Japan Press Weekly

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2011 February 2 - 8 [US FORCES]

Okinawa saddled with increased military burden

Despite the government’s promise to reduce “the military burden on Okinawa,” moves against this have been sought in the region since the collision of a Chinese fishing boat with Japan Coast Guard patrol boats near the Senkaku Islands last fall. The United States has increased its military exercises in waters near Okinawa while Japan has increased the presence of the Self-Defense Forces around the Nansei Islands, a chain of islands including Okinawa.

Japanese Communist Party parliamentarian Akamine Seiken on February 3 took up the issue at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting, saying, “This is, in fact, the latest move to transform Okinawa into a military fortress.”

Waters around Okinawa are major fishing grounds for squid and tuna, and the presence of U.S. bases has long caused serious damage to its fisheries industry.

In waters surrounding the islands, the U.S. forces have 29 designated training areas, including two in the Senkaku Islands, encompassing 55,000 square kilometers in total. All the training grounds are located within Japan’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.

The U.S. forces and Self-Defense Forces last December conducted integrated training exercises even beyond the designated training areas. Furthrmore, in January, local people were suddenly informed, without prior notice, of the start of bombing exercises through the U.S. military navigational warnings system. This is in violation of the 1972 Japan-U.S. agreement that requires the United States to give prior notice of training exercises at least 15 days in advance. The drill was cancelled due to the protest by a federation of fisheries cooperative associations in Okinawa Prefecture and other local municipalities.

Meanwhile, based on the National Defense Program Guidelines it approved at the end of 2010, the Kan Cabinet decided to beef up Japan’s military presence in the Nansei Islands by deploying the Ground SDF’s Coast Observation Unit in Yonaguni Island and increasing the number of fighter jets at the Air SDF base in Naha City.

Local people are increasingly worried about the military buildup in the region. In the Yonaguni town assembly election last September, two candidates who ran opposing the hosting of the GSDF unit won seats in the six-member town assembly, causing a change in balance in the all-are-ruling party set-up led by the mayor, who is in favor of hosting the GSDF unit.