaustion (their 'modern corporations' are really an extension of the feudal system Japan had before the Meiji period even).

A country where you have a massive number of suicides (seppuku) each year is a country that is being extorted and is generally being shortchanged. I'm not saying all of Japan's ills can be blamed on an occupying force, but there's really no denying that somebody has been screwed here when a clause in their Constitution prevents them even from having their own military.

[Okinawa]

A country where you have a massive number of suicides (seppuku) each year is a country that is being extorted and is generally being shortchanged.

The NWO conspirators have been using the bulk of the Japanese as their toys to manipulate as they please since the "opening" of Japan. While many Japanese have been viewed as hardworking, on the most part, the newest hybrid is weak and feeble minded.

Culture recreation through collectivist experimentation by the globalists, is destroying the fabric of society and leading to continued traumatization, resulting in the mass suicides and a depressed psyche. To endure, escapism ranging from trivial pursuits to extreme violence, is holding the Japanese illusion together.

I agree, the US bases are one of many malignancies that the Anglo-American Japanese NWO Alliance has forced upon the Japanese.

Will they awaken from their media-induced paralysis and at least question their servitude to the NWO?

[Okinawa]

Thousands protest in Tokyo against U.S. military presence in Japan http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1247281/Thousands-protest-Tokyo-U-S-military-presence-Japan.html#
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:09 PM on 30th January 2010

Thousands of protesters from across Japan marched today in Tokyo to protest against U.S. military presence on Okinawa, while a Cabinet minister said she would fight to get rid of a marine base Washington considers crucial.

Some 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa.

Residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime around the bases.

Japan and the U.S. signed a pact in 2006 that called for the realignment of American troops in the country and for a Marine base on the island to be moved to a less populated area.

Protest: Some 6,000 people gathered at a rally in Tokyo calling for the withdrawal of U.S. Marine base stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa

But the new Tokyo government is re-examining the deal, caught between public opposition to American troops and its crucial military alliance with Washington.

On Saturday, labor unionists, pacifists, environmentalists and students marched through central Tokyo, yelling slogans and calling for an end to the U.S. troop presence.

They gathered for a rally at a park - under a banner that read 'Change! Japan-U.S. Relations' - for speeches by civil leaders and politicians.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has repeatedly postponed his decision on the pact, with members of his own government divided on how to proceed.

Last week he pledged to resolve the conundrum by May, just before national elections.

'The Cabinet is saying that it will announce its conclusion in May.

For this reason, over the next few months we must put all of our energy into achieving victory,' Cabinet minister Mizuho Fukushima said at the rally, to shouts of approval from the crowd.

Angry: The slogans written in Japanese read 'We don't need Futenma base', in red, and 'We refuse new Henoko base', in blue

Fukushima - who has a minor post in the Cabinet and heads a small political party - wants the base moved out of Japan entirely.

Hatoyama's government must appease such political allies to maintain its majority coalition in parliament, and the public are increasingly vociferous on the U.S. military issue, even outside of Okinawa.

'I'm against having troops here. I'm not sure we can get them all out, but at least some of them should leave,' said Seiichiro Terada, 31, a government tax collector who attended the rally.

Terada said he traveled from his home in the central prefecture of Shizuoka, which hosts a Marine base at the foot of Mt. Fuji.

The deal with Washington calls for the Marine base in a crowded part of Okinawa to be moved to a smaller city called Nago.

But last week residents of Nago elected a new mayor who opposes the move, ousting the incumbent that supported a U.S. military presence.

On the other side of the debate, a steady stream of U.S. officials have petitioned Tokyo to follow the agreement and maintain American troop levels in Japan, with U.S.

Ambassador John Roos on Friday calling them 'front-line forces' in case of emergencies or security threats.

[Okinawa]

Japan starting to balk at footing bill for U.S. forces http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100225f2.html
By ERIC TALMADGE The Associated Press
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010

GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. — In Japan, where land is a precious commodity, many U.S. bases boast golf courses, football fields and giant shopping malls whose food courts offer everything from Taco Bell to Subway to Starbucks.

They are the most visible point of grievance in a sharpening debate about the cost to Japan of supporting the 47,000 U.S. service members — about $2 billion a year. That's nearly a third of the total, and about three times what Germany pays to host U.S. forces there.

But facing economic woes and seeking a more equal relationship with the U.S., the Hatoyama administration is questioning whether Japan should spend so much on U.S. forces — a topic that was taboo under the pro-Washington Liberal Democratic Party administrations that governed for most of the postwar era.

The scrutiny in Japan, Washington's deep-pocketed ally and most important strategic partner in Asia, comes at a bad time for the U.S., whose defense budget is already spread thin in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Japanese call their share a "kindness budget," implying the U.S. is getting a free ride, and its opponents say it is rife with waste. The opposition also reflects a long-standing feeling, particularly on the left, that the U.S. is taking its security alliance with Japan too much for granted.

The alliance has come under intense pressure since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took office last September. He says the alliance remains a "keystone" of Japanese policy, but he wants to re-evaluate it.

"This will be a very important year for our relationship," he said last month.

The flash point of the debate is Okinawa, where most of the nearly 100 U.S. installations in Japan are located.

Futenma airfield, where several thousand marines are stationed, was to have been moved from the town of Ginowan to Nago, in a less crowded part of the island. But that plan came into doubt last month after Nago elected a mayor who opposes having the base.

Once the replacement airfield is operational, the U.S. plans to shift about 8,000 marines from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam and expects Japan to pay an estimated $6 billion of the moving costs.

The frustrations run deep in cramped Ginowan. Local media regularly run images of the golf course at nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base and criticize the forces relentlessly whenever a service member is involved in a local crime.

"When people who live in crowded areas in small houses drive by and see the situation on the bases, some feel angry," said Hideki Toma, an official dealing with the bases in Okinawa.

"This is a bigger issue than the golf courses and free highway passes," Toma said. "It goes back to the fact that Okinawa was occupied after World War II and why the bases have to be here in the first place."

That sentiment is widely shared, and underscores a feeling that the bases should be spread out more evenly among Japan's main islands and Okinawa. Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battlefields of World War II, and Okinawans feel that the continued U.S. presence places an uneven burden on them, though the argument that all U.S. forces should leave Japan is not popular.

American officials say the deployment in Japan of troops, fighter jets and the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier based outside the U.S. has enabled Japan to hold down its own defense costs in line with the pacifist Constitution.

They say the U.S. presence also prevents an arms race in East Asia, acts as a deterrent against North Korea and counters the rise of China.

Facilities such as on-base golf courses represent a small fraction of the sum U.S. taxpayers chip in for the defense of Japan — about $3.9 billion a year, according to a U.S. State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details.

"There is no difference in the facilities that our forces have here than they have anywhere else in the world, including the United States," said Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, the commander of the U.S Army's Pacific Forces. "But we cannot view forces that are out here simply as Japan. They are in Asia; they are available for responsive deployment."

Japan covers much of the cost for supporting American forces, including utilities, maintenance and physical upgrades plus the wages of tens of thousands of Japanese civilians working on the bases.

Previous governments were too willing to pay because they wanted to maintain a special relationship with the United States, said Eiichi Hoshino, a professor of international relations at the University of the Ryukyus.

"Japan had kept paying the kindness budget simply because it is the one that wanted the U.S. forces to stay," he said. "If the United States wants to stay here at any cost, it should be the one who is paying."

Tokyo's share rose sharply until 2001 but has since decreased steadily, largely because of the shrinking economy and the objections of Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan when it was in the opposition. Costs have been cut, in part, by reducing utilities payments and the salaries and the number of Japanese base employees.

[Okinawa]

No head-start base talks with U.S.: Hatoyama says local input also in the equation
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100225a3.html
Kyodo News
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010

Negotiations with the United States should not come before those with Okinawa over the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday.

He made the remark a day after sources said the government was considering starting talks soon with Washington over candidate relocation sites, possibly in the first half of March.

This would put discussions among the coalition parties led by the Democratic Party of Japan, along with briefings for local governments, on the back burner.

Hatoyama urged those talks to move ahead quickly.

"If we are going to settle everything by the end of May, the negotiations with and efforts to gain understanding from the people of Okinawa and the United States need to get under way basically at about the same time," Hatoyama said at the prime minister's office.

Hatoyama said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, who chairs a government committee studying relocation sites for the Futenma facility, is working on the timing of such negotiations.

On Tuesday, government sources said Japan and the United States may begin examining the feasibility of alternate sites for the Futenma base in Okinawa early next month after the three ruling parties present to the government panel their ideas on where to relocate the facility.

The possibility of building a heliport at the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in Nago, Okinawa, without having to fill in coastal areas for actual runways — an idea that has been floated around the DPJ — will also be examined by the two countries, the sources said.

The DPJ is also considering transferring some drills from Futenma to Tokuno and Mage islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, which will likewise be assessed by the two countries, according to the sources.

According to the sources, the government is considering having U.S. military personnel take part in the Defense Ministry's feasibility studies on the relocation plans to be presented soon to the panel by the ruling parties.

The government has determined that its panel on Futenma is unable to conduct an assessment from an operational point of view and that it should be done between the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military, the sources said.

The plan is an effort to narrow down possible relocation sites by getting U.S. input, so that the end-of-May deadline can be met, the sources said.

Since taking office last September, Hatoyama has reopened the question of whether the Futenma facility should be moved to a less populated part of Okinawa Island, initially indicating he wanted the base moved elsewhere.

The U.S. has urged Tokyo to abide by the original 2006 accord to relocate the base in Nago, but has also hinted it is open to alternatives.

On Saturday, Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima told Hirano at a meeting in Naha that the central government should not go over Okinawa's head in negotiating the matter with the United States, requesting that it set up venues to discuss the issue with local governments.

On Wednesday, Okinawa assembly members voted unanimously to adopt a written request urging the central government to relocate the Futenma base outside the prefecture.

Representatives from the prefectural assembly will deliver the request to Hatoyama, who is under pressure to reach a conclusion on the relocation by the end of May, and the Cabinet ministers handling the issue.

The statement will put Nakaima in a difficult position, given that he has yet to change his stance, which is to accept Futenma's relocation within the prefecture to remove the risks posed by the base in Ginowan as soon as possible.

Referring to a crash in 2004 by a U.S. Marine helicopter on a university campus in Ginowan, the Okinawa assembly in the written request describes Futenma as "the most dangerous base in the world."

[Okinawa]

Okinawa assembly to formally ask for Futenma base to move off the island
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68303
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Online Edition, Thursday, February 25, 2010

NAHA, Okinawa — On the same day Japan’s prime minister said he needs to listen to the concerns of Okinawans over the Futenma Relocation project, Okinawa’s Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution asking him to move Marine Corps air operations off the island.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the assembly adopted a letter it will deliver to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and other officials in Tokyo. The written request calls Marine Corps Air Station Futenma “the most dangerous air base in the world.”

Their action comes amid a swirl of differing views on the relocation plan by Japan’s new left-center government, which is reviewing the U.S.-Japan 2006 realignment agreement that calls for building a new airstrip on Camp Schwab and Oura Bay landfill in rural northeast Okinawa.

Hatoyama has said he will decide by the end of May whether to proceed with the Camp Schwab plan or negotiate with the U.S. for an alternate site. Some administration officials, echoing statements from their counterparts in the U.S., have said the air operations need to remain on Okinawa for regional strategic and security reasons.

However, one minority member of Hatoyama’s coalition, the Social Democratic Party, has threatened to leave the coalition if the base operations remain on Okinawa.

Meanwhile, in response to news reports quoting anonymous sources that his government was already engaged in secret negotiations with the U.S. concerning the relocation project, Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday that he needs to seriously consider the wishes of the Okinawa people.

“If we are to settle everything by the end of May, the negotiations with and efforts to gain understanding from the people of Okinawa and the United States need to get under way basically at about the same time,” he said, according to Kyodo News.

[Okinawa]

Group hopes U.S. ad raises awareness of Futenma
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100304a3.html
By MASAMI ITO, Staff writer
Thursday, March 4, 2010

Concerned about the lack of information in the U.S. regarding the relocation of a marine base in Okinawa, a network of Japanese and U.S. citizens and nongovernmental groups announced Wednesday plans to take out a full-page ad on the controversial issue in a major U.S. newspaper.

Established Wednesday by various academics, journalists and NGO members, the Japan-U.S. Citizens for Okinawa (JUCO) network is allied with organizations in the U.S. including the Cato Institute, the Institute for Policy Studies and the Center for Biological Diversity.

According to the organizers, the network is aiming to raise ¥6 million to place a full-page ad in a major U.S. newspaper by the end of March, before the Japanese government finalizes its decision on the relocation site for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

The members are now considering several newspapers to decide which would have the biggest impact on U.S. citizens.

"One of the reasons why (the Futenma relocation issue) is not moving forward is because it is an issue unknown to most U.S. citizens and politicians," said Jun Hoshikawa, the executive director of Greenpeace Japan. "This is a common problem among both Japanese and U.S. people and we decided to join hands and form a network to bridge Japan and the U.S."

Rose Welsch, a Tokyo resident and representative of U.S. for Okinawa, a peace action network made up of foreign and Japanese nationals residing in Japan, said most Americans are unaware of the Futenma issue and contends it is not their will to build more military facilities in Okinawa.

"But when U.S. citizens do have the chance to learn about what's going on, we are appalled, absolutely appalled," Welsch said. "And the more we learn the truth, the more strongly we start to feel we don't want our government to operate an enormous, dangerous base in the middle of a densely populated city, which is something that would never be allowed in our own country."

Under the original agreement between Japan and the U.S., the Futenma aircraft operations were to be moved to Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Nago, in the northern part of Okinawa Island.

But World Wide Fund for Nature Japan's Shinichi Hanawa said international attention has now focused on preserving the biodiversity of Oura Bay near Henoko. Hanawa added that the United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity and that Nagoya is to host the 10th Conference of the Parties in October.

Comment: Just wondering where this is all going? If the CIA Bases are removed Okinawa will the UN completely take over? At that point it's likely that Okinawa may disappear.

[Okinawa]

U.S. Reaches Out to Tokyo’s Real Power
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/world/asia/08japan.html?ref=world
By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: March 7, 2010

TOKYO — Even as Japan’s new leaders have promised to transform the way the nation is governed, they have left one thing unchanged: the prime minister, like many before him, is backed by a shadowy leader who is widely seen as really running the country.

Ichiro Ozawa, the secretary general of the governing Democratic Party, walked by a poster of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at a news conference last month at party headquarters in Tokyo.

Now, at a time of turmoil in Washington’s ties with Tokyo, American officials are reaching out directly to that power behind the throne.

According to Japanese and American officials, diplomats have been quietly negotiating a visit to Washington as early as next month by Ichiro Ozawa, the secretary general of the governing Democratic Party and its widely acknowledged power broker. The possible visit, which could include a meeting with President Obama, was first suggested to Mr. Ozawa in February by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell during a visit to Tokyo, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because the plan was still tentative.

The officials said the informal invitation was a move by Washington to improve communications with a new Japanese leadership that has proclaimed it wants more independence from the United States.

One American official close to effort called it part of a broader push to bring more lawmakers of Japan’s new governing party to Washington to meet their American counterparts, visits that members of the Liberal Democratic Party made before losing power last summer.

However, the offer has also drawn some criticism because it could be seen as circumventing the prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, in favor of a scandal-tainted figure who holds no formal cabinet position. Political experts said the fact that the Obama administration would propose such a move, and the government of Mr. Hatoyama might accept it, appears to underscore a shared feeling that current difficulties like a disagreement over an American military base in Okinawa are caused at least partly by an underlying problem: a breakdown in communications.

They said last summer’s historic change in the Japanese government destroyed the two nations’ decades-old channels for talking to each other.

“Gestures like inviting Mr. Ozawa show a disruption in communications,” said Jun Iio, a professor of government at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. “The old structures for talking have been tossed away, but it will take time for the United States and Japan to build new structures.”

Before Mr. Hatoyama’s Democratic Party came to power, the bilateral relationship had been managed for decades by a handful of Japan experts in Washington and their contacts among the Liberal Democrats and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Mr. Iio and others. The Democrats not only swept aside the Liberal Democrats, but they have also tried to fulfill campaign pledges to pry policy making from the hands of bureaucrats and give it to political officials.

The problem, analysts say, is that few new communication links have emerged to take the place of the old ones. The resulting lack of information fed excessive alarm in Washington last fall when Tokyo began to call for changing a 2006 agreement to relocate the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa.

The comments by ministers have often been contradictory and confusing, reflecting a lack of consensus in an inexperienced government, analysts say. While Mr. Hatoyama has said he wants to maintain the two nations’ security alliance, his voice has often been drowned out by the din. One result was that American officials misread Tokyo as seeking a much larger push away from the United States than was actually the case, analysts said.

To remedy the situation, Japanese leaders have been trying to send a clearer message to Washington recently. In speeches and media appearances, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has repeatedly emphasized that while the new government may be more open in its debates, it is also firm in its desire for the Marines and the air base to stay in Japan.

“We are more outspoken than previous Japanese governments, and that might be difficult to understand for those who were used to Japan until now,” he said in January. “But this is the normal way for democracies to interact with each other, I think.”

By suggesting that Mr. Ozawa visit Washington, the Obama administration is reaching out to one of the most controversial figures in Japanese politics, a veteran operator who engineered the Liberal Democrats’ defeat, but who is also seen as continuing its tainted money politics with his control of his party’s finances. Mr. Ozawa has had extensive dealings with American officials, and can be both critical and favorable.

But some analysts warn that the move to bring Mr. Ozawa to Washington could send the wrong message. By suggesting that the Obama administration views Mr. Ozawa as the real center of power in Japan, these analysts say, the invitation could undermine the authority of Mr. Hatoyama, who already faces growing criticism at home for weak leadership. Washington may also be seen as allying itself with an unpopular political figure who has come under a wave of media criticism here as a last holdout of the old regime’s backroom-style politics.

An Ozawa visit might even be seen as an effort by the United States to engage in petty one-upmanship with the Chinese, warned Gerald Curtis, a professor of Japanese politics at Columbia University. American officials risk appearing as if they want him to repeat his performance last December in Beijing, when he took more than 140 Democratic lawmakers to meet with the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, Mr. Curtis said.

Mr. Curtis, like some other American analysts, said the Obama administration had also stumbled by seeming to stubbornly insist that the new government in Tokyo adhere to the existing agreement. They said this heavy-handed approach has appeared to backfire by raising ire here that Washington was failing to recognize the right of the new Japanese government to change the policies. It also seemed to ignore Tokyo’s efforts to scrap the nation’s secretive postwar order.

“How does it help improve accountability in Japan if we strike a deal with the powerful man behind the folding screen?” Mr. Curtis said.

[Okinawa]

U.S. to hand over to Japan most Okinawa air control on March 31
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100319a9.html
Friday, March 19, 2010
Kyodo News

Washington officially agreed Thursday with Tokyo to hand over to Japan on March 31 air traffic control rights around Okinawa Island that have effectively been under U.S. forces' control since 1945, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Okinawa was returned to Japanese rule in 1972.

The two countries initially agreed in 2004 to finish the transfer of the Kadena radar approach control, known as Kadena RAPCON, within three years. But they rearranged in 2008 to set the handover for this month.

Air traffic over Okinawa has been controlled by Kadena RAPCON at the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The system covers airspace up to an altitude of about 6 km within a radius of about 90 km of the base, as well as airspace over Kume Island, a small island lying west of Okinawa Island.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada welcomed the agreement in a statement issued the same day and stressed the importance of finding solutions to bilateral issues through cooperation.

The system has controlled not only U.S. military but civilian flights using the Naha and Kume Island airports.

The accord came as the two countries are struggling to resolve the issue of where to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, with Japan rethinking a bilateral pact reached in 2006.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will be in charge of air traffic control after the transfer, according to the ministry's press release.

Air traffic control of the Kadena base and Futenma air station will meanwhile continue to be U.S.-managed.

[Okinawa]

Okinawa and the Problem of Empire
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-bandow/okinawa-and-the-problems_b_512610.html
Doug Bandow
Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute
March 25, 2010

A bloody military battlefield in 1945, Okinawa is the subject of an equally bitter political fight today. A majority of the prefecture's residents want the American military to go elsewhere.

The U.S.-Japan alliance is almost 50 years old. Like most of Washington's military relationships, the security treaty really isn't an alliance. The treaty's terms are simple. The U.S. agrees to defend Japan. In return, Tokyo agrees to be defended. Japan long has enjoyed the benefits of the world's second largest economy while devoting a far smaller proportion of its resources than America to defense.

Tokyo's international role has been circumscribed by Article 9 of the post-war Japanese constitution which formally bans creation of a military and use of force; domestic pacifism growing out of World War II; and regional fears of revived Japanese imperialism. Public concern over China's rising military expenditures and North Korea's ongoing nuclear program is growing, but the pace of policy change remains glacial.

In elections last August the Democratic Party of Japan ousted the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Five years ago the DPJ promised to "do away with the dependent relationship in which Japan ultimately has no alternative but to act in accordance with U.S. wishes." But Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama quickly moderated his party's position; the most recent platform called for a "close and equal Japan-U.S. alliance."

Nevertheless, the new government is proving less receptive to Washington's desires. For instance, the DPJ let expire authority to refuel U.S. and other allied ships in the Indian Ocean. Tokyo also has talked of renegotiating the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), cutting host nation support, and reconsidering the "don't ask, don't tell" policy as applied to U.S. nuclear weapons passing through Japanese territory.

Finally, there is the prefecture of Okinawa (the largest island of which also is named Okinawa).

Okinawa's saga is long and sad. Once independent[This is not true. Japan controlled Okinawa for hundreds of years, and was in fact part of Japan around 500AD, then political separation took place until 12th century when a Japanese Lord/King was in place. Creation of the Ryukyu Kingdom, strong Chinese influence in society helped governance until late 1500s/early 1600s; from this time Okinawa was given less control of their internal affairs as part of Japan. There are many claims that Okinawa was a Chinese Tributary State--not true. Okinawa was in a Trade-Tributary relationship with China. When Okinawa wanted to trade with China, they paid a tribute. This was a very lucrative arrangement for Okinawa and for "closed" Japan. ... ], the territory was absorbed by Imperial Japan and treated like an untrustworthy stepchild. In April and May 1945 the island suffered through one of the most brutal battles of World War II, during which roughly 100,000 Japanese soldiers and perhaps even more civilians died (estimates vary wildly). After the war the occupying U.S. military loaded the main island with bases. Okinawa was not turned back to Japan until 1972, but with only a modest U.S. military drawdown.

Today the prefecture, Japan's smallest with just 0.6 percent of the country's land area, hosts roughly three-quarters of American military facilities and two-thirds of American military personnel -- some 27,000 personnel stationed on 14 major bases -- located in Japan. U.S. operations take up about 18 percent of the main island's territory. Although some Okinawans benefit from land rent, construction contracts, and consumer spending, for most residents the inconvenience is monumental, the limits on development costly, and the environmental consequences substantial. No surprise, the vast majority of residents want to reduce or eliminate the American presence.

The rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. personnel in 1995 led to mass protests against both the SOFA (which left the accused in American custody) and the bases. A decade later the U.S. and Japanese governments agreed to move the Marines Corps Air Station at Futenma out of Ginowan to a less heavily populated area on Okinawa, and relocate 8,000 Marines (plus dependents) to Guam. Tokyo pledged to cover about $6 billion of the relocation cost.

However, Okinawa residents want to remove, not relocate the base, and Japanese taxpayers aren't thrilled about picking up part of the moving tab. The DPJ government announced plans to revisit the 2006 agreement. The Obama administration responded by demanding that Tokyo live up to its responsibilities. More recently, U.S. officials suggested that Washington would not agree to any change that lacked local approval -- which would conveniently leave Futenma unmoved. Now the Hatoyama government is holding consultations, with a decision promised for May.

Okinawa activists have brought their case to Washington and joined with interested Americans to set up a website and undertake educational activities. It's a worthwhile effort. But the primary problem remains in Tokyo.

Today both U.S. and Japanese government officials cheerfully conspire against Okinawans. When the latter complain, Washington points to Tokyo. Tokyo points back at Washington.

But, in fact, the ultimate decision lies in Tokyo. The American military is not organized to follow the will of Okinawa residents. That is the responsibility of their own national government. If Washington is going to both defend Japan and use Japanese territory as a launch pad for intervention elsewhere, troops must be stationed somewhere, and Okinawa is centrally located.

In fact, there's no reason for the U.S. to do either. Allies are a means to an end; the defense of America, not allies, is America's vital interest. Sometimes protecting other nations is necessary for U.S. security, as during the Cold War. But that world disappeared long ago. Enemy threats are far fewer and allied capabilities are far greater.

True, politicians and analysts alike routinely term America's alliances "cornerstones" and "linchpins" of U.S. security, regional stability, and world peace. In reality, today's alliance are unnecessary at best and dangerous transmission belts of conflict and war at worst.

Consider Japan. President Barack Obama says that "America's commitment to Japan's security is unshakable," but does that mean the U.S. forever must defend that nation? The 1951 military treaty committed Japan to "increasingly assume responsibility for its own defense against direct and indirect aggression."

In fact, Tokyo is capable of defending itself. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada recently expressed doubt that "Japan on its own can face up to such risks" as China, but Tokyo needs a deterrent capability, not superiority. That is well within Japan's means. Certainly the U.S. would be far more secure if its allies and friends created forces to discourage aggression and worked together to encourage regional stability, rather than depended on Washington.

If the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force located on Okinawa is not needed to defend Japan, then what is it for? South Korea vastly outranges the North on virtually every measure of power and can do whatever is necessary to deter North Korean adventurism. There also is much talk, offered unceasingly and uncritically, about maintaining regional stability. But what invasions, border fights, naval clashes, missile threats, and full-scale wars are the Marines preventing?

And if conflict broke out, what would the Marines do? Launch a surprise landing in Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a war over Taiwan? Aid Indonesia, really the Javan Empire, in suppressing one or another group of secessionists? Help Thailand in a scrape with Burma triggered by the latter's guerrilla conflict spilling over the border? America has no reason to enter conflicts which threaten neither the U.S. nor a critical ally.

Still, if the U.S. government desires to defend Japan and Japan wants to be defended, Washington inevitably must deal with the national government in Tokyo and ask for the best possible lodgings for its forces. Okinawa's travails will always be irrelevant from the U.S. government's standpoint. It's up to Japan to decide on where to place foreign bases and then to work with its prefectures and towns accordingly. Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, stated the brutal truth: "local conditions come to play, but these big decisions are at the level of our central governments."

The Japanese government prefers to blame the U.S., since most Japanese don't want to change the status quo. Okinawans -- from the smallest, poorest, and most distant prefecture -- pay to host U.S. forces, leaving the rest of Japan free to enjoy the benefits while suffering little of the inconvenience. Okinawan opposition is undercut through subsidies from the central government and overridden by raw political power, since the prefecture has just a handful of seats in the national Diet. Explained Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano: "It's not necessary to have the understanding and agreement from the local people."

Thus, the issue of fairness to Okinawa is tied to the more basic question of Japan's foreign policy and military posture. If Tokyo demands alliance equality, it must behave in a way that justifies being treated as an equal. Which means Japan must take over responsibility for its own defense, as well as contribute to regional and global security.

The Japanese people may decide that the threats they face are small -- as, indeed, they are today. However, the future might not be so safe. Brad Glosserman of the Pacific Forum CSIS argues that "Northeast Asia, from a Japanese perspective, is a scary place." A threatening North Korea and aggressive China are much bigger potential threats to Tokyo than to Washington.

The Japanese government needs to assess future dangers and decide on appropriate responses -- without assuming that the U.S. Marines will show up to the rescue. It is Japan's decision, but it should not be based on the presumption of American intervention. Having made its decision, then Tokyo should reconfigure its forces. Fairness suggests a major drawdown from Okinawa irrespective of whose military is protecting Japan. If the U.S. disengaged militarily, these decisions could be made without pressure from Washington.

The two countries would still have much to cooperate about, including security. Leaving responsibility for Japan's defense with Tokyo would simply eliminate the unrealistic expectations engendered by the alliance on both sides. The governments could focus on issues of mutual interest, sharing intelligence, preparing emergency base access, and otherwise cooperating to meet international challenges.

The best way for Americans to help residents of Okinawa is to press Washington to reshape U.S. foreign policy, making it more appropriate for a republic than a pseudo-empire. With the rise of numerous prosperous allied and friendly states -- most notably Japan, but also South Korea, Australia, India, and others -- the U.S. should step back, prepared to deal with an aggressive hegemon should one arise but determined to avoid being dragged into routine geopolitical squabbles.

Then Tokyo could chart its own destiny, including deciding what forces to raise and where to base them. The Japanese government could no longer use American pressure as an excuse for inaction in Okinawa. Then Okinawans finally might gain justice -- after 65 long years.

[squarepusher]

The Japanese government prefers to blame the U.S., since most Japanese don't want to change the status quo.

So typical of the tripe these establishment figures at The Huffington/Washington Bull like to churn out - it's always 'someone else's fault', but never that of the American oligarchs going over there, bombing the hell out of Japan (two nukes at that - show me any country other than the US that has NUKED TO HELL an entire country - I'd like to see it), setting up a US puppet regime, holding hostage the government for OVER 50 YEARS, killing any threats to the establishments by way of the Yakuza, and on, and on, and on.

Oh, and then you have the military personnel who aren't exactly too coy about how they 'view' women overseas - especially when they're not 'of their own kind'. But hey, none of this shit matters - it's all Japan's fault, as usual.

Notice also how they're demonizing Japan right now with this 'dolphins' bullshit and the whole 'Rapelay' game - a game that is so old it actually predates most laptops and computers used today - and a game, I'd like to add, that's about as 'mainstream' as, say, some really pretentious art flick from some difficult-to-pronounce faraway place in Europe. That's to say it did not get sold at most of the major Japanese convenience stores because they did not dare touch it - that means no platform holder (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) ever picked up the game for distribution - but hey, don't let that deter CNN from doing a feature about it and dumbing it down for the dumbed-down masses so that they come away with the impression that all 'Japanese videogames = rape simulators'.

Does CNN know at all that the PC as a gaming platform is a totally niche, non-existent market? Unless your game is on a PlayStation or Nintendo platform, it does not even count - it does not even exist (well, that or a phone). Microsoft, too, does not even 'exist' in a figurative sense - and yeah, a lot of it has to do with the fact that they prefer their gaming consoles to be Japanese - as I expect a lot of Americans would prefer their products were made and originated in the US.