TOKYO (AFP) – The Japanese
island of Okinawa marks 50 years since the end of U.S. occupation Sunday, with discontent simmering about the ongoing presence of American troops.
The post-World War II U.S. occupation of Japan lasted until 1952, but it took another 20 years for Okinawa, the country’s southernmost prefecture, to regain its sovereignty.
The anniversary is being marked with official ceremonies, but behind the pleasantries are longstanding concerns for Okinawans about the U.S. troop presence.
“I’m not in the mood to celebrate at all,” Okinawan native Jinshiro Motoyama told AFP ahead of the anniversary as he sat outside a Tokyo government building on a week-long hunger strike.
Like many Okinawans, he feels the region bears an unfair burden in hosting the majority of about 55,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan and is protesting to draw attention to the issue.
Okinawa accounts for just 0.6 percent of Japan’s landmass but hosts about 70 percent of all U.S. military bases and facilities.
And that presence has produced a host of issues -- from crashes and noise pollution to crimes involving U.S. troops, including the 1995 gang-rape of a local schoolgirl.
“Only when issues surrounding U.S. bases have been resolved in a way that satisfies Okinawans can we celebrate,” said Motoyama, a 30-year-old graduate student.
A nationwide poll by broadcaster NHK this month found 80 percent of Japanese consider the current disproportionate distribution of U.S. forces “wrong” or “somewhat wrong.”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was in Okinawa on Sunday to mark the anniversary, acknowledged the discontent in remarks Friday before the parliament.
“The government takes seriously the fact that the burden of hosting bases is weighing on residents in Okinawa,” he said.
“We will have to make a greater effort to reduce this burden,” he added, without providing specifics.