Y&M Magazine - US Troops in Okinawa

Home Sweet Home?: US Troops in Okinawa
by Terri Keeley 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The Larger Context

The incidence of sexual assault and other abusive behaviors toward women is part of a larger problem. Crimes committed by servicemembers are not restricted to sexual violence attacks. The Bihon Keizai Shimbun, a conservative Japanese newspaper, found that between 1972 and 1995, US military personnel were implicated in 4,716 crimes, or nearly one per day. The US troops in Okinawa are essentially an occupying force and behave as such. There are few, if any, negative consequences for servicemembers or for the military as an institution in such situations.

The US military regards itself as superior to the locals, an attitude reinforced by the physical separation of US troops from the rest of the population. The bases on which they live are self-sustained communities, with their own libraries, churches, schools, movie theaters, recreation centers, golf courses, and shopping facilities, thereby providing base communities with resources and access to goods unavailable to the local population. Outside of the base, troops pay in US dollars. For the most part, they know little about the history, customs, and culture of their surroundings and often do not speak the language. Locals view such behavior as disrespectful and insensitive.

Legally, the service community is shielded, as host countries often have virtually no jurisdiction to act when US servicemembers or their families commit crimes (a principle known as "extraterritoriality").

For years in Okinawa, one particularly upsetting issue for the local people has been traffic accidents and deaths caused by military personnel, numbering a little more than 1,000 per year. US servicemembers usually drive with little or no insurance. Until 1996, military trucks and cars did not have license plates, making it difficult for civilians to identify the responsible party. Added pain and suffering has also been caused by the American failure to recognize and understand solatium, a local Japanese custom whereby the victim's family receives compensation for the death of their loved one. As Dr. Robert Orr of Nippon Motorola and the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan observed, such behavior demonstrates how little the military knows about local practices in Okinawa after occupying the area for over 50 years.

Another source of tension between US forces and Okinawans is environmental pollution and noise. During military operations, highly carcinogenic materials are released into the air, water, and land. Despite this, the SOFA with Japan does not require the US to clean up any of these fuels, oils, or solvents. Nor does it allow Okinawan or Japanese officials to inspect the bases for environmental violations. In Okinawa, noise pollution has been blamed for the low birth weights among babies born near Kadena Air Force Base, which occupies 83 percent of the town of Kadena. At Futenma Marine Corps Air Station, located in the center of the city of Ginowan, takeoffs and landings average 142 a day.

Finally, the physical location of the US bases stifles economic growth in the region and deprives Okinawans of their livelihoods. Although Okinawa's economy improved during the 1990s, it is still Japan's poorest prefecture, with an unemployment rate twice as high as the rest of the country. While US bases occupy 20 percent of Okinawa's land mass, as Koji Taira, economist and editor of the newspaper Ryukyuanist, explains, "According to the best estimates, the incomes generated directly or indirectly by the bases are only 5 percent of the gross domestic product."

Unlike bases in the Philippines or Korea, which sit on government property, the Okinawan bases inhabit land belonging to 31,521 private individuals or families. Local people are forced to lease it to the Japanese government, which in turn, subleases it to the US military, all of which must be periodically renewed.

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