Nipponica

Amid growing calls in Okinawa prefecture for some of the US facilities there to be relocated to other parts of Japan to ease the burden on the southern islands, the Asahi Shimbun published the results of its survey on September 13.

In response to the question on whether respondents could accept an American military base being opened nearby, 82 per cent of the 2,376 people polled said they would not. The newspaper conducted the same survey in 2010, when that figure was 74 per cent.

Of course, most people don’t want military in their backyards. But the majority of Japan doesn’t truly understand the burden that is being forced on Okinawa and a shift to more mainland bases will make them see.