U.S. Military Realignment Plans for Japan Face Strong Local Criticism

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. Military Realignment Plans for Japan Face Strong Local Criticism

October 31, 2005 — By Hiroko Tabuchi, Associated Press
TOKYO — Plans to realign U.S. military forces in Japan triggered plans for protest rallies and drew harsh opposition from local officials and citizens' groups, who say the burden of hosting the troops is just being shifted from one community to another.

On Japan's southern island of Okinawa -- which hosts most of the 14,460 U.S. Marines in the country -- activists on Sunday planned a 5,000-strong rally to protest the crime, noise and pollution long associated with Marine bases, and to demand that more U.S. troops be moved out of Japan.

A day earlier, Washington and Tokyo agreed to strengthen military cooperation, reduce the number of Marines on Okinawa and give Japan more responsibility for security in the Pacific region.

But officials and activists from base-hosting communities around Japan said the plans -- which include major changes to U.S. military deployments in Japan -- would merely shift U.S. troops from some areas to others.
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