The Japanese island chain of Okinawa yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the end of US occupation and its return to Japan with calls for more economic growth and fewer US bases, despite growing worries over its proximity to an increasingly assertive China.
Okinawa, a string of tropical islands off far southwest Japan much closer to Taiwan than Tokyo, suffered massive devastation in World War II. Two months of bloody battles between US and Japanese forces left as many as one-third of its people dead. Nearly 30 years of US rule followed.
On May 15, 1972, the islands were finally returned to Japan in what was seen as a hopeful step forward from the war’s painful legacy.
Photo: AFP
However, they still host the majority of US military bases in Japan, a devil’s bargain that has provided jobs, but also fed worries about crime and military accidents.
Now, as China grows increasingly assertive in the Pacific region and tensions rise around Taiwan, Okinawans are concerned that they could once more end up on the front lines — especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“These are small islands,” said a protester on the island of Miyako, host to Japan’s newest army base. “Building up a military base will not protect them but rather make them a target of attack.”
Photo: AFP
She declined to give her name.
Okinawans have long resented having to bear the outsize burden of hosting US bases, an issue that has occasionally sparked huge protests.
Of 812 Okinawans polled by public broadcaster NHK in March, 56 percent said they strongly opposed US bases; only one-quarter of 1,115 people outside the prefecture said the same.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida acknowledged this, as well as the economic inequalities that still make Okinawa one of Japan’s poorest areas, in remarks at a government ceremony in Okinawa.
“Even now, 50 years on, Okinawa still bears a heavy burden,” he said. “We take this seriously and will do our utmost to reduce it.”
Okinawan Governor Denny Tamaki said that despite his prefecture’s small area, it still hosts 70 percent of US bases in Japan.
“We still haven’t been able to make Okinawa an island of peace,” he said.
US President Joe Biden — who is to visit Japan this week — in a written message, lauded bilateral ties and shared values.
“I am profoundly grateful for Japan’s resolute support for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law and for Okinawa’s contribution to advancing these ideals,” he wrote.
Tensions in Okinawa are likely to rise further given that lawmakers in Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party have said they want a commitment to more defense spending, including missiles that can hit targets on foreign soil — missiles that could be deployed on Okinawa.
Outside the ceremony, the mood was subdued.
“What has changed? Nothing much, really,” one man, visiting a memorial for citizens who died in the war, told NHK. “We can’t celebrate or be happy. It’s just another historical marker.”
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