Japanese Want The US Military Out Of Japan

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag
Sixty four years after the end of World War II, 47,000 US troops are still stationed in Japan. Today, an estimated 21,000 Japanese rallied in Okinawa in protest of the US military base on the island. The rally is putting pressure on the new center-left government just days before the visit of President Obama.
The US military base in Okinawa is often called “the US unsinkable aircraft carrier” due to its strategic proximity from China, Taiwan and North Korea. Okinawa continues to host more than half of the 47,000 US troops stationed in Japan. A recent Japanese poll revealed that 70 percent of Okinawans want the US troops out.
The election of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and of his center-left coalition government, ending 40 years of conservative rule, has brought the issue front and center of Japan’s national political debate while putting some strain to Japan’s relation with Washington.
“I urge Prime Minister Hatoyama to tell President Obama that Okinawa needs no more US bases. I urge Prime Minister Hatoyama to make a brave decision and put an end to Okinawa’s burden and ordeal,” said Ginowan’s Mayor Yoichi Iha at today’s rally. The crowd of thousands applauded the Mayor’s speech.
The Futenma base is located in a densely populated urban area. Okinawans have been angered by aircraft noise, pollution, the risk of accidents, and crimes committed by the US military. Okinawans reacted with outrage after the rape of a school girl by 3 US soldiers in 1995. The demands to close the base grew even stronger when a US helicopter crashed in the ground of a university in 2004.
Prime Minister Hatoyama has vowed to adopt a less subservient relationship with Washington. Hatoyama has said he wants the base moved off the island or even out of the country.
On the other hand, the US has demanded that Japan fulfill a 2006 agreement under which the Futenma base would be closed and moved to another site to be built on Okinawa by 2014. Last month, during a visit to Japan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly told the new Japanese administration to “move on and resolve the issue before President Obama’s arrival”. Gates stressed that Washington doesn’t want to renegotiate on an agreement sealed in 2006.
This is a test of political will for Prime Minister Hatoyama. Can he finally challenge the overbearing nature of the United States relationship with Japan? Further, it puts one more time into lights the fact that the US military, once in a foreign country, has the tendency to stay for ever. Japan, just like Germany and countless other countries in the world are getting tired of it. And it is unfortunately unlikely that President Obama will ever challenge the logic of the consolidation of the American Empire, which has been the driving impulse in American foreign policies, both from Republicans & Democrats, ever since the end of World War II.
Source: Japanese Want The US Military Out Of Japan | NEWS JUNKIE POST

Many Japanese have derided the american presence since the end of WW2, but realpolitik for japan meant the Americans would have to be allowed to stay whether that will change with the new administration in Tokyo remains to be seen.
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29,797
Likes
48,276
Country flag
Japan want US military out; Who will protect them from China and North Korea? Also there written agreements between Japan and USA specifying the terms and tenure. This just seems like a chinese propaganda article.
 

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag
Japan want US military out; Who will protect them from China and North Korea? Also there written agreements between Japan and USA specifying the terms and tenure. This just seems like a chinese propaganda article.
This is not a Chinese propaganda article Okinawans have been demanding that the Americans vacate their soil for long japan also has small but growing ultra-nationalist movement that wants japan to become a power like in the post WW2 era
Part of the grievamce of the okinawans lies in the fact that much of their homeland is now taken over by american bases.

US bases (red) cover much of Okinawa

Incidents where american marines commit crimes against Okinawans do not help either
Read this
from: U.S. Marine accused of girl's rape - CNN.com

U.S. Marine accused of girl's rape
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A U.S. Marine based on Okinawa has been detained in connection with the reported rape of a 14-year-old Japanese girl, the island's police force said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, denied raping the junior high school student and told authorities he only kissed her, police said.

Authorities have not charged Hadnott with the crime.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it has lodged an official protest with the U.S. government.

The U.S. Marine Corps acknowledged the detention in a statement, without naming Hadnott. The incident was under investigation, the Marine Corps said, adding that it "takes this allegation very seriously."

A small group on Monday protested outside the building where authorities were holding Hadnott.

The assault was reported Sunday night in the Chatan entertainment district on Okinawa, a major hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific, police said.

Hadnott met the girl in Okinawa, offered her a ride and is alleged to have raped her in a car, according to local media reports.

Hadnott was detained shortly afterward, police said.

"This type of crime violates the human rights of women. And taking the fact that the victim was a junior high school student, this kind of crime cannot be tolerated," Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said in a statement.

Previous criminal cases against American troops have triggered widespread protests by Okinawans since 1995, when three American servicemen were found guilty of raping an Okinawan schoolgirl.

"The Okinawan Prefecture has repeatedly demanded a strict measure against these kinds of violent crimes by the U.S. military personnel every time it happens," Nakaima said. "Unfortunately, the crime has happened again."

Under U.S.-Japanese military agreements, the U.S. government has custody over service members suspected of crimes while on duty. In addition, the U.S. military is not required to turn over those accused of crimes until an indictment is issued.
 

K Factor

A Concerned Indian
Senior Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Messages
1,316
Likes
147
Its confirmed LF, the news is correct.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japanese protest against US base

The base is in a busy city centre and amid local concern about noise, pollution and crime the two countries agreed in 2006 to move it to reclaimed land on Okinawa's coast.
But, our correspondent says, there is opposition to the new site too because of possible damage to coral reefs.
Okinawa is host to about half the 47,000-strong American force in Japan.
 

redragon

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
Messages
956
Likes
58
Country flag
What I can say, lethalforce, your reaction is so predictable, always commie this commie that, come on, things changed in the past 20 years, don't live in the past. ideology is the tool not the purpose, do more research.
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29,797
Likes
48,276
Country flag
redragon who wants USA out of Asia more than anyone else? who has designs on Asia and USA is the obstacle?
 

redragon

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
Messages
956
Likes
58
Country flag
redragon who wants USA out of Asia more than anyone else? who has designs on Asia and USA is the obstacle?
Maybe China, but does that have any direct relation to Japanese want the USA out? the way your logic working tells us your mindset is stuck in the cold war. It's too obvious.
 

qilaotou

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
210
Likes
0
Okinawa, was independent island kindom called as Ryukiu before annexed by Japan 1880s and occupied by the US after WWII. According the peace treaties the islands should be given independence later on. In the end it became a present ceded by the US to Japan.
 

nimo_cn

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
4,032
Likes
883
Country flag
Japan want US military out; Who will protect them from China and North Korea? Also there written agreements between Japan and USA specifying the terms and tenure. This just seems like a chinese propaganda article.
If Japan was not constrained by its peaceful constitution, i believe Japan would be a country that, if not as powerful as USA, at least only second to USA. Even though the peaceful constitution is still there, the military of Japan is one of the best in the world, which can never be underestimated. Plus Japan's fabulous economy, Japanese can protect themselves on their own.

And, by the way, no country likes other country setting up military bases on its soil, especially for a country like Japan. The day Americans leave Japan will come eventually, the existing Japanese govenment is just hastening that process.
 

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag
Obama Hopes To Solve Japan Base Issue Quickly

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 13 Nov 2009 08:53




TOKYO - President Barack Obama said Nov. 13 in Japan that he hopes to quickly resolve talks on where to relocate a controversial U.S. military base on southern Okinawa island.

"We hope to complete this work expeditiously," he said. "Our goal remains the same: that is, to provide for the defense of Japan with minimal intrusion on the lives of the people who share the space."

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's two-month-old government says it is reviewing a 2006 agreement under which a new U.S. base would be built on Okinawa, where the U.S. military presence is intensely controversial.
The premier has said that the Marine Corps Futenma Air Base - now located in a crowded urban area - may not be relocated to a coastal area as previously agreed, but moved off Okinawa or even out of Japan.
The issue has strained ties between the decades-old allies, but Obama and Hatoyama agreed Nov. 13 to seek an early solution to the issue.
Hatoyama said "Tokyo will launch a high-level working group and solve this issue as early as possible."
"I told the president that Tokyo takes the Japan-U.S. agreement signed by the previous administration seriously," he said.
"However, it is also true, especially in Okinawa, that we have said we would seek to move the base outside of the province or the country... This has heightened the expectations of the Okinawan people."
"This is an issue with difficulties. But it will get more difficult to solve as time goes by."
Opposition to the U.S. bases there has simmered for decades, with locals complaining about aircraft noise, pollution, the risk of accidents and crimes committed by servicemen, especially a high-profile 2005 gang-rape.
On Nov. 8, more than 20,000 Okinawans rallied against the U.S. military presence, and a smaller protest was held in Tokyo on Nov. 13.
 

Yusuf

GUARDIAN
Super Mod
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
24,324
Likes
11,757
Country flag
Japan can throw the US out only after it throws its Pacifist Constitution into the Sea of Japan. Then militarize aggressively so that it can stand up to China and NK.
 

K Factor

A Concerned Indian
Senior Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Messages
1,316
Likes
147
Japan can throw the US out only after it throws its Pacifist Constitution into the Sea of Japan. Then militarize aggressively so that it can stand up to China and NK.

Yusuf bhai, that may happen very soon. There has been a rise in Japanese right-wing nationalism in the recent past. The building of the LHDs is a sign of that. Though it is designated as a helicopter carrier, VTOL aircraft like F-35B can be operated from it. Along with that the fact that a carrier is a power-projection/offensive platform. As a result, some sections of the Japanese populace is against this idea.

I would'nt be surprised if the self-defence part is removed from the name of JMSDF and the Air-Force. :wink:
 

bengalraider

DFI Technocrat
Ambassador
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
3,779
Likes
2,666
Country flag
Japan can throw the US out only after it throws its Pacifist Constitution into the Sea of Japan. Then militarize aggressively so that it can stand up to China and NK.
This would be the stuff that east asian nations have nightmares about, Imperial japan ruled a fair part of china and the entire korean peninsula for more than a century and a resurgent militarily powerful japan would be foreign affairs nightmare for the entire asian pacific rim.Most worrisome for chia is the fact that Japan may well be the next nuclear power if that takes place, it is already widely recognised as a "virtual nuclear wepons state". This is due to the fact that if required japan's advanced nuclear industry and stockpile of enriched uranium and plutonium mean that it can make the bomb in less than a year, also japans domestic space launch capability gives it a missile capability as well. If america leaves and japan militarizes japan's advanced industry could see it becoming the premier asian pacific rim power with highly advanced systems in less than a decade.
 

ppgj

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
2,029
Likes
168
Hatoyama wants more equal ties with U.S.

AP, TOKYO, January 4, 2010


Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama speaks during his first press conference of the year in Tokyo on Monday.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Monday he will press for more equal ties with Washington this year, the 50th anniversary of a joint security treaty that grants many special privileges to U.S. troops stationed in the country.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, in a New Year’s speech shown live on national television, said he hopes the alliance will evolve to become more open and candid.

It is important “for both sides to be able to firmly say what needs to be said, and to increase the relationship of trust,” he said.

Under a security pact signed in 1960, U.S. armed forces are allowed broad use of Japanese land and facilities, and currently some 47,000 American troops are stationed in Japan. The U.S. is obliged to respond to attacks on Japan and protect the country under its nuclear umbrella.

More than half those troops are stationed in the southern island of Okinawa, where many residents complain about noise, pollution and crime linked to the bases.

U.S.-Japan ties have become strained since Mr. Hatoyama took office in September over the relocation of Futenma U.S. Marine airfield on Okinawa, as part of a broader reorganization agreed in 2006. The plan calls for 8,000 Marines to be transferred to the U.S. territory of Guam and for Futenma’s facilities to be moved to a northern part of Okinawa.

But residents oppose the move and simply want Futenma shut down. Hatoyama has delayed making a final decision and said he’s willing to consider other options for the base. The leader of a junior coalition partner has said she wants the base moved off Japanese territory altogether.

In Monday’s speech, the prime minister said the Japan-U.S. partnership also needs to tackle broader issues such as global warming.

“It doesn’t even need to be said that the core of the Japan-U.S. alliance is military security. But it is important to show that at various levels, Japan and America are in a crucial relationship,” he said.

Domestically, Mr. Hatoyama said his main priority was passing a new budget and fiscal measures to keep Japan’s nascent economic recovery on track.

He said it was too soon to elaborate on his party’s strategy for elections for the less powerful upper house of parliament coming up this summer. Recent polls have shown his popularity has fallen sharply since his party swept to power last year.

The Hindu : News / International : Hatoyama wants more equal ties with U.S.
 

sob

Mod
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
6,425
Likes
3,805
Country flag
The moot point is that What the people of Okinawa want is it same as that what other Japanese want.

The answer is a big NO. The averege Japanese on the street knows that thier security is guarranteed by the US forces and the US Nuclear Shield. Leave apart China even an upstart nation like N Korea is challenging them. I was in Japan a couple of years back whn the N Koreans had launched their first missile capable of hitting Japan. The people I interacted were very scared by this development but in their words they were assured of American protection.

The new PM has his own political field to play to.
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29,797
Likes
48,276
Country flag
Japan can throw the US out only after it throws its Pacifist Constitution into the Sea of Japan. Then militarize aggressively so that it can stand up to China and NK.
Japan built their economy because they did not have to worry about defense spending since they were under USA's security umbrella, now if they want to be independent in their defense policy it would mean spending hundreds of billions or triillions in a time when the world is going thru economic turmoil, it would also mean USA would have to make changes to adjust to this change, for Japan to standup to North Korea and China would mean Japan would have to become a nuclear state another expense and go against the NPT crusade they preach to the rest of the world. Japan may reduce US bases but it may not be so wise for them to breakout of USA's security umbrella.
 

amoy

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
5,982
Likes
1,849
no country likes other country setting up military bases on its soil, especially for a country like Japan. The day Americans leave Japan will come eventually, the existing Japanese govenment is just hastening that process.
Actually US' military presence in JP has its positive side - it's monitoring JP and preventing JP from reviving militarism so long JP is put under the US's wiings.

Thanks to the US JP is so far playing 2nd fiddle. But who knows what JP may become of once getting out of cage???
 

shotgunner

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
173
Likes
2
Japan built their economy because they did not have to worry about defense spending since they were under USA's security umbrella, now if they want to be independent in their defense policy it would mean spending hundreds of billions or triillions in a time when the world is going thru economic turmoil ...
Japan built their economy because of one reason - it is Japan. The same security umbrella have not helped other countries to build their economy e.g. The Philippines.
In fact, Japan funded US military presence heavily.
Similarly, SK built their economy despite of heavy military spend, for one simple reason - it is SK.

... it would also mean USA would have to make changes to adjust to this change, for Japan to standup to North Korea and China would mean Japan would have to become a nuclear state another expense and go against the NPT crusade they preach to the rest of the world. Japan may reduce US bases but it may not be so wise for them to breakout of USA's security umbrella.
Taking a Chinese POV, US military presence is Japan is favorable. Japan is a national country, not a political country like USA. Togther with its advanced tech, huge industrial capability, massive wealth, high intelligence & disciplined social order, it possess far more danger to China. In my view, the only threats to China are Japan, Russia, and Muslim/Turkish extremists, in that descending order of magnitude. Others could be competitors, rivals, even enemies, but no threats to China.

Until we can catch up with Japan one day, it would be safer for us to have them checked by the US.
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top