Okinawa submits bill on U.S. base transfer referendum

Wish I could vote.

I can vote and will! This referendum will pass, as there are few that want the base, BUT it does not mean it wont get built.

Funny that it took Onaga's death to finally get this out there. Onaga promised for years to hold one but never got around to it, as he was too busy traipsing around the world and wasting tax payers money. That is one reason why he lost his "all Okinawa" support, at least from the major businesses leaders.

He could never keep a promise!

Absurd. How do Okinawan think they can defend themselves from neighbours without the U.S. military base?

Absurd. How do Okinawan think they can defend themselves from neighbours without the U.S. military base?

Okinawa is never going to be without any military bases. NEVER. It's just a matter of if they will be joint US military and JSDF, or JSDF alone.

Okinawa has plenty of JSDF bases here now, as it seems you dont realize. And the US military bases are not here to "defend" Okinawa. You need to educate yourself better on the subject.

Osaka_Doug,

If you are thinking that you could defend yourself by acting as if you were not a threat, I admire your simplicity. Wish I were able to live in such an easy world!

Yubaru,

So what's your point? I know Okinawa has JSDF bases. Please educate me if you know more about the subject than I do.

Okinawans probably rather have The chinese here instead of Americans . . . hmmm

So what's your point? I know Okinawa has JSDF bases. Please educate me if you know more about the subject than I do.

I guess the folks here don't like the truth.....you are going to have to research why yourself.

Okinawa is never going to be without any military bases. NEVER. It's just a matter of if they will be joint US military and JSDF, or JSDF alone.

Very true, so long as Okinawa remains a prefecture of Japan. Japan central government and U.S. government will continue to mandate hosting U.S. bases on Okinawa as "necessary for strategic reasons.", i.e., keeping China's military activities in the China Seas region in check.

Even if Japan and U.S. is willing to acquiesce to Okinawan pressures to relocate U.S. forces out of Okinawa and allow expanded JSDF presence to replace the U.S. forces, will Okinawans accept 100% JSDF bases presence? Or will they begin holding "Remove JSDF bases" protests in the future?

Okinawans probably rather have The chinese here instead of Americans . . . hmmm

Hmmm, maybe so. Prior to the 1879 annexation, the Ryukyu Kingdom was enjoying close diplomatic and trade relations with China. So historically, Okinawans don't consider China as a threat or enemy.

There will be a probably be a time when all U.S. military presence is removed, secession from Japan and Independence declaration that a New Ryukyu government will once again look to China for economic and trade support under it's One Belt One Road program.

If Okinawans choose this path, I hope they won't regret it. The China today is a very different China than the China Ryukyu Kingdom once knew.

Hmmm, maybe so. Prior to the 1879 annexation, the Ryukyu Kingdom was enjoying close diplomatic and trade relations with China. So historically, Okinawans don't consider China as a threat or enemy.

Do a little more research, prior to the annexation the Ryukyu's were paying tribute to two different countries, China and Satsuma, the latter which controlled the Ryukyus from 1609 onward. The annexation came over 200 years afterwards.

DOnt even begin to think that the people today dont see China as a threat, to even suggest so is being ignorant to the reality of TODAY.

Dont ever forget that, along with having trade relations with China, the Ryukyu's were playing games with Satsuma as well.

@Yubaru, I don't disagree with YOUR strong opinion that China is a growing threat and its military expansionism in the region must be kept in check. That's why military base presence on Okinawa is needed. I also hope Abe is successful in removing or modifying the Article 9 restriction so Japan military can take a more active and expanded role in the defense of that region and lessen its dependence on the U.S.

Many years ago I attended a public seminar in the U.S. about the political state affairs in Okinawa. The lecturer was a former government official who served under Gov. Ota's administration. It was this former Okinawan official's position (shared by majority of Okinawans, he added) that U.S. military forces should be removed and that the U.S. military presence was a hindrance to peace in the prefecture and region. 

During the Q&A session I asked him (through an interpreter) whether Okinawa government and Okinawans people had any concerns about China's expanding military activities in the China Seas and whether they viewed China as a threat to stability in the region. He replied that he and many Okinawans do not view China as a threat.  The Ryukyu Kingdom and China used to enjoy friendly diplomatic and trade relations before the Japanese annexation.  If military conflict between China and U.S. does happen, he feared China will attack the U.S. military bases on Okinawa and once again Okinawa will be caught in the middle and suffer considerably. Therefore U.S. bases poses a threat to peace in the prefecture. That is the principle reason Okinawans feel the U.S. bases must be removed.

So there you have it:  An Okinawan native and former government official's perspective on the situation as he sees it.   I don't agree with that opinion for the reasons we both agree on. So long as Okinawa is a Japanese prefecture, is considered strategically important to the region, and China's growing military expansion threat, there will be military bases on Okinawa, either continued U.S. military, joint U.S.-JSDF, or 100% JSDF.

The lecturer was a former government official who served under Gov. Ota's administration.

Lost all credibility right there,

One man, biased against the military, and using a platform to pass that around wherever he could, so the rest of YOUR opinion, and interpretation of the seminar are biased against the US military, as the same with all in Ota's administration here. He was a one issue Gov, just like Onaga, and THEY are two huge reasons why Okinawa's economy got stuck in a quagmire, because NEITHER could learn to negotiate, it's all black and white, no middle ground, no give and take.

Any reasonable ADULT realizes that reality is none of those, but shades of grey in-between.

How many more decades do the people of Futenma and Okinawa have to wait to get MCAS Futenma closed? There is a way to get it done, it's just the anti-base and anti-military folks dont like it

SO the folks in Futenma wait, and wait, and wait, and live in with that little voice in the back of their head, that the politicians of don't give a shite about them.

Yubaru

Funny that it took Onaga's death to finally get this out there.