politics

Okada says there will be no base deal during Obama's visit

16 Comments

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Iwo Jima (or should I say Iwo-to or Chrisanthemum Island) I never heard of that option.. I don't think many people live there.. aw

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I predict a sudden upsurge in land sales on Iwo-Jima! I'm sure if this gets out Japanese will be buying up parcels of 1-tsuba lots so they can lodge future complaints about Americans occupying their valuable farmland :)

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Iwo Jima is a hell hole to be stationed on since there is no fresh water and no women. Hey I know what, why don't we transfer Japan's military forces to Iwo Jima and then the U.S. Marines can take over their bases in Japan - that sounds fair.

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Is everyone else as tired of listening to the J folk whine about american troops, planes, n ships here as I am? It think it is time for the little who to stand up n be counted. Let j land get their own standing army/navy/ airforce, build their own planes n ships....

I just wonder where they think they are going to station the j planes that replace the us planes? and the j ships that replace the us ships? wahahaha, where they going to come up with the money? lets see.... to replace their dependency on the us military to start with, they will need 2 aircraft carriers, 30 destroyers, 30 subs capable of multihead missile launch, 300 bombers, 1000 strike planes, 100 awacs, support for about 200,00 more armed forces, 500 tanks, 500 landing craft.... oh and they they could build islands like they did for kansai, narita, and nagoya to base them on! and the peace loving j folk will gut and burn down the control towers n bomb the base commander's cars like they did for nartita when it opened ; ) they were still bombing cars up till a couple years ago ; )

anybody got a calculator that goes high enough to calculate that? japan is full of silly uninformed people that have not even the slightest grip on reality. had they been forced to provide this level of protection on their own, it would have gutted the production capacity for the export market that they got rich on. I doubt that hatoyama and his drones are so stupid that they are unaware of things, they are just playing off the emotions and ignorance of the electorate.

Iwo Jima? Brilliant! 1200 kilos in the opposite direction from the key source of potential conflict. Go Japan!

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Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and PM Hatoyama better start concentrating on APEC Singapore 2009, and the smooth shift to APEC Japan 2010. This Chair can change history if the economy in question has the brain power. Japan is still the 2nd largest economy, thus has the horsepower to "make things happen". US Base issues are important, but to give the Japan Chair everything Japan has is critical because it only come around every 20 years or so. After the APEC Leaders meeting, the Chair goes to Japan, and Japan has the guy that can "make things happen" - Sec-General Ozawa and staff. APEC is capable of making sweeping changes, and Japan is in a situation to do something - 2010 and 2020. Former PM Hashimoto and former PM Aso have indirectly set up Japan to influence APEC moreso than others. Time to go for it is fast approaching.

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"There will be no base deal during Obama's vist."

-Yeah, no kidding.... That's because the deal had already been struck.

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Time to resolve!? No one wants to make waves in Japan so basically leaves everything upto the last minute.

I guess if the US came in and basically made out that Japan was stupid abut not making up their mind and made it seem Japan had lost face (which is the only thing that motivates Japan) then they might have a chance.

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Apec is very bullish on APEC collaboration, but a big player China is also trying to gain a major influence there. Japan will keep running into China eerywhere it goes around the region.

Iwo Jima would have had major strategic value during WWII when Japan's empire projected thousands of miles south/southwest, however these days it won't be of much value unless the kingdom of Tuvalu decides on going on a island taking spree.

Pool of Zen is right there should be no negotiating since the agreement is already in place. Unless there is a major referendum on the part of Japanese voters, there should be no democratic reason to reneg on the cooperation that has kept Japan out of the regional bullseye since 1957.

Politicians talking are just pandering to a small minority that makes a lot of noise, but they have not evaluated the economic impact enough to know it will be deadly to the Japanese economy to rock the boat at this time.

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to replace their dependency on the us military to start with, they will need 2 aircraft carriers, 30 destroyers, 30 subs capable of multihead missile launch, 300 bombers, 1000 strike planes, 100 awacs, support for about 200,00 more armed forces, 500 tanks, 500 landing craft....

They dont need that, they have Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, Nishikawakajima, Shiseido etc...and...support by 130 000 000 people.

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This is almost off post, but the comment:

Okinawa residents have long been concerned about base-related crime, noise and environmental damage.

The folks making this remark have not been following the crime section in Japan today and other news. The Crime ratio of base related crimes to Japanese related crimes is very small. Maybe .25 of one percent? Enviormental damage really irritates me also, has any one noticed how much of the coral reef has been destroyed from the J-resorts and J-shipping ports being built in Okinawa? And the noise..Has there been a comprehensive noise survey on the international airports in mainland? I am pretty sure the population around some of the mainland airports is more than okinawa's.

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Actually my observation to share with you is that the US bases in JP is beneficial for China from their viewpoint of strategy. They only don't want to say it in public for their face! During these years China criticize the US for sending soldiers to Iraq, Afghan... or involved in other small conflicts but at least in this decade they never mentioned about JP bases issue! Why? - how can you complain if somebody protected the oil transportation from the Indian ocean to Asia for themselves, and at the same time also for you, and oil is actually real life line for all. Although for Taiwan issue these bases are something obstructions, but isn't it good excuse to persuade hardline generals to keep more patient? Those real wise leaders don't really need Taiwan to be part of them now because Taiwanese are pouring all resources/ money to China already. Taiwanese in fact donated more money than people of everywhere during last time China heavy earthquake! On the other hand, it's really chaos suppose the US suddenly remove their force from JP! another unstable force like Russian or even right-wing Jps might come to fill the power vacancy! and who to share the effort to ease mad NK? who can be another such a good target to blame for bullying.. Asian for some time to decrease various inside pressure... Anyway sometimes from the other side to watch something let you know the truth~

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US should just leave Japan alone and get their asses out of there. Enforced peace and order is only one of those ways of teaching others how to live whilst gaining control over their countries.

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Martyman: Anyone who goes on here and talks about the "Okinawan people" and crime does not live here. The only exceptions are Alphawolf and The Marion. Everyone else is an outsider, kind of like the protesters that show up at the bases here to say "Yankee go home". All from mainland, and brought in to show some numbers.

The agreement was started back in 1995, and took 11 years before the governments could agree (I believe this was rooted in the SACO report from 2006)

Here's the Japanese link to it (in English for convenience:

http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/n-america/us/security/96saco1.html

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no deal on relocating U.S. troops on Okinawa can be expected during President Barack Obama’s visit this week

The original agreement Japan signed took about 11 years, I think. What's another 11 to reach a new agreement, eh? By then the LDP will inevitably return and reinstate the original.

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So no deal means they will be staying? I'm sure the Okinawans will be happy about that.

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the sicilian: you are right, most stories about okinawa politics are from mainland Japanese folks that have a secret prejudice against Okinawa.

For example, Hirofumi Hirano indicated that if a U.S. military service person indeed caused the deadly accident, it may have some impact on the issue of where to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps airfield in Okinawa Prefecture.

Do you really think he cares about Okinawa or more about his personal agenda to make a bigger name for himself.

or

sbg711's comment: US should just leave Japan alone and get their asses out of there. Enforced peace and order is only one of those ways of teaching others how to live whilst gaining control over their countries.

More than likely sbg711 has no clue about Okinawa and the american military stationed here working with the Japanese Self Defense Force.

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