Go Home, Mr. Prime Minister

Okinawa marked the seventieth anniversary from the end of major actions in Battle in Okinawa on Tuesday, which cost over two hundred millions of lives both on Japan and United States. A half of all victims were the citizens in Okinawa. That is why the people in Okinawa gather and pray for their relatives every year. In the ceremony for the anniversary, some attendees exclaimed “Go home!” to a guest there. It was not toward the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, but Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.

Abe was making a speech for the ceremony. When he was introduced and walking to the podium, some people in the audience expressed frustration. “We have to be proud of our history these seventy years, in which we hated war and entirely walked the way to the peace, and make constant efforts to achieve world peace,” Abe stressed. But, someone was skeptical on what Abe was meaning, saying “Don’t make a lie.” Abe is such an unpopular politician among the people in Okinawa.

Making clear contrast, Governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, received enthusiastic supports. In his speech of Declaration of Peace, Onaga emphasized equal responsibility of Japanese people for their security. When he said “On relocation of Futenma U.S. Marine Base, people in Okinawa expressed their opinion in the election last year, and it is difficult to build new base in Henoko,” “Okinawan people can never be tolerable to the concepts such as moving the most dangerous base in the world to Henoko or requiring Okinawa alternative plan,” “It is impossible to build a foundation for peace without securing liberty, equality, human rights and democracy of the people,” or “We demand the government not to be captured by a fixed idea, but to decide to stop construction of new base in Henoko and review the policy for reducing burden on Okinawa,” broad applause occurred from the audience.

Current protest against Henoko relocation plan is getting eccentric. Along with personal interpretation of history by Prime Minister, as seen in unique recognition of comfort woman issue, growing people uphold a concept that Okinawa has been colonized by Japan or United States from the time of annexation of Ryukyus in 1879. This concept is becoming a reason for movement of Okinawa’s independence. Government of Japan has been taking no measures against the movement.

Concentration of military bases in Okinawa causes further anxiety on being targeted by a potential enemy. Okinawa experienced orphanage twice: one was being sacrifice for protecting mainland of Japan in Battle of Okinawa and another was uneasy status under U.S. administration even after resumption of sovereignty with San Francisco Treaty in 1951. For Okinawa, reinforcement of security cooperation between Japan and U.S. is nothing but a stimulus to China or North Korea, possibly making Okinawa a killing field again.