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Okinawa and the Paradox of Public Opinion: Base Politics and Protest in Nago City, 1997-2007

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Miyume Tanji  and
Miyagi Yasuhiro
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So much has happened to the Okinawan protest against the Futenma base relocation in the past 10 years: the formal and informal local resistance has been such that the new U.S. military sea base that was to replace Futenma Air Station has not been built. However, the election results in Okinawa continue to produce mayors and governors ready to accept relocation, largely for economic reasons. What explains this contradiction? How democratic have the local political processes regarding the base issue been? Miyagi Yasuhiro addresses these questions in a report, originally written for the research group Okinawa jizokuteki hatten kenkyukai (Sustainable Development in Okinawa Research Group, headed by Miyamoto Ken'ichi), which reflects on the ten years since the Nago referendum of 1997 on relocation of the US Marine Air Station from Futenma. The relocation proposal was rejected by a majority.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 5 , Issue 8 , August 2007 , e6
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2007

References

Notes

[1] See, for example, Miyagi Yasuhiro (translated by Gavan McCormack) ‘Okinawa - Rising Magma’, Japan Focus, December 4, 2005.

[2] Kina Shokichi and Charles Douglas Lummis, Hansen heiwa no techou: anata shika dekinai atarashii koto (Anti-war and peace handbook: new things only you can do), 2006, Shuueisha Shinsho, 0334A, p18.

[3] Quoted from Chair's comments from ‘The Report on the Advisory Panel's Discussion at Initiating Commission on Okinawan Cities, Towns and Villages hosting US Bases’ See my (Miyagi) essay written in 2000, ‘Canary's Song in a Coal Mine: A Critique of the Shimada Commission Projects‘

[4] Henoko District, Henokoshi (History and Culture of Henoko), 2002, Henoko, Okinawa, p 632

[5] See Makishi Yoshikazu (translated by Miyume Tanji), ‘US Dream Come True? The New Henoko Sea Base and Okinawan Resistance’, Japan Focus, February 12, 2006

[6] Hisae Masahiko, Beigun Saihen (US Military Re-Alignment) Koudansha Gendai Shinsho, p 91