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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
Much has been written on the government of Japan's determination to provide a new base for the United States Marine Corps at Henoko on Oura Bay in northern Okinawa and to transfer the existing, obsolescent, dangerous and inconvenient Futenma Air Station to it. When the agreement to “return” the Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station to Japan was first reached (April 12, 1996), it was to occur “within five to seven years.” As the 20th anniversary of that agreement loomed early in 2016, the Marine Corps' “Marine Aviation Plan 2016” amended the already several times pushed back transfer/reversion date to “fiscal year 2025” (October 2024-September 2025). Admiral Harry Harris, Commander-of US Pacific forces presented that date in evidence to Congress early in 2016. But even as that 2025 date was being reluctantly accepted in Washington, at the beginning of March 2016, Japan despatched its top security official, Yachi Shotaro, to Washington to seek the Obama government's understanding (and presumably also its permission) for a further substantial delay. Once the US consented, the Abe government came to an “out-of-court” March 4 agreement (discussed in this paper and in the following opinion essays by Okinawans) with Okinawa Prefecture, that involved a complete and indefinite suspension of site works at Henoko. Lt. General Robert Neller, commander of the US Marine Corps, told a Senate military affairs committee meeting that that suspension could be expected to last a further 12-months. President Obama, advised of the impending delay, merely responded with “So there will be nothing happening for a while then.”
1 For three recent texts, see “To the Courts! To the Streets! Okinawa at December 2015,” (December 7, 2015), “Battle Stations - Okinawa in 2016,” (January 18, 2016), and “The Ginowan Mayoral - Okinawan Currents and Counter-Currents,” (February 10, 2016).
2 See “The Ginowan Mayoral,” op. cit.
3 Admiral Harry Harris, Commander-in-Chief US Pacific Forces, Congressional evidence quoted in “Beigun no honne, hirogaru hamon, Bei shireikan no Henoko isetsu okure hatsugen,” Okinawa taimusu, March 3, 2016.
4 Shimada Manabu, “Henoko isetsu ‘isogaba maware’ kuni, sosho ipponka e Okinawa-ken to wakai shikirinaoshi ni ‘shosan,‘ Bei mo rikai,” Nihon keizai shimbun, March 14, 2016.
5 “Henoko koji ichinen chudan, Bei kaiheitai toppu ga shogen,” Ryukyu shimpo, March 17, 2016.
6 Heianna Sumiyo, “Obama daitoryo Henoko okure o yonin 'shibaraku ugokanai no da na,” Okinawa taimusu, March 20, 2016.
7 Quoted in Heianna Sumiyo,“Harisu Beigun shireikan ‘hantai undo kakudai shite iru’ Nakatani shi ni Henoko okure ken-en tsutatsu,” Okinawa taimusu, February 25, 2016.
8 See discussion in my (forthcoming) “Ryukyu/Okinawa's Trajectory – From Periphery to Center, 1600-2015,” in Sven Saaler and Chris Szpilman, eds., Routledge Handbook of Modern Japanese History, Routledge, 2016.
9 On the 950 page document, Miyamoto Kenichi, “Okinawa no jichi to Nihon no minshushugi,” Sekai, January 2016, pp. 75-83, at p. 76. For other details see my previous texts, especially “Battle Stations.”
10 “Battle Stations,” op. cit.
11 Major documents, in Japanese only, are to be found on the Okinawa prefecture home page, including both the January 29 conciliation proposal and the March 4 agreement. See (for the former) Chiji koshitsu Henoko shin kichi kensetsu mondai taisakuka, “Heisei 28 nen 1-gatsu 29 nichi ni saibansho ga teishi shita wakai-an.”
12 It is not clear what Judge Tamiya meant by this, but he may be understood as referring obliquely to the need to get the United States to agree to a revision of the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement).
13 My previous essays, using these terms, were written based upon newspaper reports of the conciliation process, before I could refer to the actual documents.
14 “In Henoko lawsuit, court ruling must respect local autonomy and legal principles,” Ryukyu shimpo, March 1 2016.
15 Discussed in Takahashi Tetsuya, “Kenja no chie – Henoko, kichi isetsu mondai ‘chi no shototsu’ wa kaihi kano ka,” Gendai visinesu, November 19, 2015.
16 See my “The Ginowan Mayoral - Okinawan Currents and Counter-Currents,” The Asia-Pacific Journal – Japan Focus, February 10, 2016.
17 Chiji koshitsu Henoko shin kichi kensetsu mondai taisakuka, “Wakai joko,” March 4, 2016.
18 “Dai shikko sosho dai yon kai koto benron,” Ryukyu shimpo, February 16, 2016. See also discussion in Kihara Satoru, “Henoko saiban judai kyokumen (2) 'mizukara torikesu wa riteki hanshin koi,” Ari no hitokoto, February 17, 2016.
19 “Chiji, haiso demo kengen koshi, Henoko sesei shiji, keiso-i ni uttae e,” Ryukyu shimpo, March 9 2016.
20 Quoted in Kihara Satoru, “‘Chiji kengen koshi’ no shikinseki wa shonin no ‘tekkai’,” Ari no Hitokoto, March 10, 2016.
21 The following paragraph is based on reports from Kyodo news agency published in Chugoku Shimbun, Okinawa Times and other papers, on March 24, under the heading (Chugoku Shimbun) “Henoko wakai no butaiura, Suga-shi shudo, gokuhi no chosei, sosho furi no kyu tenkai,” and taken up again in articles or editorials in Okinawa Times and other papers. For a convenient resume, Kihara Satoru, Ari no hitokoto – “Wakai no butaiura – Abe seiken to saibancho ga gokuhi ni sesshoku?” Ari no hitokoto, March 25, 2016.
22 “Zetsumyo? Henoko dai shikko mae ni jinji ni okusoku tobu, Kosai Naha shibu no saibancho,” Okinawa taimusu, November 17, 2015.
23 Deputy Governor Ageda Mitsuo appears to have been engaged in secret negotiations in Tokyo with the Abe government from February 18 till the March agreement. See Kihara Satoru, “Henoko mitsuyaku wa yurusenai – ‘wakai’ kyogi no kokai, gijiroku wa saitei gimu,” Ari no hitokoto, March 7 2016.
24 See inter alia on this question Kihara Satoru's “Senso ‘ampo-ho‘-ho haishi ni sansei shinai Onaga chiji,” Ari no hitokoto, February 27 2016.
25 “The Ginowan Mayoral,” op. cit.
26 Reiji Yoshida, “Tokyo settles lawsuits, halts landfill at Henoko,” Japan Times, March 4, 2016.
27 The Agreement was reached on Friday March 4. The order was issued on Monday March 7.
28 “Ken, keiso-i ni fufuku moshide ‘zesei shiji’ no torikeshi kankoku motome,” Ryukyu shimpo, March 14, 2016.
29 “Henoko isetsu, keiso-shori i ni shinsa moshide hasso, Okinawa ken,” Asahi shimbun, March 14, 2016.
30 “Keiso-i handan wa yosoku konnan,” Okinawa taimusu, November 2, 2015.
31 “Vox Populi: Abe looks down nose at Okinawa despite court's advice on issue,” Asahi shimbun, March 10, 2016.
32 “Battle Stations - Okinawa in 2016,” op. cit.
33 Medoruma Shun (winner of the 1997 Akutagawa Prize and the 2000 Kawabata Yasunari prize for literature), “‘Wakai’ o kangaeru – fukutsu no shimin undo kuni ugoku,” Okinawa taimusu, March 21, 2016.
34 Onaga Takeshi, “Okinawa wa shinkichi o kobamu,” Sekai, (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten), January 2016, pp. 66-74 at p. 73.
35 Translator's Note: When making a ruling, a judge presents a document stating the court's decision (“main text”) and a separate document explaining the rationale behind the decision. Res judicata, or claim proclusion, indicates that a claim has been settled and cannot be relitigated. Collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, indicates that an issue has been settled and is used to prevent relitigation of the same issue.
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