Problems of U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa
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PROBLEMS OF U.S. MILITARY BASES IN OKINAWA February 2000 Japanese Communist Party Until the outbreak of the Second World War, ture of 1.3 million people, 27,000 U.S. troops are sta- Okinawa was a peaceful island, without even Japanese tioned. Nowhere in Europe can you find a country with military forces stationed there. Relating to military such a province or a state. service, there was only a conscription office with a Moreover, these U.S. bases in Okinawa are situ- commander and a few staff members. Without mili- ated right in the midst of very populated areas. For tary bases, the people of Okinawa lived in peace and example, Kadena Air Base takes up 83 percent of the had friendly relations with their Asian neighbors. land area of Kadena Town, forcing more than ten thou- It was only in 1944 when Japan’s defeat in WWII sand residents to live in the remaining 17 percent of became imminent and the Japanese government de- the land. The town residents’ houses, schools, hospi- cided to make Okinawa the place for final “decisive tals and other facilities are squeezed in the small ar- battles,” that military forces were stationed there on a eas within only several hundred meters of the runways full scale. With the defeat of Japan, the stationing of of the base. Such a situation is not limited to Kadena. military forces in Okinawa should have been put to In addition to Kadena, there are 3 towns and villages an end. (Kin Town, Chatan Town and Ginoza Village) over 50 However, the present Okinawa is so overcrowded percent of whose land is taken by the U.S. bases. And with U.S. military bases and facilities that it is said, there are 5 more municipalities where more than 30 “The bases are not in Okinawa. Okinawa is among percent of their land is taken (Yomitan Village, Higashi military bases.” Stepping onto Okinawa, you will realize Village, Okinawa City, Ie Village and Ginowan City). that this description is not an exaggeration. Eleven How has Okinawa been brought to such a situa- percent of the land area of Okinawa Prefecture is oc- tion? What kind of problems do the people of Okinawa cupied by U.S. bases. This figure goes up to 20 per- have as a result? We earnestly want all of you to know cent on the Okinawa mainland. In the island prefec- the answers to these questions. I. Origin and History of U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa the period. The intensity and severity of the battle From WWII to the Peace Treaty was beyond words. More than 10,000 U.S. soldiers With the stationing of the Japanese Army in and about 90,000 Japanese troops were killed in the 1944, Okinawa became the only place in Japan during battle. Notable in this battle was the extraordinary WWII where a ground battle was fought, involving large number of noncombatants victimized. More noncombatants. The battle, which lasted for 80 days than one hundred thousand people — nearly one- from the end of March 1945, was named “Iron Storm” third of the prefectural population — were killed. from the enormous amount of naval gun fire during The U.S. Military forces, in occupying Okinawa, 1 U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa (source: "U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa", Okinawa Prefectural Government, 1998) Areas used by U.S. forces Okuma Rest Center Yaedake Camp Schwab Ie Jima Auxiliary Airfield Communication Site Northern Training Area Camp Hansen Army POL Depots Gesaji Communication Site Kadena Ammunition Storage Area Senaha Communication Site Henoko Ordnance Ammunition Depot Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield Sobe Communication Site Gimbaru Training Area Torii Communication Kin Blue Beach Training Area Station Tengan Pier Kin Red Beach Training Area Kadena Air Base Camp Courtney Army POL Depots Camp McTureous Camp Kuwae Camp Shields Awase Camp Zukeran Communication Ukibaru Jima Training Area Station White Beach Area Futenma Air Station Tsuken Jima Training Area Naha Port Deputy Division Engineer Office Makiminato Service Area Kadena Town Kadena Ammunition Storage Area Town area The U.S. bases take up 83% of the land area of Kadena Town. Kadena Air Base 2 sent surviving citizens to concentration camps they set period, in many different parts of Okinawa, a total of up in different parts of the prefecture, which contin- 18,000 hectares, about eight percent of the total land ued beyond August 1945, after the war against Japan area of the prefecture, was requisitioned by the U.S. ended. in a similar manner. Some “40,000 landowners lost During the period from the end of 1945 to 1947, their land and 12,000 households were forced to leave the citizens were released from the concentration camps. their residences” (document of the Ryukyu govern- Coming back home, they were astonished to find vast ment at the time), and yet no compensation whatso- areas of U.S. military bases stretching before their eyes. ever was paid to any of them. Their old homes and farms were bulldozed flat and they International law (The Hague Convention) pro- were not allowed to step onto their own land, which hibits the confiscation of private property even dur- was surrounded by barbed wire. In Chatan Town, there ing war. Even if the requisition is conducted out of used to be a Japanese army airfield. Requisition of the military necessity, payment for the loss is obligatory. airfield was not enough for the U.S. military — they What was done to the people of Okinawa by the U.S. took as much as 40 times the land around the old air- — detaining them after the war ended; requisitioning field to build the present Kadena base. The townspeople their land while they were away; refusing to pay for of Chatan were allowed to live only on the worst land, their property — was a clear violation of international such as slopes and valleys. Total farming land area law, for which no justification can be made. shrunk to less than one percent compared with the prewar From the Peace Treaty to the Reversion of days, and even the remaining farms were devastated Administrative Rights by the war. Not a few people who had lost their lands and houses were forced to immigrate to South America After the war, the Okinawan people started to work or other distant places. on what little farmland was saved from the U.S. req- Chatan was not the only example. During the same uisition, and going through great pains, they managed Okinawan people in a concentration camp standing in a queue for food (source: “Message from Okinawa”, Okinawa Prefectural Government, 1996) 3 to restore their land and make it arable again. They than 10 automatic cannons, suppressed the farmers believed that they could retrieve their old land after offering resistance and confiscated their land, thrust- the signing of a peace treaty. ing a “contract” at them, which said that the land shall However, the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty belong to the U.S.A., including the surface, underground signed between Japan and the Allies allowed the U.S. and air rights. Consequently, the land was taken away to continue its occupation and rule of Okinawa. It was from the people even on a larger scale during this pe- followed by further requisition of people’s land on a riod than the immediate post-war period. Thus, the vast larger scale, which was to impose more burdens and U.S. military bases as seen today were established. suffering on the people of Okinawa. On Iejima Island, a new round of land confisca- From the reversion to Japan of Okinawa’s tion started in 1953. The U.S. Forces pressed the people administrative rights to the present on the island to hand over their land, encouraging them In 1972, twenty-seven years after the end of WWII to immigrate to South America or threatening them by the administrative rights over Okinawa were returned sending their officers to the people’s homes. Since the to Japan. The prefecture’s people did not doubt at all end of the war, Iejima farmers had worked arduously that they could enter their own lands over the fences on their devastated farmland now devoid of trees on it of the bases and get them back. and restored about half of their prewar production. For The Okinawan people’s desire was again betrayed. the farmers, further requisition of their land was too In the past 28 years since the reversion of Okinawa, much to take. the percentage of Okinawa’s land returned to the owners The farmers were resolved to oppose the plan. In has been only 15 percent of the total base area while 1955, seeing that persuading the farmers would be in the mainland Japan it was 60 percent. This is a com- impossible, the U.S. military decided to resort to strong pelling evidence to show that there has been almost measures. On the same beach where they launched the no change in the circumstances of the bases in Okinawa. landing operation exactly 10 years before, the U.S. What underlies this situation is the fact that the military unloaded 300 armed troops and vehicles, and Japanese government assured the U.S. that Okinawa’s surrounded the village. Unarmed, the villagers sat on U.S. base functions would not decline after the rever- their land, believing that “U.S. soldiers will understand sion. our sentiment, if they are humans”. But the U.S. mili- In order to fulfill its promise to the U.S. , the Japa- tary turned deaf ears to the people’s plea.