Mass rally in Japan against US base on Okinawa

[DesiGuy]

Nearly 100,000 people have attended a rally in Japan's southern island of Okinawa demanding that a US military base be moved off the island.

Under a 2006 agreement with the US, the US Marines' Futenma base was to be moved from the centre to the coast.

But demonstrators want Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to stick to an election pledge to remove it completely.

The row over the base has undermined relations between his centre-left Government and the US.

The BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says Mr Hatoyama staked his job on resolving the issue by the end of May.

He is now under pressure because of his apparent dithering over the base, our correspondent adds.

His handling of the issue could be critical ahead of upper house polls in July.

Japanese have long been resentful of the massive US base on the island, which is home to more than half the 47,000 American troops based in Japan.


BBC News - Mass rally in Japan against US base on Okinawa

 

[Evil Flare]

Why Dont American Leave Japanese Land . ?

WWII ended many many decades ago

 

[Vassnti]

The early US explorers labeled Okinawa as the "Keystone of the Pacific" since Taipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Manila, and Tokyo all lie within a 1,500 km radius of the islands. Okinawa is equidistant from several parts of the Pacific, whether it's Tokyo, Seoul, Taiwan or the Philippines. If there is a trouble spot in the Pacific and [DoD] needs to move forces quickly, Okinawa has the facilities to support that response. The forward deployment on Okinawa significantly shortens transit times, thereby promoting early arrival in potential regional trouble spots such as the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan straits, a significant benefit in the initial stages of a conflict. For example, it takes 2 hours to fly to the Korean peninsula from Okinawa, as compared with about 5 hours from Guam, 11 hours from Hawaii, and 16 hours from the continental United States. Similarly, it takes about 1 1/2 days to make the trip from Okinawa by ship to South Korea, as compared with about 5 days from Guam, 12 days from Hawaii, and 17 days from the continental United States.

Much of the news has focused on complaints of a small group of Okinawan landowners who protest US use of their property for military operations. According to the US military, less than 1 percent of the 32,000 owners object to military use of the land, which falls under the US -Japan security agreement. Some Okinawans object to the noise generated by US operations, especially around the Air Force's Kadena Air Base and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma (which are located in the middle of urban areas), and risks to civilians from serious military accidents, including crashes of aircraft. However, there is no consensus among Okinawans on the bases. Since the employment of Okinawans on U.S. bases is not inconsequential, there is even a sizable though silent constituency in favor of the status quo.

90,000 people turn up and amazingly they all are wearing yellow T-shirts and wearing logoed yellow caps, yes the people have some legitimate arguments but this reeks of a staged political rally rather than a protest.