Reasons why there are U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa
Okinawa Prefecture comprises only 0.6% of the whole Japanese territory. In that small island, 75% of the Military installations still remain and are used by U.S. Forces. Why are there so many installations (bases) in such a small island? There are some reasons for that:
1. Okinawa was the best place to attack eastern Asia (Japan, Taiwan, etc.). Okinawa was a convenient place for U.S. Soldiers to go ahead with there attacking plans. Now it is important for defense and peace in the area.
From Okinawa to Tokyo - 1500km
From Okinawa to Seoul - 1400km
From Okinawa to Philippines - 1450km
From Okinawa to Saigon - 2600km
2.Okinawa was Ryukyu Island, and it was not a part of main land of Japan a long time ago. So it was easy to attack and occupy the very small island "Okinawa".
3.It is cheaper to set bases in Okinawa than set in America and mainland Japan.
The Military Bases and Economy in Okinawa.
2. "Military Bases Town"
The Kadena town's 85% are taken for the military bases. So their town is known as the "Military Bases town". 40%of people who live in the Kadena town think that having military bases in their town will not be a plus for them. But 16% people think that it will be a plus for them.
The main industry of Okinawa was agriculture before the war started. But after the end of the war, the economy of the Okinawa was changed by the U.S. They constructed their bases in Okinawa land. Then Okinawa's main work changed to the base work instead of the agriculture. But it is true that the economy of Okinawa grew since their main employment had changed to base work. They also earn money by leasing their lands to U.S. Soldiers.
3. The Referendum of Okinawa
From the viewpoint of politics, the bases are permitted to stay in Okinawa by the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. So the bases' reduction, arrangement, and removal are very difficult matters.
Okinawa held a referendum about the U.S. Bases on September 8th (1996). The referendum asked Okinawans, "Do you favor or oppose a review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement and the consolidation and reduction of U.S. Military bases in the prefecture".
I think this referendum is very important and hard to decide. Because it is true that the crimes and incidents which were committed by U.S. Servicemen happened often before, and some people (especially women) think that they should not stay in Okinawa, but on the other hand, it is also true that there are some people who earn their money by having jobs that relate to the bases.
According to Prime Minister Ryotaro Hashimoto, he will be called for the early general elections if there were no problem. There was also a meeting of Japanese and U.S. Defense. They talked about what they are going to do about the foreign affairs, and about relocation of some of the U.S. Military bases which are now located in Okinawa.
The Prime Minister Hashimoto demanded Okinawa Governor Ota to sign the documents to force the landowners to renew their leases to the government, so that the U.S. Military can use their lands. But Okinawa Governor Ota did not want to sign it, because he thought it was not good for Okinawans to live with U.S. military. A reason for that is the increase of criminal offenses that were committed by U.S. Servicemen.
The government needed many voters to attend, because the voters had the power to influence the other politicians. The government did not really care about how people felt about the consolidation. They only wanted to know where, when, and how to combine or make fewer bases.
The details of the consolidation and was negotiated by the central government. According to the agreement, the number of bases will be cut by 20%. That means it involves the return of "Futenma Air Station" to Okinawa, but discussions about problems, such as where to relocate the facility, have failed to make process.
There was a great effort by Okinawa Governor Ota to build a new Okinawa. To make the voters come to the referendum, Ota embarked on the campaign to urge residents to vote in the referendum. They also held a parade to promote. According to the Rengo Okinawa Chairman (Masahiro Taguchi), they had to get at least 50% turnouts (voters). If there were not, the referendum might be defeated. A sad thing is that some people are not interested in U.S. Bases and do not care much about the reduction of the bases.
On September 8, the referendum was finally started. 302 polling stations opened in 52 cities, towns, and villages across the prefecture. Young and old Okinawan people attended for the present and future of Okinawa. This turnout of the referendum was very important, because it reflects every member of society in Okinawa, and it also shows the future of Okinawa. According to the people who have participated the referendum, this referendum made families and friends break apart. The reason for that is everybody had different feelings toward the U.S. Military bases. They had different opinions even between the families. Here are some voices of Okinawa people who think the reduction of the bases is not very good for them: "I want to vote NO when I think about the owners of land leased for U.S. Bases." "I cast a blank vote....... Honestly, I oppose the U.S. Bases, but I cannot vote YES when I think about the impact of my family members. Because my father has a plot of land leased to a U.S. Base, and my sister's husband works at Kadena Air Base." " I do not feel like talking with my friends about issues like the referendum because they can divide friendships." And here is the result of this referendum:
| People who had qualification not vote | People who voted | People who did not vote | Average of vote | |
| Men | 442,102 | 252,695 | 189,407 | 57.16% |
| Women | 467,730 | 288,943 | 178,787 | 61.78% |
| Sum total | 909,832 | 541,638 | 368,194 | 59.53% |
4.The Future of OKINAWA
There are still many U.S. Military bases in Okinawa. But there is a proposal that will change the bases a lot. The proposal is a plan to return all 40 U.S. Military facilities (bases) that are located in the prefecture by the year of 2015 (which is the target year for the Cosmopolitan City Formation Concept).
On the one hand, Okinawa's new basic goal is to establish Okinawa as a unique and cultural development area. That means establish Okinawa as a Southern (Asia) international exchange land. In order to proceed with this plan, the U.S. Military bases, which take approximately 20% of the small land, are the huge obstacles. So as to enable the smooth, planned and gradual return of the bases, Okinawa has come up with the Base Return Action Program.
It is just a proposal, so we do not know whether this plan will be managed or not. But not everybody who lives in Okinawa agrees to this proposal. Because by proceeding with the plan, natural beauty and old peculiar culture of Okinawa might disappear.
In the modernization of Okinawa (Establish Okinawa as a more resort land in order to grow up Okinawa's economy.), we have to consider about Okinawa's natural beauty and old peculiar culture all the time. Improving the economy is an important thing for Okinawa people, but I think more an important thing for them is to save their great natural beauty and unique culture that only Okinawan people have.