Resistant Islands by Gavan McCormack & Satoko Oka Norimatsu

Author:Gavan McCormack & Satoko Oka Norimatsu [McCormack, Gavan & Norimatsu, Satoko Oka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2012-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

2010 (April): A “final proposal” to the US government, in the form of “broad acceptance” of the Guam Treaty terms, which, however, were significantly altered to

a Futenma Replacement Facility at Henoko, comprising a sea-based single runway resting on pillars (perhaps four thousand of them) driven into the seabed, and

transfer of some helicopter training units from Futenma to Tokunoshima island.

2010 (May): Hatoyama suddenly surrenders, abandoning his various alternative schemes and agreeing to accept the Henoko base construction (and the Yambaru forest helipads), resigning immediately after signing the May 28 agreement.

2011 (June): “Two plus Two” foreign and defense ministers of United States and Japan reaffirm intent to proceed with Henoko plan, though postponing completion date to “earliest possible after 2014.” Japan pledges to construct military facilities also on Mage and Miyako Islands.

2011 (September): Inauguration of Noda government and renewal of Henoko commitment to US President Obama.

Futenma Replacement Facility, Political Developments, 2009–2011

2009 (August): The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), promising a new deal for Japan in its relationships with the United States and China and promising the people of Okinawa that Futenma would be “at very least relocated to outside Okinawa,” is swept to power in national elections and forms a new government, headed by Hatoyama Yukio.

2010 (January): Nago City elects a mayor who declares that “no new base will be built in this city, whether on land or on sea.”

2010 (February): The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly adopts a unanimous resolution calling for swift closure of Futenma base and opposing construction within Okinawa of any substitute facility.

2010 (April): An “all-Okinawan” mass meeting (some ninety thousand people), including the governor and heads of all local governing authorities, adopts a resolution calling for the same.

2010 (May): Prime Minister Hatoyama, under overwhelming American and Japanese bureaucratic and media pressure, signs agreement with Washington to construct Futenma Replacement Facility “in the Camp Schwab–Cape Henoko area and adjacent waters,” and immediately resigns.

2010 (June): Kan Naoto, succeeding Hatoyama as prime minister, makes it his priority to “restore” relations with Washington, proceeding with the construction of the base for the Marine Corps. He apologizes to Okinawans for reneging on the party’s preelection pledge but insists that there is no alternative and that the matter is closed.

2010 (July): Okinawa’s Prefectural Assembly (July 9) adopts a fresh resolution demanding cancellation of the May 28 agreement, which it terms “a violent, democracy-trampling act” that “treated Okinawans as stupid.” The DPJ, facing outrage from Okinawa over its abandonment of the pledge to block any new base construction, is unable to field a single candidate in the Upper House elections.

2010 (September): Antibase forces victorious in Nago City assembly elections, crushing probase forces backed by Tokyo.

2010 (November): In the Okinawa gubernatorial election, incumbent Nakaima Hirokazu, who pledges to seek relocation of the new base somewhere outside Okinawa, defeats challenger Iha Yoichi, who calls for the closure of Futenma and promises to block any attempt to construct a base within Okinawa. The one candidate who explicitly calls for construction to proceed in accordance with the May 2010 US-Japan agreement secures a mere 2 percent of the vote.

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