Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2011 January 12 - 18 [US FORCES]

Japan-US agreement won’t relieve Okinawa’s base burdens

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates during talks with Japan’s Foreign Minister Maehara Seiji on January 13 stated that the United States is ready to implement relief for Okinawa from base burdens in line with the implementation of the plan to construct a new U.S. base as replacement for the U.S. Futenma base.

Gates made this remark which is similar to his previous remark in October 2009 that the Unites States will not return the base to Japan without the base relocation to Henoko in Nago City from Ginowan City.

Gates also urged Defense Minister Kitazawa Toshimi to fulfill the 2006 agreement (Roadmap) which requires Japan to accept the construction of a new U.S. base in Henoko as an alternative to the Futenma base by arguing that it will be beneficial to Okinawa.

He came to Japan obviously for the purpose of insuring that Japan moves forward with the new base construction plan.

Japan’s defense leaders are ostensibly putting priority on the reduction in the suffering of local residents from the U.S. bases. The government made an agreement with the U.S. side to promote bilateral negotiations on the relocation of part of the training exercises of U.S. F-15 fighter jets from the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa to Guam.

However, the Kadena Town office and the townspeople are calling into question whether the training relocation will actually ease the base burdens.

Under the 2006 Roadmap, both governments agreed to have the flight training exercises of Kadena’s F-15 fighter jets relocated to mainland Japan, and part of the training has already been moved there. However, far more fighter aircraft than before began flying from other bases to the Kadena base. According to the Kadena Town survey, the number of instances of noise pollution that exceeded the environmental limit was the highest recorded in FY2009. The noise level has undeniably worsened.

In fact, F-22 stealth fighters from the U.S. mainland started to be tentatively deployed on January 12 to the U.S. Kadena AB. The Kadena Town Assembly on the following day adopted a resolution in protest against the deployment.