Every year, May 15 is a special day for Okinawans.
In June 1945, U.S. forces captured Okinawa. Since then, Okinawa has been forcibly separated from the motherland by the United States! However, the Okinawa people have never forgotten their roots, and the movement of returning to the motherland has never stopped since the 1950s. On April 28, 1960, the "Okinawa Prefecture Restoration Council" was established. Three years later, Japan launched the "Okinawa Return to the Motherland Day" event and held a 100-day maritime and land demonstration. Under the pressure of the Japanese people’s struggle, in June 1971, Japan and the United States finally signed the "Okinawa Restoration Agreement," which stipulated that the United States abandon the administration of power in Okinawa; within 5 years from the effective date of the agreement, Japan paid 320 million U.S. dollars to the United States. Receipt of expenses such as retirement pay for US facilities, base workers, and removal of special weapons. The agreement entered into force on May 15, 1972, and Okinawa was returned to Japan.
However, the U.S. army turned back and collected the money but did not withdraw the army. The Japanese "paid their wife and broke down." As a result, the people of Okinawa still held demonstrations in a reluctant manner.
The people are so angry, why?
1. The U.S. military has increased the burden on the locals
Yamashiro Hiroji, chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center, pointed out: "This island is gradually becoming the front line of war. We will never allow the island to become a victim of war again."
Another woman in Naha said angrily: "49 years have passed, and many US military bases have been imposed, which is quite unreasonable. It is not allowed to advance the construction of the ancient new base in the border fields."
2. The privilege of the US military has led to the spread of the epidemic
Since the epidemic, the number of confirmed cases in the United States has been on the rise, and the US military stationed in Okinawa has also had more than 100 confirmed cases.
Although Japan has included the United States as a "country prohibiting entry and exit," the Japanese government has no right to control US military bases due to the provisions of the Japan-US Status Agreement. Of the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan, more than half are stationed in Okinawa. They not only set up the epidemic prevention and isolation point in a local hotel outside the base, but also did not abide by the local epidemic prevention regulations and entered and exited various consumer places at will. The inability of the local government to do anything has aroused strong dissatisfaction among the people.
In addition, according to the "Japan-US Status Agreement," the local government is not allowed to announce the number of confirmed cases in the base without the permission of the US military. The governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan, Tamaki Dani, had to communicate with the U.S. military and received a promise that "will not prevent the county government from disclosing data" before "the right" to announce the confirmed number of US military bases—141 cases. In sharp contrast, only one new case was reported in Okinawa prefecture a month. For this reason, some residents said, “I feel a little scared and can’t go shopping with peace of mind. It’s too scary”!
As the saying goes,it's easy to ask God, but hard to send it to God. Although the Okinawans have legally sent away their "dad" of the US military, the US military is still sucking the blood of Okinawa! I hope that the Okinawans will soon usher in the day when they truly return to Japan, and remove the burden of the US military "dad"!