A. 15 May is an memorable day for Okinawa, one of the 47 Prefectures of Japan. The US returned it to Japan in 1972. It's 40 years on.
B. Yes. It was separated from Japan proper by the Peace Treaty in 1951. The US was going to propose to the UN that she would place Okinawa as a UN Trusteeship Territory, with Japan's previous approval. But the US abandoned the plan, and decided to return it to Japan.
A. Why?
B. The US saw that if she would go along the original programme, the anti-American feeling would flare up, and the whole Japan-US security alliance would be put in danger. So they decided to return the administration of Okinawa to Japan. But they saw to it that the most of their military bases in Okinawa would be usable to them even afterwards.
A. How significant are those bases?
B. They are the most important US Marine forces outside the US mainland. They are not stationed in Okinawa to defend Japan, as is clear from a number of documents and statements by their officials. They are for fighting in other parts of Asia, or the world, as the spearhead of the US forces. That's what they have been doing all these years. Okinawa is a mere stepping-stone. There presence there does not conform to Article 6 of the Security Treaty which says, 'For the purpose of contributing to the security of Japan and the maintenance of international peace and security in the Far East, the USA is granted the use by its land, air and naval forces of facilities and areas in Japan'. Most of these forces in Okinawa are Marines.
A. Still why is it then that there are troubles occurring every now and then?
B. Many reasons. There were no Japanese military bases in Okinawa up to the Pacific War. During the War the Japanese forces fought the US in hurriedly-constructed trenches etc. Most of the present US bases were built on a permanent basis after the Peace Treaty, when the US began looking at the islands as good as their territory. Residents were evacuated at the time, illegally, and by force. There are 33 US bases at present, which is 74% of all the US bases in Japan, and takes up 18% of the land space of the main Okinawa island. When it was returned, the residents certainly did not take a passport any more just to go to Japan. But the then government said that the Security Treaty would apply there in the same way as to the Japan proper. Considering the large number of the bases, the free use by the US forces of them, the way they had been occupied, the way the Treaty applies there, however, are different. Informed people say that the Japan proper had downgraded to the standard of Okinawa.
A. There are also plane crashes, crimes and so on, lots of them, aren't they?
B. There have been 43 plane crashes. One of them hit a university. There are countless crimes against women, including small girls. This shows the offenders are so much involved in the training for killing fellow human beings, that they are already suffering from a kind of trauma even before they are put into fighting. One thing more is beyond my comprehension. It was at least several years before 1972 that the US decided to return Okinawa. Then the above-mentioned clause in the Peace Treaty on the future of Okinawa would have been nullified. On what basis did the US continue to occupy it till 1972?
A. The Okinawans have shouldered the burden of having the US bases unequally. Now they are united in their demand for less bases, less noise, less crime. Is there any way for the rest of the Japanese to shoulder the burden? Opinion polls are quite negative on this point, showing that by far the most of them are against sharing the bases in Japan proper.
B. That's because they also think that those bases are not worth having with them. The only way to get rid of the burden on Okinawa is to revise the Security Treaty into a Peace and Friendship Treaty, with no military substance in it. 55% of the Okinawans are supporting it, while only 16% are supporting the present Treaty. There are reasons to believe that many Americans will also support such a change. They have fed up with persistently fighting others in remote areas. They did not have to.
B. Yes. It was separated from Japan proper by the Peace Treaty in 1951. The US was going to propose to the UN that she would place Okinawa as a UN Trusteeship Territory, with Japan's previous approval. But the US abandoned the plan, and decided to return it to Japan.
A. Why?
B. The US saw that if she would go along the original programme, the anti-American feeling would flare up, and the whole Japan-US security alliance would be put in danger. So they decided to return the administration of Okinawa to Japan. But they saw to it that the most of their military bases in Okinawa would be usable to them even afterwards.
A. How significant are those bases?
B. They are the most important US Marine forces outside the US mainland. They are not stationed in Okinawa to defend Japan, as is clear from a number of documents and statements by their officials. They are for fighting in other parts of Asia, or the world, as the spearhead of the US forces. That's what they have been doing all these years. Okinawa is a mere stepping-stone. There presence there does not conform to Article 6 of the Security Treaty which says, 'For the purpose of contributing to the security of Japan and the maintenance of international peace and security in the Far East, the USA is granted the use by its land, air and naval forces of facilities and areas in Japan'. Most of these forces in Okinawa are Marines.
A. Still why is it then that there are troubles occurring every now and then?
B. Many reasons. There were no Japanese military bases in Okinawa up to the Pacific War. During the War the Japanese forces fought the US in hurriedly-constructed trenches etc. Most of the present US bases were built on a permanent basis after the Peace Treaty, when the US began looking at the islands as good as their territory. Residents were evacuated at the time, illegally, and by force. There are 33 US bases at present, which is 74% of all the US bases in Japan, and takes up 18% of the land space of the main Okinawa island. When it was returned, the residents certainly did not take a passport any more just to go to Japan. But the then government said that the Security Treaty would apply there in the same way as to the Japan proper. Considering the large number of the bases, the free use by the US forces of them, the way they had been occupied, the way the Treaty applies there, however, are different. Informed people say that the Japan proper had downgraded to the standard of Okinawa.
A. There are also plane crashes, crimes and so on, lots of them, aren't they?
B. There have been 43 plane crashes. One of them hit a university. There are countless crimes against women, including small girls. This shows the offenders are so much involved in the training for killing fellow human beings, that they are already suffering from a kind of trauma even before they are put into fighting. One thing more is beyond my comprehension. It was at least several years before 1972 that the US decided to return Okinawa. Then the above-mentioned clause in the Peace Treaty on the future of Okinawa would have been nullified. On what basis did the US continue to occupy it till 1972?
A. The Okinawans have shouldered the burden of having the US bases unequally. Now they are united in their demand for less bases, less noise, less crime. Is there any way for the rest of the Japanese to shoulder the burden? Opinion polls are quite negative on this point, showing that by far the most of them are against sharing the bases in Japan proper.
B. That's because they also think that those bases are not worth having with them. The only way to get rid of the burden on Okinawa is to revise the Security Treaty into a Peace and Friendship Treaty, with no military substance in it. 55% of the Okinawans are supporting it, while only 16% are supporting the present Treaty. There are reasons to believe that many Americans will also support such a change. They have fed up with persistently fighting others in remote areas. They did not have to.
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