NHK World

80% Refuse Majority of US Military Facilities To Be Placed In Okinawa

May 15 will be the 50th anniversary of Okinawa's return to Japan from the US following the end of World War II.

About 80 percent of respondents to an NHK poll said it was a mistake to place the majority of US military facilities in Japan in Okinawa Province, southwest Japan.

The poll, conducted from February to March, asked the opinions of 1,800 people in Okinawa and 1,800 people in other parts of Japan. More than 800 people in Okinawa and 1,100 people from other parts of Japan provided the answers.

About 70 percent of US military facilities in Japan are in Okinawa. As many as 56 percent of respondents in Okinawa and 24 percent in other areas in Japan said they did not agree with this.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents in Okinawa and 55 percent in other parts of Japan said they somewhat disagree. Meanwhile, 8 percent of respondents in Okinawa and 13 percent in other areas of Japan said they tend not to refuse. Five percent of respondents in Okinawa and 7 percent in other parts of Japan said they did not object.

In Okinawa, more than 80 percent of respondents rejected or tended to reject US military facilities being concentrated in the province.

Meanwhile, 11 percent of respondents in Okinawa and 12 percent in other parts of Japan said US bases are important to Japan's security. As many as 51 percent in Okinawa and 68 percent in other parts of Japan said it was unavoidable for Japan's security.

However, 19 percent of respondents in Okinawa and 14 percent in other parts of Japan said the bases were not important to Japan's security. Another 17 percent of respondents from Okinawa and 5 percent of respondents from other parts of Japan stated that the base could pose a threat to Japan's security.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/id/news/364703/