NAHA —
Prime Minister Naoto Kan offered an apology to people in Okinawa Prefecture on Wednesday for forcing them to host a large part of U.S. military bases in Japan, but suggested the bases are indispensable to peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
Kan made his first visit to the island prefecture since he took office earlier this month amid strong criticism from locals for an agreement reached between Japan and the United States in May to keep a key U.S. military base in Okinawa. ‘‘I offer an apology as a representative of all Japanese people,’’ Kan said at a ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, which killed over 200,000 soldiers and civilians in the closing days of World War II.
The government ‘‘will make a further serious commitment to easing the burden of hosting the bases and removing dangers’’ linked to their existence, Kan said. But he also expressed his ‘‘appreciation,’’ saying that Okinawa accepting the U.S. military presence has helped secure peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, who attended the ceremony, said the obligation of hosting the U.S. bases in Japan must be equally shared among Japanese people. ‘‘I would like the burden (on Okinawa) to be visibly reduced,’’ he said.
The premier said he will respect the Japan-U.S. accord announced May 28 to move the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station from a crowded residential area to a less populated coastal area in Okinawa, despite calls from locals to relocate the base outside the prefecture. At the same time, he emphasized government efforts to support Okinawa, which hosts over 70 percent of U.S. military facilities located in Japan.
Wednesday also marked the 50th anniversary of the bilateral security treaty—the reason behind the U.S. military presence in Japan—entering into force. Kan’s predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, stepped down to take responsibility for the political confusion partly caused by the Futenma relocation issue. Hatoyama had pledged to move the base outside Okinawa or Japan but later admitted that it was a difficult goal to achieve, in a move that led to the departure of the Social Democratic Party from the ruling coalition led by his Democratic Party of Japan.
About 5,500 people attended the ceremony held at Peace Memorial Park in Itoman city. This year, the names of 80 people were newly added to the list of those who perished in the war engraved on the cenotaph at the park, bringing the total to 240,931. Some 94,000 civilians were killed in the three-month battle between Japanese and U.S. troops in 1945. Okinawa remained under U.S. occupation after the war until 1972.
Okinawa has called for reducing the heavy U.S. military presence on the island, saying they have been suffering from noise at military bases and criminal cases involving U.S. servicemen. While the island accounts for 0.6 percent of Japanese soil, about 75 percent of the land used exclusively by the U.S. military in the country is located in Okinawa.
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