When I arrived in Okinawa on September 21 the weather was gorgeous, a typhoon having just grazed the island chain and passed on. I was there to attend a meeting sponsored by a prefectural citizens’ association, but couldn’t help noting the high degree of excitement that already surrounds the gubernatorial election slated for November 16.
　　　　　Okinawa’s two major local dailies—the Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Times—are vigorously campaigning to make the projected transfer of the Futenma US Marine Air Station to Henoko the key election issue. However, there are substantial questions about the fairness of their reporting on the issue. While taking an aggressive stand against the transfer, they neglect to discuss why it is necessary to move the base to Henoko—not out of the prefecture—in order to safeguard the security of not only Okinawa but the entire Japanese archipelago.
　　　　　Typical was the Ryukyu Shimpo’s September 21 issue which ran a front-page article about an anti-base rally held the previous day on the beach at Henoko, entitled: “Let’s Stop Construction of New Base! Prefectural Citizens Voice Opposition in Mass Rally.”
　　　　　I suppose I was not alone in having mixed feelings about this article. Occupying more than half the front page is a photograph showing demonstrators shouting with clenched fists, a large banner fluttering above them with the Chinese Characters for “Zengakuren” (the National Federation of Student’s Self-Government Associations) written across it. To most Japanese, this violent ultra-left student body is clearly a thing of the past, but for Okinawans does it still remain an entity that they feel they can pin their hopes on?
　　　　　The Ryukyu Shimpo reported that former Democratic prime minister Yukio Hatoyama also participated in the beach rally. In mainland Japan he has generally been forgotten—to the same extent, one might in fact say, as Zengakuren. Although Hatoyama himself did not stand on the podium, the daily quoted him as commenting: “I felt that citizens here are angry about the structural discrimination against Okinawa (by the Japanese government) … Okinawa has historically had its split between the conservatives and the reformists taken advantage of by the government… In the coming election, the strong voices of the citizens against the move to Henoko will be heard loud and clear.”
　　　　　Hatoyama is an eternally happy-go-lucky man. As prime minister, he once promised to move the Futenma base “at least outside the prefecture” and “if possible out of the country,” seeking to build opposition to the construction of a replacement base in Henoko. Despite his promises, he eventually was forced to applogize to Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, admitting that he had come to painfully realize that Henoko is the only logical choice for a replacement base. And yet, the Ryukyu Shimpo still welcomes what he has to say—despite these and other appallingly irresponsible remarks he made while in office—just so long as he remains opposed to the construction plan in Henoko.

Okinawa Surrounded by Chinese Threats

　　　　　The reporting by the Ryukyu Shimpo is either too much or too little. The former involves its dramatic coverage of what happened right in front of its eyes, and the latter its failure to cover the overall picture of the news about Futenma. Its myopic assertions, lacking a comprehension of the total picture, is often contradictory to the extreme.
　　　　　In its local news pages, the Ryukyu Shimpo ran a banner reading “Angry Waves of Citizens Congregate on Beach” and “Renewed Determination to Prevent (New Base Construction),” declaring in the text that Okinawa needs no more bases. But isn’t this logically inconsistent?
　　　　　The transfer of the Futenma Air Station to Henoko is part of a planned overall transformation of the US Army, under which the US will return to Okinawans an estimated total of 1,000 hectares of land, including the 480 hectares on which the Futenma base now stands and other US bases to the south of Kadena Air Base. Eventually, the US plans to return an estimated total of 5,000 hectares of land, including a partial return of the Jungle Warfare Training Center in the north. Although 18.4% of the main island of Okinawa is currently used by the US military, the percentage will be significantly reduced when these bases are returned.
　　　　　With this total picture in mind, one can easily realize why there is no reason for the Ryukyu Shimpo to support the transfer of Futenma to Henoko on the basis that “Okinawa needs no more US bases.” The daily should swiftly change its stand, helping the US Army accelerate its transformation and enabling Okinawans to regain wide expanses of land as soon as possible. As part of the transformation scheme, the US Army plans to relocate some 9,000 marines and their families to Guam or other strategic locations in the Pacific. The projected transfer of the Futenma Air Base will clearly result in a significant reduction of bases and marines in Okinawa.
　　　　　The Futenma base itself now accounts for 480 square hectares, while the new facility at Hekono will be only 160 hectares. Isn’t it illogical to denounce Futenma’s transfer as the “construction of a new base” when in fact the amount of space used by the US military will be reduced by making this move?
　　　　　At present, US military aircraft taking off or landing at Futenma cannot avoid flying over private homes, but at the new facility they will fly over the sea, considerably reducing noise and vibration. As the transfer of Futenma progresses, bases to the south of Kadena Air Base will also be returned step by step. If Okinawans are too rigidly opposed to Futenma’s transfer to Henoko, the expected return of land will become more difficult, with the present conditions of Futenma possibly remaining fixed semi-pernamently.
　　　　　In response to this, many people assert in the manner of Hatoyama that Futenma should be permanently removed from the prefecture—or even from Japan. However, don’t those who hold this opinion, including the Ryukyu Shimpo, realize that even Yukio Hatoyama eventually was compelled to admit that Henoko after all is the only answer?
　　　　　The air and waters around the Senkaku Islands are filled with Chinese threats. On September 20, three Chinese patrol ships violated Japanese territorial waters. As of this writing (September 23), Chinese patrol ships have stayed put in the waters around the Senkakus for 43 straight days. China is constantly putting Japan under surveillance.
　　　　　China’s belligerent stance in the South China Sea cannot be ignored. The Johnson South Reef in the Spratly Islands that belongs to the Philippines has gradually been taken over by the Chinese over the past two and a half years. One should never forget that China has reclaimed land and built military facilities, including an airstrip on the reef, transforming it into a full-fledged military stronghold for the Chinese Liberation Army. China’s acts of aggression are in progress even at this very moment; what has happened in the South China Sea will inevitably happen in the East China Sea as well.

“We Are All the Same Japanese”

　　　　　To effectively guard ourselves against the Chinese threat, it is unavoidable to maintain the US Marine Air Base in Okinawa, transferring it within the prefecture so as to secure the best response times for US and Japanese forces during a crisis. Transferring Futenma to Kyushu some 500 kilometers away would be unrealistic, as such a location would not allow for a speedy enough response.
　　　　　Another misrepresentation the pages of the Ryukyu Shimpo are filled with is the assertion that Okinawa is discriminated against by the rest of Japan. What the daily absolutely fails to understand is the depth of the emotions those of us living in the rest of Japan feel towards Okinawa. We are painfully aware of the many Okinawans who died during one of the hardest-fought battles of the Greater East Asia War. All Japanese feel the deepest sense of sorrow for the people of Okinawa over what they and the generations before them had to experience during the war and the 27 long years of US occupation that followed.
　　　　　There were many victims of the war in the rest of Japan as well. In addition to the atomic-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there were fierce air-raids over Tokyo and other major Japanese cities by the US. One could go on…but I suppose many of us have learned to persevere without saying much, convincing ourselves that this is what happens when a nation loses a war. We must all bear the burden of that war, and in that sense all Japanese are the same—whether they may be from Okinawa or elsewhere in Japan. There is a tone in the Okinawan media stressing the confrontation between “Yamato” (Japan) and “Ryukyu” (Okinawa), calling Okinawans the “uchinanchu” and Japanese the “yamatonchu.” But whether we live in the main islands of Japan or in Okinawa, we are Japanese all the same—a pertinent point the Ryukyu Shimpo never likes to raise.
　　　　　In the local news page of the daily was an article quoting a 91-year-old woman in Chatan-cho on Okinawa Island as expressing her anger: “Okinawa has too many bases. Why do they put so many bases in such a small prefecture?”
　　　　　I sincerely hope she will understand that efforts are being made to reduce the number and size of bases in Okinawa. I sincerely hope she will come to realize that vast expanses of land currently used for US military bases will be returned to the people of Okinawa and the bases will become significantly smaller once the projected replacement of Futenma is completed. It is indeed unfortunate that the Ryukyu Shimpo fails to report these facts to its readers, continuing instead to fiercely oppose the transfer of Futenma to Henoko and in the process seriously calling into question its trustworthiness as a newspaper.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 624 in the October 2, 2014 issue of The Weekly Shincho)