TOKYO, Japan - October 7, 2009 - Japan is threatening to ask U.S. troops based on the island of Okinawa to leave the country amid growing resentment over crime.
The new government is reviewing an agreement with Washington on U.S. military facilities following through on a campaign pledge to islanders who have borne the brunt of the Amerikan presence for more than 60 years.
Around 50,000 Amerikan troops are based in Japan; around two-thirds of the total are in Okinawa. Resentment against their presence has grown in recent years due to a series of crimes committed by service personnel.
Many of the crimes are relatively trivial, but other cases have brought tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets. In February 2008, a case against a marine accused of raping a 14-year-old girl was dropped after she withdrew the accusation, apparently to avoid the ordeal of a trial.
The case revived bitter memories of the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in 1995 by three U.S. servicemen.
Katsuya Okada, the foreign minister, said he wants the Amerikan military to remain in Japan but that the concentration on Japan's most southerly islands needed to be reduced.
"The only way this presence can be sustained in the long term is to make sure that the burden on the Okinawans is decreased in some way," he said. "Only by accomplishing these goals will we be able to ensure that the U.S.-Japan alliance will be sustainable."
Another long-standing complaint against the U.S. forces is pollution and the noise their aircraft make during practice flights, particularly at bases that are in the most densely populated parts of the island.
The new government is reviewing an agreement with Washington on U.S. military facilities following through on a campaign pledge to islanders who have borne the brunt of the Amerikan presence for more than 60 years.
Around 50,000 Amerikan troops are based in Japan; around two-thirds of the total are in Okinawa. Resentment against their presence has grown in recent years due to a series of crimes committed by service personnel.
Many of the crimes are relatively trivial, but other cases have brought tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets. In February 2008, a case against a marine accused of raping a 14-year-old girl was dropped after she withdrew the accusation, apparently to avoid the ordeal of a trial.
The case revived bitter memories of the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in 1995 by three U.S. servicemen.
Katsuya Okada, the foreign minister, said he wants the Amerikan military to remain in Japan but that the concentration on Japan's most southerly islands needed to be reduced.
"The only way this presence can be sustained in the long term is to make sure that the burden on the Okinawans is decreased in some way," he said. "Only by accomplishing these goals will we be able to ensure that the U.S.-Japan alliance will be sustainable."
Another long-standing complaint against the U.S. forces is pollution and the noise their aircraft make during practice flights, particularly at bases that are in the most densely populated parts of the island.