The unsinkable U.S. aircraft carrier: can the Americans keep Japan?
The elections of the governor on the Japanese island of Okinawa can provoke a serious crisis in relations between the United States and the Land of the Rising Sun. Danny Tamaki, the son of a local resident and an American marine, defeated them. This is the essence of the matter.
As you know, after the end of World War II, the US Army occupied Japan and so to this day has not left there. Half of the American military contingent is located just in Okinawa, about 25 soldiers. In total, there are 000 United States military infrastructure facilities on the island. These warriors have long been the cause of growing anti-American sentiment in Japan. Besides the constant noise from their military equipment and accidents over the heads of Okinawans, according to statistics, about once a month, valiant US troops commit violent crimes against the Japanese - beating, rape, robbery and murder.
Tamaki’s rival in the elections, Prime Minister Abe’s protege, advocated moving the Futenma US military base from the center of a major city to a small village on the coast to reduce tensions between occupants and local residents. However, Tamaki, who defeated him, came up with a more radical proposal - to withdraw all the US military from the territory of Japan in general. Moreover, the elected governor of Okinawa honestly called the Americans responsible for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which is not accepted in modern Japanese political culture. And he won.
What can happen in modern Japan from this undertaking?
First you need to figure out why Washington controls this island nation:
At first, The United States uses Japan as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” to control the Pacific, and as a stronghold to counter China’s rapidly gaining strength.
SecondlyTokyo itself pays Washington for the deployment of American troops on its territory. The numbers are impressive. According to the Japanese publication Nihonkeizai, in 2016 alone, the Land of the Rising Sun allocated 7,18 billion dollars to maintain US occupation bases. The Pentagon itself admits that Tokyo pays at least 75% of all expenses associated with the presence of the US military, including the support of their families in the garrisons at the bases.
Thirdly, The United States is in control of a third, and until recently, second in power the economy of the world. Thanks to this, all trade wars between Washington and Tokyo naturally ended in favor of the first. The risk that Japan will economically break ahead of the States and squeeze them out of the Pacific is almost offset by the "friendly" presence of the US military.
Nevertheless, anti-American sentiment in Japanese society is growing, and the new governor of Okinawa took advantage of this victory. The son of an American marine, whom he did not even know, believes that his origin will help him convince Washington to withdraw his troops:
The naivety of this reasoning causes only a bitter smile. Today, the head of state Shinzo Abe is the main conductor of American politics in Japan. The Prime Minister, for his part, is interested in US military-political support in rivalry with the long-standing enemy in the person of the PRC, with which Tokyo has its old scores.
Experts believe that Abe is able to crush any initiatives of the new head of Okinawa, both through administrative resources and economically. Okinawa largely lives precisely due to compensation from the state budget for the deployment of US bases on its territory. The system is built in such a way that the Japanese who are under the yoke of the American military “depend on the yen” for their presence. Therefore, there are serious doubts that the island state will be able to get rid of the imposed "friendship" and military guardianship by the United States in the foreseeable future.
As you know, after the end of World War II, the US Army occupied Japan and so to this day has not left there. Half of the American military contingent is located just in Okinawa, about 25 soldiers. In total, there are 000 United States military infrastructure facilities on the island. These warriors have long been the cause of growing anti-American sentiment in Japan. Besides the constant noise from their military equipment and accidents over the heads of Okinawans, according to statistics, about once a month, valiant US troops commit violent crimes against the Japanese - beating, rape, robbery and murder.
Tamaki’s rival in the elections, Prime Minister Abe’s protege, advocated moving the Futenma US military base from the center of a major city to a small village on the coast to reduce tensions between occupants and local residents. However, Tamaki, who defeated him, came up with a more radical proposal - to withdraw all the US military from the territory of Japan in general. Moreover, the elected governor of Okinawa honestly called the Americans responsible for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which is not accepted in modern Japanese political culture. And he won.
What can happen in modern Japan from this undertaking?
First you need to figure out why Washington controls this island nation:
At first, The United States uses Japan as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” to control the Pacific, and as a stronghold to counter China’s rapidly gaining strength.
SecondlyTokyo itself pays Washington for the deployment of American troops on its territory. The numbers are impressive. According to the Japanese publication Nihonkeizai, in 2016 alone, the Land of the Rising Sun allocated 7,18 billion dollars to maintain US occupation bases. The Pentagon itself admits that Tokyo pays at least 75% of all expenses associated with the presence of the US military, including the support of their families in the garrisons at the bases.
Thirdly, The United States is in control of a third, and until recently, second in power the economy of the world. Thanks to this, all trade wars between Washington and Tokyo naturally ended in favor of the first. The risk that Japan will economically break ahead of the States and squeeze them out of the Pacific is almost offset by the "friendly" presence of the US military.
Nevertheless, anti-American sentiment in Japanese society is growing, and the new governor of Okinawa took advantage of this victory. The son of an American marine, whom he did not even know, believes that his origin will help him convince Washington to withdraw his troops:
It is impossible for my father’s democracy to reject me.
The naivety of this reasoning causes only a bitter smile. Today, the head of state Shinzo Abe is the main conductor of American politics in Japan. The Prime Minister, for his part, is interested in US military-political support in rivalry with the long-standing enemy in the person of the PRC, with which Tokyo has its old scores.
Experts believe that Abe is able to crush any initiatives of the new head of Okinawa, both through administrative resources and economically. Okinawa largely lives precisely due to compensation from the state budget for the deployment of US bases on its territory. The system is built in such a way that the Japanese who are under the yoke of the American military “depend on the yen” for their presence. Therefore, there are serious doubts that the island state will be able to get rid of the imposed "friendship" and military guardianship by the United States in the foreseeable future.
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