Okinawa files lawsuit against Japanese government to stop U.S. Base relocation
Locals protest outside the fence of Camp Schwab, an American base near a planned relocation site of a U.S. air base, in Nago, Okinawa, southern Japan, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga on Tuesday revoked approval for work needed to relocate a U.S. air base from one area of the southern Japanese island to another, though the Tokyo government said it plans to proceed with the plan anyway. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)
A decades-long dispute between local authorities in Okinawa, Japan and the Japanese government over the U.S. military presence on the island just got worse due to the Okinawa government filing a lawsuit against the central Japanese government on Friday.
The lawsuit was filed in an attempt to stop the relocation of a U.S. military base on the island.
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga said his cancellation of the approval needed to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps base to a less populated part of the island was illegally suspended by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism.
In this Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015 photo, a crane and a backhoe are used by workers as the construction work of a U.S. military air base has resumed at Henoko beach in Nago in Okinawa, southern Japan. Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga said Monday, Sept. 14 he is preparing to revoke approval for work needed to relocate a U.S. military air base from one area of the southern Japanese island to another, just days after the work was restarted. “We will take all possible measures to block base construction in Henoko, and this is the first step,” Onaga told the news conference. (Hiroko Harima/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT
“We will do whatever it takes to stop the new Henoko base,” Takeshi Onaga said at a news conference. “Okinawa’s argument is legitimate, and I believe that it will be certainly understood.”
Last month, the central Japanese government filed a lawsuit against Governor Onaga after he refused an order to reinstate the approval for the land reclamation that was issued by his predecessor.
FILE – In this Dec. 4, 2015 file photo, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, center, accompanied by Lt. Gen. John Dolan, left, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, shakes hands with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga after their joint press conference at Japan’s Prime Minister’s official residence in Tokyo. Kennedy on Thursday, Dec. 17 publicly defended a controversial proposal to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base on Okinawa in southern Japan as the best of many options considered. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, Pool, File)
“We’ll proceed with the construction to achieve the planned relocation as soon as possible,” Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in Tokyo.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the legal battle marks the latest chapter in a dispute that has been going on for decades between the central government and Okinawa, which was a kingdom before it was annexed by Japan in the 16th century.
FILE – In this Nov. 29, 2015 file photo, anti-U.S. base relocation protesters hold placards with a slogan that reads: “No to Henoko new base” during a rally in Tokyo as they show their strong support to Okinawans after the Japanese government took the local government in Okinawa to court in mid-November, launching a legal battle in their longstanding dispute over the planned relocation of a U.S. military air base on the southern island. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy on Thursday, Dec. 17 publicly defended the controversial proposal to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base on Okinawa in southern Japan as the best of many options considered. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)
A lot of residents want the U.S. military base moved from Okinawa permanently and are frustrated with the heavy U.S. military presence on the island.
There are currently 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan, and more than half of them are in Okinawa.
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