When Chiemi Yonashiro was told an object from a United States military helicopter appeared to have fallen onto the nursery where she had dropped off her three-year-old daughter Mimaru just hours earlier, she burst into tears. Her daughter – and around 70 other children playing at the nursery at the time – were unhurt, but for Mrs Yonashiro, 46, the incident confirmed her conviction that her family was not safe living in southern Japan’s Okinawa region for one uncomfortable reason: the heavy presence of US military. “Every day we fear that our lives are at risk,” the mother-of-two told the Sunday Telegraph. “I do not want to let my daughter or other children to experiences such strong fears. I don’t want anyone to suffer this way anymore.” Mrs Chiemi is one of tens of thousands of Okinawa residents who will on Sunday be offered the opportunity to express their views on the longstanding presence of US military in the region in a historic referendum. Voters will be asked whether they agree with a deeply controversial plan to relocate a US military base from the crowded residential Futenma region to a more remote part of the island – with early polls indicating that as many as 70 per cent will vote no. Chiemi Yonashiro and children in Okinawa Credit: Danielle Demetriou The result of the referendum is legally non-binding and unlikely to stop the government from pushing ahead with relocating, with reclamation work already underway. However, a “no” result is likely to be viewed as a powerful symbol of local opposition to US military. Okinawa, a subtropical archipelago closer to Taipei than Tokyo, has long been of enormous strategic importance to the US, with the main island hosting more than half of the 47,000 American military personnel based in Japan, despite accounting for less than one per cent of the country’s total land area. Tensions between the US military and locals have soared in recent years, with a steady stream of complaints over noise, accidents by military aircraft and crimes committed by military personnel and civilian employees. Momentum to local resistance to US military presence has escalated since last September when Denny Tamaki came to power as Okinawa Governor after campaigning heavily against the relocation plans. Photo taken from a drone shows the relocation site for US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the Henoko coastal district of Nago, Okinawa Credit: Splash News Critics of the relocation say it will damage the island’s delicate marine eco-system and potentially increase aircraft accidents, with many calling for the base to be closed down completely or moved to another part of Japan. The fact the referendum is taking place at all is likely to cause a major headache for Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, who is intent on keeping relations smooth with his key ally US president Donald Trump. The timing of the referendum is also sensitive, in the light of preparations underway for the US-North Korea summit in Vietnam next week and discussions over plans for Mr Trump to visit Japan in May and June. The controversial relocation plan has been a potential thorn in Washington-Tokyo relations since it was first proposed more than two decades ago, with one former Japanese PM resigning over the issue. For Mrs Yonashiro, the falling aircraft part at Midorigaoka Nursery in December 2017 was one of a string of incidents that crystalised her deep-rooted opposition to the presence of US military in the region. During the same month, a large object resembling a window frame also reportedly fell from another US military helicopter into the grounds of a nearby elementary school, causing a stone to lightly injure a child. Children playing at Midorigaoka Nursery where the December 2017 incident took place Credit: Danielle Demetriou “Parents here have felt a sense of crisis since these objects fell into schools, one after another,” says Futenma-born Mrs Yonashiro, who also has an eight-year-old son Tamaru. “Children in Okinawa have a right to live a peaceful life but they are living with danger. As long as US military aircraft are flying over Okinawa, the danger will not go away. I strongly feel this is the time to change Okinawa. It’s not just a matter of military bases, it’s about children’s lives.” Takehiro Kamiya, the head of Midorigaoka Nursery, was no less outspoken in his opposition to US military forces in Okinawa in the run-up to the referendum, highlighting how military aircraft fly over the building on a daily basis. “We do not need the military bases anymore,” he told the Sunday Telegraph. “There have been accidents of military aircraft crashing, falling objects and crash-landings, as well as murder, rape, theft, traffic accident, drunk driving. The US military still fly over our communities as if nothing has happened. Would such a thing be allowed in Tokyo or in the UK?” He added: “We demand that military bases not be relocated, but closed or demolished.”
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