Denny Tamaki, the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, has called for a timetable for the transfer of 9,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, after decades of local complaints regarding the U.S. military presence in the area.
Tamaki met with Gen Nakatani, the Japanese Minister of Defense in the Okinawan capital, Naha, on Dec. 15, to voice his request. As reported by the South China Morning Post, Nakatani told Tamaki over a courtesy call, that the first group of 100 U.S. Marines have already made their departure to Guam and that the Japanese government plans on taking the weight off of Okinawa’s shoulders by accepting most of the country’s U.S. military bases.
While Okinawa makes up 0.6% of Japan’s total landmass, it hosts 70.3% of Japan’s U.S. military facilities.
“We are reaching a major milestone, and this is a very important project” said Nakatani, per The Japan Times.
However, Tamaki expressed impatience saying he wants the U.S. military out of Okinawa “as early as possible” along with a “clear relocation plan.”
Nakatani pledged to make “further efforts to reduce Okinawa’s base-hosting burden,” but did not provide a confirmed timetable for the personnel transfer.
Tokyo International University Professor Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi said that “It is pretty unreasonable for the governor to request a timetable like that because the logistics involved in moving that many troops and all their equipment is extremely challenging,”, in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “This is a hugely complicated thing to do, especially at a time of worsening security challenges in the region,”.
These discussions come after decades of local complaints towards bases regarding noise, pollution, helicopter crashes, and crime. As reported on by The Japan Times, a U.S. Air Force serviceman stationed at Kadena airbase in Okinawa was charged with five years in prison on Dec. 13 for the kidnapping and sexual assault of an underage girl.
Currently, there are 19,000 U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa. The island location is east of Taiwan, which has become a hotbed for tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The presence of the U.S. military is one of the legacies of World War II, where the island was the site of a bloody battle that claimed the lives of 200,000 people, including 94,000 Okinawans. After WWII, most of Okinawa’s population were placed in internment camps, and the U.S. seized swathes of land and built military bases. While America’s occupation of Japan ended in 1951, the U.S. military would hold onto Okinawa until 1972.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Donations to Asian American Media Inc and AsAmNews are tax-deductible. It’s never too late to give.
Please also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and X.