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| Protest Article |
I'm sure by now many of you have seen at least one newscast about the protests in Okinawa. I've had several ask me about them so I'll share with you what's been going on in the news around Okinawa. As is usually the case, the news shows a limited focus on the full story which leaves everyone thinking that we're hated by all the Okinawans and they are ready to kick us off of their island. Although this may be the sentiment of some, it definitely isn't the sentiment of the majority. These protests aren't something new. They've been present on Okinawa since the 90's at least and probably longer. So, here's the most recent story making headlines..
The current uproar began back in early spring when a young Navy man raped a young Okinawan girl in Naha. He was arrested and sentenced for his crime but it brought out the professional protesters who began parking themselves outside of Kadena. There are full-time protesters who are regularly protesting outside of Camp Schwabb and Futenma bases against the relocation of a Marine base to the northern part of the island. The rape story activated a new reason to protest and they moved some of their protesters to Kadena. We've been told that whenever events like this happen there are professional protesters that are paid to come over from the mainland to protest so that it looks like there are more local protesters than there really are. I'm not sure how true that is but I've heard it from several different sources on FB.
Then....about a month ago a 32 year old ex-Marine Civilian Contractor employee at Kadena decided to take a drive and look for someone to rape. He found a young 20 year old office worker who had gone out for a walk near her home. He forced her into his car, raped and killed her and then stashed her body in a wooded area. Her cell phone helped to lead them to the arrest of the young man and he eventually told them where her body was dumped. You can read about this story here and here. Once the story hit the news we were all outraged by what the man had done. The Japanese were furious, as is to be expected and because of the act of two men who are not representative of the majority of the Americans living here it has fueled the protester's cause. They have been scheduling regular protests near the bases and held a huge protest in Naha over the weekend. We usually get notices about the upcoming protests so we can avoid the areas.
The military Commanders immediately enforced a curfew for all base employees and families both military and civilian. When someone dies in Japan they begin a mourning ritual to honor the dead for about 40 days. The commanders at the bases here in Okinawa decided to honor the tradition of mourning for this young girl and have cancelled any base celebrations for 30 days. There is a strict drinking ban enforced for all the military and civilians. They are prohibited from drinking off base and have a strict curfew. All of this has come at a time when Americans typically have a big 4th of July festival on many of the bases. All festivities were cancelled for this year. Of course there are always quite a few stupid young military who think the rules don't apply to them so we had a few accidents occur from drunk driving even with the curfews and restrictions which continue to add fuel to the fire. You can read about the restrictions on the bases here.
The gatherings that didn't make the news were those of local Okinawans who sat outside the gates with signs saying "Thank you US Military". We are happy to have you here. For those of us living off base, we see this sentiment displayed from most that we meet. They are friendly, sweet and genuinely happy to have us in their restaurants and stores. Most of them recognize that these two men do not represent the majority of the Americans here and we recognize that these protesters do not represent the sentiment of the locals in our community.
