EDITORIAL: Easing Okinawa's burden

While all Japanese people enjoy the peace and stability provided by the Japan-U.S. security alliance, 75 percent of U.S. military bases in Japan are located in Okinawa Prefecture. This gross imbalance should not be allowed to remain uncorrected.

At the request of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, prefectural governors from across the nation held an emergency meeting Thursday in Tokyo on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture.

The government has already decided to move the air base to the Henoko district in Nago, also in the prefecture. But Hatoyama wants to transfer some of the drills of Futenma's helicopter unit to Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture and other places in the mainland. Hatoyama asked for the governors' understanding and cooperation.

Hatoyama originally pledged to relocate the entire Futenma station out of the prefecture. When he started reviewing the 2006 bilateral agreement to move the base to Henoko, Hatoyama should have organized such a governors meeting to set the stage for nationwide discussions on how to ease Okinawa's burden.

By convening the meeting of governors the day before the planned release of a Japan-U.S. joint statement on the Futenma issue, Hatoyama has left himself open to criticism that his real aim is to give the appearance of making every effort to resolve the issue after months of waffling and dithering.

Still, it is a serious question: how should the burden of the U.S. bases be shared by the whole nation? Thursday's meeting of governors should spur the entire nation to start discussions.

Okinawa became a scene of fierce and bloody ground battles in the closing days of World War II and was then occupied by the U.S. military, which continued to rule Okinawa for long after the end of the war. This historical background explains why people in Okinawa speak angrily of "discrimination against Okinawa" as they denounce Hatoyama's failure to honor his promise.

Okinawa is not the only place where U.S. bases are located and military drills are carried out. There are also important U.S. military facilities in: Misawa, Aomori Prefecture; Atsugi and Yokosuka, both in Kanagawa Prefecture; Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture; and Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture.

But U.S. bases occupy 18 percent of Okinawa's main island, compared with a maximum of 1 percent in the 12 other prefectures that host U.S. military facilities.

In an Asahi Shimbun survey of governors in February, none of the respondents expressed a willingness to accept a new U.S. military base.

Given the problems of noise and possible accidents, prefectural government chiefs, who are responsible for the safety of local residents, should not be criticized for being reluctant to welcome U.S. forces. But the same should hold true with Okinawa.

Osaka Governor Toru Hashimoto said Thursday that people in his prefecture with no U.S. bases are enjoying a "free ride" on security under the bilateral alliance. The National Governors' Association issued a statement that said the association will respond sincerely to any specific proposal from the central government. The move represents a welcome change in the political environment.

The principal and unavoidable challenge posed by the Futenma issue is to devise a way to spread the burden of Japan's security across the nation over the long term.

In order to ensure progress in tackling this challenge, the government needs to establish a clear and viable vision for the future of the bilateral alliance through discussions with Washington, and then build a national consensus on the vision.

The operational needs of U.S. forces stationed in Japan limit the scope of potential new locations for bases in Okinawa. The government needs to be able to develop defense and security strategies while adjusting the interests of related parties in the nation.

After doing that, the government should start careful negotiations with the areas that have to shoulder a fresh burden. This will be an extremely demanding and time-consuming process. But it is a challenge no government of this nation can avoid.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 28