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Japan / AFP
Thousands of demonstrators rallied on the Japanese island of Okinawa on Sunday against the heavy US military presence and violent crimes by American personnel that have angered residents for decades.
Protesters, which organisers expected to number more than 50,000, gathered in the prefectural capital Naha, infuriated with the United States after a former Marine employed as a civilian base worker allegedly raped and murdered a young local woman in April. The case has intensified longstanding opposition to the bases—a key part of the US-Japan security alliance—on the sub-tropical southern outpost, a popular holiday destination for Japanese and, increasingly, China and other Asian countries.
The demonstration, held at an athletics park under scorching heat with many in attendance shielding themselves under umbrellas, began with a moment of silence for 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro, the murder victim, and a message from her father.
“Why my daughter, why was she killed,” said the message, read on his behalf. “My thoughts are the same as those of all the bereaved families that have met with suffering up to now.”
Some in the crowd, the size of which could not immediately be confirmed, held signs in Japanese reading, “Our anger is past its limit,” and “Pull out the Marines.”
“I’m filled with sadness and I really don’t want any more victims,” said participant Chihiro Uchimura, 71.
“As long as there are US military bases this kind of incident will continue to happen,” she said.
A similar demonstration was being held simultaneously outside the Japanese parliament in Tokyo.
Protesters also want the scrapping of plans by Washington and Tokyo to move a major US Marine facility in the centre of the island to pristine waters off the northern coast.
Okinawa’s governor Takeshi Onaga, who is attending the rally, opposes the plan and instead wants Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which sits in the middle of a crowded city, moved off the island altogether.