Japanese protest relocation of US military base

The Japanese have staged a rally on Okinawa Island to protest a controversial plan to relocate a US military base there.

On Thursday, around two hundred angry protesters called for the closure of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and demanded the US military base be moved completely off the island.

Some of the protestors carried placards reading, “No new base.”

The US plans to move the Marines Corps’ Futenma air base to a more remote coastal area called Henoko in Nago City to consolidate its troop presence in Okinawa.

On Thursday, the first phase of the plan started and buoys floated off Okinawa to demarcate the area where the construction will begin on a facility in coastal Henoko.

“We are extremely angry about this work, which tramples on the feelings of Okinawan people,” AFP quoted a protester organizer as saying.

“We will continue our protest until they stop construction,” the protester added.

Washington and Tokyo first agreed in 1996 to relocate the base from a more congested part of Okinawa to Nago, but opposition from local people and environmental groups has prevented construction in the small town of nearly 60,000 people.

About half of US forces in Japan are based in Okinawa. Many locals have complained about base-related crimes, noise and the risk of accidents.

Susumu Inamine, the mayor of Nago, had earlier issued a statement protesting the move.

“Pushing forward with this tramples on the human rights of the people, and the rich diverse natural life of this region. This is no longer about democracy,” Inamine said.

The latest protest rally also comes as the number of sexual assaults by US military personnel in Japan is on the rise, as many offending soldiers receive either no or very light punishments.

According to recent documents obtained by the Associated Press, American military personnel were involved in more than 1,000 sex crimes between 2005 and 2013 in Japan.