2010 Okinawa

2010 Okinawa is a bi-lingual, interactive documentary project created by Japanese, US and Canadian citizens about the future of US military bases on the island of Okinawa. 2010 marks 50 years of US-Japan Alliance and 65 years since Japan's unconditional surrender to the US during WWII. At this juncture in our shared history, we believe that is it vital for citizens of both nations to have direct dialogue with each other on this relationship that is so critical to peace and global security.

In the next two months, we will be uploading videos shot in Okinawa, Tokyo, and Washington DC. Our plan is to create an hour-long documentary in the coming months. We encourage you to interact with us and and with each other by making thoughtful comments, uploading video responses and making suggestions for future videos and story lines. You can send us a message directly or by leaving comments on our channel page. We hope to engage the public as well as state actors from both countries in a constructive discussion about a complex issue that needs to be resolved as soon as possible because human lives, principles, irreparable environment damage and regional security hang in the balance.

Background: Futenma Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) base is currently located in the heart of a densely populated Ginowan City creating a dangerous situation. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visiting Futenma in 2003 said that the base had to be closed because it is an "accident waiting to happen." In 2004, a marine helicopter crashed into a university in Ginowan City located right next to Futenma base.

All parties involved agree that Futenma needs to be closed, but the closure is contingent upon the availability of a relocation site. This is where the matter is currently stuck. It's taken over a decade to negotiate a proper relocation site. In 2006, a plan was negotiated between Bush administration officials and the LDP, the previous government that ruled Japan for 54 years. The plan designated Henoko Bay next to Camp Schwab as the site for the new air station and called for the removal of 8,000 marines to Guam. There has been an outcry from the Okinawans in part because Henoko Bay is one of the most beautiful parts of the island home to coral reefs and the natural habitat of the endangered and beloved mammal, dugongs. A lawsuit was filed in San Francisco in 2003 by Japanese and US environmental NGOs that resulted in a 2008 ruling by a federal judge against the U.S. Department of Defense "requiring it to consider impacts of a new airbase on the dugong in order to avoid or mitigate any harm."

About 75% of US military bases in Japan are located on Okinawa occupying over 20% of the island. Many Okinawans have been outraged by the impact on the quality of their lives of not only because of the safety issues that arise from the heavy helicopter and plane traffic, but also the deafening noise, falling objects from the helicopters and planes. The multiple impacts of US bases is a daily reality for the residents all over Okinawa and at times the impact is painfully tragic and unifies the entire island to protest. In fact, the current movement against US military bases was ignited in 1995 when a 12-year-old Okinawan girl was raped by a marine.

It is worth remembering that Okinawa is the site of the only land battle in Japan during WWII. About 150,000 Okinawan civilians lost their lives from the attacks by the US military and by Japanese Imperial Army that forced the residents to commit suicide rather than surrender. Many protesters of the military bases are survivors of the war.

The ongoing, organized protests at Henoko Bay and in Higashi Village in have effectively delayed construction on those sites. Moreover, Okinawan voters made Henoko a campaign issue in the 2009 national elections in Japan that brought a new coalition government into power. Prime Minister Hatoyama (DPJ) has delayed making a decision about whether to relocate the base to Henoko Bay until May 2010 possibly until after the July Upper House elections.

The delay has caused great aggravation for the US government. Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Gates have made it clear that the US expects the 2006 agreement to go forward. Some Japanese people have also expressed anxiety about the impact of the delay on the future of the US-Japan alliance.

Both governments agree that Okinawa is strategically significant because of its proximity to China and Taiwan. In general, there is wide agreement that US-Japan alliance is critical to regional security in Asia due to ongoing security threats from North Korea and concerns over China's growing military. However, there are rumblings from all sides and even within the US-Japan defense community that many strategic and tactical assumptions made during the Cold War must be reexamined.

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