The rape of a twelve year old Okinawan schoolgirl in 1995 by US servicemen touched off an upsurge in anti-US base sentiment and a fierce legal and political contest between then Okinawan Governor Ota Masahide and the Japanese government. Less than six months later, the two governments agreed to return the highly controversial Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in the crowded city of Ginowan. But with the proviso that an alternative base be built within Okinawa prefecture. The announcement of the base relocation plan led to a popular struggle in which local voters resoundingly rejected relocation. In July 2002, however, the US and Japan reached agreement on a final plan for a new base, involving mass land reclamation over a coral reef off the Henoko district of Nago, known to be a feeding ground for the endangered dugong. Okinawan Journalist Abe Takeshi reports on the quagmire of pork-barrel politics involved in securing the base over the opposition of many Okinawans, as industry players large and small race to profit from constructing the new base. Abe�s report, written before the November 17 election for Governor of Okinawa well forecast the re-election of Governor Inamine, who supported the base relocation, over the divided progressive opponents of relocation who could not agree on a single candidate. This article appeared in Shukan Kinyobi, October 25, 2002. Abe Takeshi is an Okinawa Taimusu reporter.

The return to Japan last October of five citizens who had been abducted by North Korea sparked extraordinary media attention, both as human interest story and as a topic of heated political discussion. The return of the five and their reunions with family and friends after more than two decades of absence generated great sympathy, especially for the suffering of the families. Conservative forces in Japan have attempted to utilize this outpouring of sentiment to further their own political agendas. As journalist Fukatsu Masumi commented, the right is “taking advantage of the unusual passions surrounding the abduction issue … to mount an offensive aimed at destroying the liberal wing,’ especially through revision of the fundamental law on education. Of particular interest is the link between abductee-support organizations and the ongoing effort to rewrite Japan's history and social studies texts, which is described here. Takashima Nobuyoshi is a professor of education at Ryukyu University. He is the plaintiff in the Takashima textbook suit. The article appeared in Kinyobi 24 January 2003.

Former Defense Ministry analyst Maeda Hisao warns of the emergence of a national warfare state and the further decimation of the provisions of Japan's peace constitution. He targets for criticism two Koizumi administration documents: The Defense White Paper of summer 2002 and the War Contingency Bills currently tabled for debate in the legislature. Maeda critiques the transformation of Japan's “self-defense” policy into one of aggressive “pre-emptive defense” as its defense perimeter is extended far beyond the Japanese islands. In contrast to the careful legislative analysis of Maeda Tetsuo (also available at Japan Focus), this manifesto by a former military establishment insider offers a blunt criticism of Japanese leaders. While warning of the consequences of an aggressive Japanese defense posture, the author, like a number of other SDF insiders, is equally critical of the consequences of the usurpation of the autonomy of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, that is, its subordination to American global military designs. From Gunshuku (Disarmament) in November, 2002.

Japanese Devils, a documentary of personal confessions of war crimes by Japanese Imperial soldiers in China during World War II, was invited to the Sarajevo Film Festival in August 2002. Accompanying the film and its director to Sarajevo, the author, an American, sensitive to the postwar Japanese experience, discovered a people and city still deeply traumatized by war. The visit prompted a series of questions about the origins of genocide, the consequences of targeting civilians in war, and our collective responsibility to question and listen to the stories of perpetrators, as civilians increasingly become explicit targets in hostilities.

Kaneko Masaru is one of Japan's best-known students of the country's crisis-ridden political economy and public finances. He is also a very prolific public intellectual. Over the past five years, he has authored or co-authored over 20 books, co-edited six, and written dozens of articles in the monthlies and the press. Kaneko writes in a country still dominated by the absurd notion that American institutions present a “global standard” to be matched lest Japan's decline become permanent. His controversial ideas on fiscal and financial reform are thus often sought out – often surreptitiously – by LDP and opposition party politicians and intra-party study groups. He is also a frequent speaker at academic and NGO forums and a high-profile commentator on policy-oriented television and radio programmes. In short, his eminently readable and cogent critiques of contemporary economic policies have earned him a broad professional and popular following. Indeed, his books are frequently displayed in their own sections in Tokyo bookstores.

You have written about the occupation of Japan by the United States after World War Two. Does this have any relevance to what might take place in a post-hostilities Iraq, should the United States carry out its threat to go to war against that country?

[The quality and elan of primary and secondary education have long been regarded as among the achievements of postwar Japan. Journalist Hiratate Hideaki uses the window of increasing teacher suicides to probe recent changes in education that have placed many of Japan's finest teachers on a collision course with their principles, supervisors, and ultimately the Japanese state. The author shows how a combination of the new nationalism, neo-liberal criteria for teacher assessment, and increased demands on teachers have brought about a situation in which large numbers of teachers are succumbing to mental illness, committing suicide, or taking early retirement. These articles appeared in the July 4 and August 29, 2003 issues of Shukan Kinyobi.]

The Okinawa Friday Assembly is an informal group several score strong of Americans, Okinawans, and other Japanese that has held a weekly anti-war rally in front of the U.S. Consul General in Naha, Okinawa since the fall of 2001. When the first peace delegation from Okinawa visited Iraq in early 2003, members of the group held a hunger strike and vigil there for the entire ten days of the trip. This leaflet was finalized and approved by the Assembly on February 21, 2003. The reference to the UN Security Council vote in the last paragraph refers to the statements made to the Council on Feb. 14.