From: Foreign Bases Project <fbp@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Date: 15 Aug 92 08:26 PDT
Subject: Disarm the Pacific
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1473500054:000:6144
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!fbp    Aug 15 08:26:00 1992


From: Foreign Bases Project <fbp>
Subject: Disarm the Pacific

/* Written  6:12 pm  Aug 12, 1992 by fbp in cdp:wri.news */
/* ---------- "Disarm the Pacific" ---------- */
Okinawa: High Stakes for the U.S. 
by Judy Kowalok
from Nonviolent Activist

     Last May marked the 20th anniversary of the return of Okinawa to
Japan. United States and Japanese leaders used the occasion to
reaffirm their strategic partnership, but for Okinawans it was another
occasion to call for the withdrawal of U.S. bases from the island.
     The battle for Okinawa--the only land battle in Japan during
World War II--was particularly brutal. Elderly Okinawans refer to the
1945 battle as "The Typhoon of Steel." Some 80,000 Japanese soldiers
were pitted against 548,000 American troops; about 130,000 people,
one-third of the local population, died in the crossfire.
     Masahide Ota writes in The Battle of Okinawa, "It was the humble
hope of the civilians that once the enemy invaded their homeland the
Emperor's `Invincible Army' would defend them. At least, they had
little doubt that the `Invincible Army' would protect children, women
and the old, and this was the reason they endured all the difficulties
and spared no effort to cooperate with the Defense Force."
     But the "Invincible Army" never arrived. The Allied forces
pounded the islands while the Imperial Army spurned repeated requests
from the Okinawa Defense Forces for air support. Okinawa was
sacrificed to give time for the Imperial Army to shore up its defense
of the homeland, Japan's main islands.
     U.S. bases on Okinawa are a direct result of the battle. Under
U.S. occupation, the U.S. military quickly enlarged Kadena and Yomitan
Airfields (both originally built by the Japanese military in
preparation for the impending mainland attack).
     The U.S. military completely disregarded the Okinawans' personal
property and land-ownership and constructed bases throughout Okinawa.
Thousands of citizens were interned in prisoner-of-war camps and were
helpless to stop the military bulldozers that destroyed their homes,
schools and major buildings. An entire community at the center of
Ginowan City was destroyed to build Futenma Air Base.
     As the Cold War tensions grew, so did Okinawa's strategic
military position, especially in regard to keeping North Korea in
check. In 1953 the U.S. military proclaimed the "Land Expropriation
Law," forcing many Okinawans to relinquish their lands in Naha City,
Yomitan Village and elsewhere to support the expanding network of
military bases.
     In 1972 Okinawa was returned to the Japanese government, but once
again Okinawan interests were sacrificed for U.S. military interests.
Instead of closing the U.S. bases, the reversion agreement allowed
their expansion. Three-quarters of all U.S. military bases and over
half the U.S. troops in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa (only a
fifth are on state-owned land, the rest is land owned by private
citizens). With the closing of Clark Air Base in the Philippines,
planes and troops have been moved to Okinawa.
     In 1992 on the twentieth anniversary of reversion, the contract
leasing citizen's land for U.S. military base use expired, and 575
landowners refused to renew the leases. Okinawans want their land for
parks, recreation, urban development, farming and entertainment and
not for U.S. airstrips and bases. In a modest concession to Okinawan
sentiment leases were renewed for five years instead of ten, and three
small facilities were returned to Japan.
     U.S. foreign bases claim much of the superb beach-front on which
the island relies for its tourism industry. U.S. forces regularly
conduct parachute training and other exercises at bases located in
town centers. Property damage from training accidents is common, and
many civilians have been injured. A fifth grade girl died when a
trailer fell on her from an aircraft above. Live bullets have pierced
homes and schools. Despite promises to halt them, the exercises
continue as do the accidents and "near misses."
     Noise levels are excessive throughout the year but particularly
during special drills. "Beachcrest '92," a five-day joint military
exercise involving mainly U.S. Marines, terrified the people in the
town of Kadena waking them at 6 a.m. with the first roar of the
drills. Live ammunition was hurled across a major highway.
     Okinawa was once renowned as "Shurei no Kuni" (courteous and
peace-loving country), but World War II and the Cold War completely
changed that. Militarism on Okinawa is pervasive. Just about every
town or village hosts some part of a base; barbed wire lines the
highways designating drill fields. An airfield runs alongside many
neighborhoods.
     But as deeply entrenched as the military bases are, so too is the
opposition. Of the 53 municipalities in Okinawa, nine cities, ten
towns and twelve villages have declared their municipalities
nuclear-free, peace communities. Anti-bases groups are active in
almost every town and community. Any incident involving the military
is reported throughout the island and serves to galvanize further
opposition. Activists built scaffolding between two guerrilla warfare
training facilities (one owned and operated by the U.S. military
adjacent to one used by the Japanese). While the military conducts
exercises, activists climb the scaffolding and use bullhorns to
disrupt the exercise by pointing out the location of the "enemy." 
     The Okinawans have been betrayed not only by the U.S. government
but by the Japanese government as well. In 1991, the Governor of
Okinawa Prefecture defied the Japanese government by visiting the U.S.
to meet with U.S. officials and congresspeople stating the predicament
of the Okinawan people and requesting the return of their land.
--Judy Kowalok

An excellent resource is the newsletter Okinawa Voice, c/o Okinawa
Christian Heiwa Center, 517-1 Shima-shi, Ginowan-shi, Okinawa-ken
01-22 Japan, $15/year.

From September/October 1992 (Vol.9 #5) issue of the Nonviolent
Activist, publication of the War Resisters League, 339 Lafayette St.,
New York, NY 10012. Subscriptions $15/year.