Managing the US base issue in Okinawa: A test for Japanese democracy

Japanese Studies

Volumn 20, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 159-177

  Mulgan, Aurelia George ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84937327013     PISSN: 10371397     EISSN: 14699338     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/713683781     Document Type: Note

References (70)

1. Defence Agency. 1998. Defence of Japan, 1997, 232Tokyo: The Japan Times. The joint statement issued by Prime Minister Sato and President Nixon in November 1969, which presaged the return of Okinawa to Japan, stated that 'even after the reversion the United States would retain facilities and areas in Okinawa required for security objectives common to both countries, on the basis of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.'
2. Tanji Miyume, Visiting Scholar, East Asian History Division, Australian National University, personal communication, November 1999.
3. Taira, Koji. January 1997. “ The United States, Japan and Okinawa: Conflict and Compromise, 1995-96' ”. In JPRI Working Paper, No. 28 January, 2 According to Taira, the way in which the Okinawans live in the shadow of the US bases makes a mockery of the declaration in the Preamble to the Japanese Constitution, which states that 'all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want.' He argues that 'life for Okinawans involves a high level of fear and anxiety that they might be robbed, raped, or killed by American soldiers, or that disasters might descend out of the blue or crop up from nowhere at any time.'
4. Of the 47,000 American military personnel based in Japan, 28,000 (59%) are located in Okinawa. Most of these (around 20,000) are marines. The American military bases occupy some 235 sq. km, which represents 10% of the total area of Okinawa Prefecture and about 18% of the main island. Some 37 US military installations are located in the prefecture. This represents 75 % of all American facilities in Japan, although Okinawa Prefecture represents only 0.6% of the total land area of Japan. See Defense of Japan, 1998, p. 268.
5. 1997. Defence of Japan 232
6. JPRI Staff. 1997. 'Governor Ota at the Supreme Court of Japan'. JPRI Critique, IV (2) April: 4 Prior to reversion, Okinawa and mainland Japan shared about 50% each of the total number of US bases in Japan. Arasaki Moriteru, Okinawa sengoshi, quoted by Tanji Miyume, in a personal communication, 25 November 1999. After reversion, the proportion of US bases in Okinawa rose to 75% in spite of the fact that what the Okinawans (according to Governor Ota) 'sincerely wished for at the time of the reversion was a reduction of bases at a rate at least comparable to that experienced on the mainland (hondonami)'. 'The Text of Governor Ota's Testimony'
7. Taira. “ The United States, Japan and Okinawa' ”. 3
8. Arase, David. February 1998. 'Political Reform in Japan: Is It Becoming More Democratic?', JPRI Working Paper, No. 42 February, 2
9. Taira. “ The United States, Japan and Okinawa' ”. 4
10. 1997. The Australian, 4 April
11. Arase. “ 'Political Reform in Japan' ”. 5
12. 1995. Nikkei Weekly, 27 November According to Taira, one of the constitutional and legal issues raised in relation to the US bases in Okinawa is the fact that many of the bases occupy land forcibly acquired from their rightful owners by the US military during the early 1950s, when Okinawa was under American military occupation. This kind of expropriation would not have been possible under the Japanese Constitution or under Japanese law, hence the argument of the Okinawan anti-base activists that the US bases in Okinawa 'came into being in violation of the Constitution of Japan.' The United States, Japan and Okinawa', p. 3
13. 1997. Defence of Japan 237
14. The United States Japan and Okinawa' 4.
15. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 11 August For example, it was two years and four months before the review of the Lockheed bribery case that involved former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka handed down a ruling
16. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 11 August
17. Eldridge, Robert. 1997. 'The 1996 Okinawa Referendum on U.S. Base Reductions: One Question, Several Answers'. Asian Survey, XXXVII (10) October: 899
18. Ramseyer, J. Mark, and Rosenbluth, Frances McCaIl. 1993. Japan's Political Marketplace, Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.
19. van Wolferen, Karel. 1989. The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation, London: Macmillan.
20. 1996. 'Japan Policy Research Institute Special Report: Okinawa Update'. JPRI Critique, 111 (7) September: 1
21. Ramseyer and Rosenbluth. Japan's Political Marketplace 152–160.
22. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 20 May For example, in April 1996, a group of more than 3,000 residents near Yokota Air Base filed a suit in the Tokyo District Court demanding that the Japanese and US governments reduce night flights at Yokota and pay a total of ¥3.3 billion in damages for aircraft noise. This marked the first time that the US government was included as a defendant. According to a report in the Japanese press at the time: 'An official at the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Japan-US security treaty division said that the ministry is discussing with the Justice Ministry how to cope with the latest suit.'
23. Weekly News Roundup. The Japan Times, 25-31 March This comment raises serious questions about the extent of bureaucratic interference in court judgements. Moreover lawsuits are bound to increase in the future. In March 2000, more than 5,500 people living near Kadena Air Base in Okinawa filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, claiming damages from noise pollution and seeking a ban on night flights. They demanded compensation of more than ¥6 billion. In addition, 21 of the plaintiffs filed a separate suit against the US government, demanding a similar ban on nighttime military flights
24. Stockwin, J.A.A., 1982. Divided Politics in a Growth Economy, 2nd edition, 207London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. A quote from the Supreme Court ruling in the Suzuki case of 1952, a translated version of which appeared in John M. Maki, Court and Constitution in Japan: Selected Supreme Court Decisions, 1948-60 quoted in
25. Calder, Kent. 1988. Crisis and Compensation: Public Policy and Political Stability in Japan, 1949-1986, 36–230. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Calder uses the concept of compensation as the principal causal variable in an extended historical explanation of public policy trends in various domestic non-traded sectors in the postwar period. He details a crisis and compensation dynamic whereby the ruling party (principally the LDP) sought to shore up its electoral performance by resorting to the outlay of various material benefits and other concessions to its principal supporting groups over the 1949-1986 period. Compensation in this context is, however, more accurately termed 'politically strategic distributive polities' or 'patronage polities'
26. Lesbirel, Hayden. 1998. NIMBY Politics in Japan: Energy Siting and The Management of Environmental Conflict, 32Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Lesbirel examines private sector compensation to various local interests associated with the installation of energy facilities, principally nuclear power stations
27. Michisada, Hirose. 1981. Hojokin to seikentd, 6Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha.
28. Chösakai, Zaisei, ed. 1998. Heisei 10-nendo hojokin idran, 42–58. Tokyo: Nihon Densan Kikaku Kabushiki Kaisha.
29. Sakurada, Daizo. 1998. 'Why We Need the US-Japan Security Treaty'. Asia-Pacific Review, 5 (1) Spring/Summer: 27 The Text of Governor Ota's Testimony', p. 2;
30. 1999. Asahi Evening News, 11 August In 1997, tourism generated ¥417 billion in income for Okinawa
31. Eldridge. The 1996 Okinawa Referendum' 897
32. Millard, Mike. February 1998. Okinawa, Then and Now', JPRI Occasional Paper No. 11 February, 4 Millard claims that more than 8,000 Okinawans are employed on US bases, and 'many thousands more are employed in the entertainment and service industries around those installations.'
33. Smith, Patrick. 1998. 'Masahide Ota and the End of an Ideal'. JPRI Critique, V (11) December: 2 Figures vary, however, with respect to the dependence of the Okinawan economy on the US bases. According to Smith, 25 years ago, the bases contributed almost 20% of the Okinawan economy but these days it is less than 5%.
34. Cossa, Ralph. 1996. Okinawa Bases Referendum: What Will It Prove?'. PacNet Newsletter, September 6 Cossa, on the other hand, advances a somewhat more inflated figure, arguing that annual base-related revenue is over ¥1.5 trillion (USS 15 billion) a year, accounting for over 10% of the entire prefecture's total income., http://www.csis. org/pacfor/pac36.html. Sakurada's figures for annual base-related revenue are much lower. He maintains that Okinawa receives a total of approximately ¥183 billion annually as revenue from the U.S. bases in Okinawa, and the bases offer lucrative jobs to the local residents, employing 23,000 people.' The basis on which he calculated the latter figure is unknown. "Why We Need the US-Japan Security Treaty', p. 27
35. McCormack, Gavan. April 1998. Okinawan Dilemmas: Coral Islands or Concrete Islands?', JPRI Working Paper No. 45 April, 7
36. Okurashe, Zaisei, and Kenkytijo, Kinyü, eds. Zaisei kinyü tökei geppö, Tokyo: Okurashö Insatsu Kyoku. Okinawa-related expenses in the government's General Account (i.e. main) budget jumped from ¥465 billion in 1994, to ¥483 billion in 1995, ¥520 billion in 1996, ¥521 billion in 1997, ¥679 billion in 1998 (that is, by over ¥200 billion in the 1995-98 period, or 41%, which was well above the rate of increase in the overall budget at 3.8%), and ¥537 billion in 1999. These figures were calculated from budgetary figures in
37. Okinawa. 1999. 'Zaisei kinyü tökei geppö, May: 93 monthly, relevant issues. The 1999 budget included a special allocation of ¥5 billion as necessary expenses for the promotion of special promotion and development works based on the Okinawa Promotion and Development Special Measures Law 'for the effective development of Okinawa promotion policy in view of the serious economic conditions in
38. 1996. The Australian, 20 August
39. Patterson, Torkel. 1996. 'Commentary: Okinawa Situation is Improved, But American Forces Face a Transition Over the Long Haul'. PacNet Newsletter, October 4 www.csis.org/pacfor/ pac40.html
40. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 16 September Although Ota still refused to sign documents that would allow the US military to keep using land that individual owners wanted to take back, the governor said he would prepare a public paper detailing the central government's request for continued use. The paper was needed for Hashimoto to sign the documents, which in effect would expropriate the land for a new lease period
41. 1997. Defence of Japan 234
42. 1997. Nikkei Weekly, 15 December The wording of one of the affirmation statements in the referendum contained an explicit 'compensation' assumption: 'I agree (with building the heliport) because promised anti-pollution and economic measures can benefit the community'.
43. Yasuhiro, Miyagi. 1998. 'Nago Citizens Act Against the Nago Heliport: A Brief Chronology'. JPRI Critique, 5 (3) March: 2
44. 1998. Asahi News, 16 November
45. 1998. Nikkei Weekly, 16 February
46. McKean, Margaret A., 1981. Environmental Protest and Citizen Politics in Japan, 253Berkeley: University of California Press.
47. 1998. Asahi News, 16 November
48. 1998. Nikkei Weekly, 14 December
49. Smith, Patrick. 1999. 'Japan: The Enigma of American Power'. The Washington Quarterly, 22 (2) Spring: 198
50. Lesbirel. NIMBY Politics in Japan 32
51. Smith, Beverly. 1986. “ 'Democracy Derailed: Citizens' Movements in Historical Perspective' ”. In Democracy in Contemporary Japan, Edited by: McCormack, Gavan, and Sugimoto, Yoshio. 163New York and London: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
52. 1995. Nikkei Weekly, 23 October A Joint Committee set up under this 1960 agreement determines the specific facilities and areas to be used by USFJ and outlines the conditions under which US military personnel are deployed in Japan. It effectively legitimates the presence and activities of US troops in Japan, including the use of Japanese-owned land by the US military, military training on Japanese territory and special legal status for US military personnel
53. Eldridge. The 1996 Okinawa Referendum' 879
54. 1998. Nikkei Weekly, 16 February
55. JPRI Staff. 1998. The LDP Takes Over in Okinawa'. JPRl Critique, V (11) December: 1
56. Smith. “ 'Masahide Ota' ”. 2
57. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 5 February
58. 1995. The Australian, 20 October
59. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 5 February
60. Suzuyo, Takazao. 1998. 'Human Rights Violations and Environmental Destruction Caused by Stationing Troops in Okinawa'. JPRI Critique, V (3) March: 1
61. 1997. Defense of Japan 234
62. 1998. Mainichi, 1 September Editorial
63. 6 August 1998. BBC Monitoring Service: Asia-Pacific 6 August.
64. 1999. Yomiuri Shinbun, 27 December
65. 1999. Yomiuri Shinbun, 15 December
66. McKean. Environmental Proust 252
67. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 19 August
68. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 19 August
69. 1996. Nikkei Weekly, 22 July Miyazato Seigen Professor of International Relations at Dokkyo University, quoted in the
70. McKean. Environmental Protest 253 The role of the citizens' movements in promoting democratic accountability on the part of the central government was earlier identified by