“U.S. Military Base Issues in Okinawa” refers to the issues and problems

caused by the presence of U.S. Military bases in Okinawa. People living in

Okinawa have been tormented by accidents and incidents caused by the U.S.

Army. The U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement has prevented inhabitants

as well as national and local governments from taking effective action to solve

the problems caused by the U.S. Army. This article reports how the regional

newspaper“ Ryukyu Shimpo” has grappled with such issues and problems.

　　Right before the outbreak of the Pacific War, the then-Japanese government

forced “Ryukyu Shimpo” to be integrated with other papers into “Okinawa

Shimpo” as the single regional newspaper published in Okinawa. After

the integration, the newspaper cooperated with the government to fight the

war and played the part to raise the fighting sprits of inhabitants. The lesson

that people working for the newspaper learned from the experience during the

war was that “we must not write to help the government wage a war again.”

With this principle in mind, the journalists working for“ Ryukyu Shimpo” tackle

the issues concerning the presence of the U.S. Military bases. On the other

hand, the national government of Japan apparently learned how to successfully

control public opinion from its experience during the war period.

　　The suffering caused by the stationing of the U.S. Army began at the

moment when the Japanese government abandoned Okinawa and provided the

United States with the most southern prefecture in Japan as a military base in

exchange for the restoration of the sovereignty of mainland Japan. The message

issued by the Japanese emperor regarding the Okinawa War confirmed

that Okinawa was sacrificed for the restoration of Japan’s sovereignty. Even

after the U.S. government handed over Okinawa to the administration of Japan,the Japanese government requested that the U.S. government maintain their

military bases and that the U.S. keep them in Okinawa. This is why people in

Okinawa have been tormented by the problems that the U.S. Army causes.

　　“Ryukyu Shimpo” has repeatedly reported the issues and problems concerning

the U.S. bases. It constantly reports the unfairness and unjustness of

the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement and campaigns for its revision. The

national news media, however, are not so eager to report the issues in Okinawa

caused by the U.S. Military bases.

　　The current Abe Cabinet put the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated

Secrets into force, which is argued to have the consequences of shrinking

the activities of journalists. In Okinawa, journalists were exposed to pressure

from the national government. A notable incident occurred in which journalists

were detained at the site of their coverage of the Okinawa U.S. bases. While the

spirit of the Japanese Constitution that stipulates the renouncement of war is

faltering, the raison d’être of journalists are called into question.

抄録全体を表示

Two referenda took place in Okinawa prefecture in a short span of time between 1996 and 1997. The raping of a young school girl by American soldiers in September, 1995 had triggered a harsh anti-militaristic protest throughout the Okinawa islands. There is a treaty between the United States and Japan that Japanese authorities can not investigate and try Ameirican soldiers. This treaty has caused several criminal American soldiers to flee to their homeland. Okinawan people have strong feelings concerning the unfairness of the treaty. Some radicalists said that if it can not be changed to be more appropriate, they hope that all the American soldiers will return to the United States. Basically, the Okinawan attitudes toward militaristic power are negative. This reflects the Okinawan tradition as “a peaceful nation” and their horrible experience during World War II. Okinawa is the only prefecture which experienced ground fighting in Japan. Their strong call for peace and the ideal to have the islands without military is essential for the people in Okinawa. This feeling was echoed by the governing circle of the Okinawa prefectural administration. Masahide Oota, the governor of Okinawa Prefecture, raised the question that it is doubtful whether we need such a huge military force on this tiny island after the end of the cold war. This regional clamour of the anti-militaristic movement in Okinawa has called for referenda concerning international security issues. So far, these “high political” securuty issues are seen not as matters of municipality but only as matters concerning the Ministry of Foregin Affairs or the central government itself. Because Japan has a representavive political system, until these referenda, there has been no direct chance to express the peoples' will in the municipality where it has the greatest impact. On September 8, 1996, the first prefectural referendum in Japan was held in Okinawa. The political turmoil in Okinawa has caused another municipal referendum at the city level in Nago City, Okinawa, on December 21, 1997. In this paper an attempt is made to indicate some possible relations between the impact of international issues on the national political situation and the reactions stemming from distinctive cultures. In my analysis, the sub-cultures which are reflected in social cleavages are the core. In order to review this theme, particular attention must be paid to the contribution made by Stein Rokkan. A series of referenda shows the common features of a gap betwen center and periphery in the recognition of international issues. This gap clearly points out the existence of the cleavages in Japan and these referenda clearly show that the international issues have revitalized centreperiphery cleavages in Japan.

抄録全体を表示

地方自治法は、地方公共団体が「住民の福祉の増進を図ること」を「基本」とし、「民主的で能率的な行政を図る」ことを目的とする。しかし、日本では、特に沖縄県への米軍基地の集中とその環境影響に見られるように、憲法に規定された地方自治の追求が国に制約される矛盾がある。沖縄県は、県民投票条例に基づく2度の民意の提示を含めて、米軍基地の集中による負担の軽減を求めてきているが、国は応じていない。2024年の第213回国会では、地方公共団体への「国の指示権」を含む改正地方自治法が成立した。国は、実質的に地方自治への制限を強めていると考えられる。

近年の沖縄県での辺野古新基地建設による環境破壊や、同県と神奈川県、東京都の米軍基地周辺で高濃度の有機フッ素化合物、PFOS・PFOAが検出されたことから明らかにされた環境汚染は、人間の生存環境の侵害に当たる。これらの問題は、日本国憲法25条 (生存権) 、13条 (幸福追求権) に照らして検討されてきた環境権に抵触する。憲法の両条と、人間の生存環境の侵害を防ぐ環境権は、地方自治の基本とされる住民の福祉の増進の根本に位置する。環境権の保障は、人間が生態系から得る便益「生態系サービス」の保持から可能となる。

こうした背景を踏まえて、本研究では、地方自治の独立性を保つ意義を、沖縄県への米軍基地の集中とその環境影響に対する問題意識に基づいて検討した。生態系サービスは、住民の福祉の増進ひいては人間の安全保障の基盤となり、地域の生態系サービスは各地で保持に努められる必要がある。このことは、地方自治の独自性を保つ重要な意義に数えられる。

抄録全体を表示

日本の市民による自国政府を対象とした安全保障問題に関する抗議行動 (安保系抗議行動) は、どのような条件下において発生するだろうか。本論文では、基地政治研究で主張されてきた内容をもとに、在日米軍のプレゼンスの規模、具体的には米軍により利用される軍事基地・施設の規模と、それらに関連して発生する経済的便益の大きさに着目し、これらの要因と安保系抗議行動の発生件数の関係性について2005年から2018年までの全都道府県のデータを用いた計量分析により実証する。加えて、自衛隊の基地・施設の規模を独立変数として組み込むことにより、在日米軍の基地・施設がもたらす影響との比較検討を試みる。

　分析の結果、ある地域内部における在日米軍の基地・施設の規模が大きくなるほど、当該地域における安保系抗議行動の発生件数が多くなるということが示唆されたが、他方で、自衛隊の基地・施設の規模が安保系抗議行動の発生件数に影響を与える、という旨の仮説に合致する分析結果を得ることはできなかった。また、在日米軍の基地・施設に関連して発生する経済的便益がこの種の抗議行動の発生件数に影響を与えるという旨の仮説の妥当性には疑義が呈された。

抄録全体を表示

Japan's postwar security policy has developed as a derivative of US global strategy, and has served to complement that strategy. Okinawa has served as the military foundation of that policy. The San Francisco Preace Treaty was influenced by events on the Korean peninsula. Moreover, in April 1952, the US-Japan alliance was concluded, and the US military viewed Okinawa as the “cornerstone” of its Pacific strategy. Not only did Okinawa occupy a geographical vantage point for the US to oversee East Asia, but it also provided the means for linking the US with its military allies in the region.
The anti-base movement in Okinawa began to advocate a “return to Japan and its peace constitution” before the San Fracisco Peace Treaty was concluded. After the Treaty was ratified in April 1952, US military authorities in Okinawa clearly viewed the anti-base movement as a tool of international communism, and sought to repress it. But the “shimagurumi toso” (the island-wide protest) against US policy towards expropriated land in Okinawa in the 1950s reinvigorated the anti-base movement, and led to the formation in 1960 of the Council on the Reversion of Okinawa Prefecture to Japan. The anti-base movement in Okinawa intensified with US militaly intervention in Vietnam in 1965, and Okinawan activists joined others around the globe in protest of US strategy. Faced not only with domestic protest but also with a global anti-Vietnam war movement, the US found it increasingly difficult to execise powar over Okinawa.
The reversion of Okinawa negotiated by the US and Japanese governments, however, was seen as a means of reorganizing and strengthening the US-Japan military alliance. The Japanese government used the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to consolidate US military bases. During the 1970s' US military bases on the main Japanese islands were reduced by one-third, but the US bases on Okinawa went virtually untouched. Today, the concentration of 75% of US military forces stationed in Japan on Okinawa, which has only 0.06% of Japan's total land area, is the result of an international policy of transferring the burden of these bases to Okinawa.
Again, in the 1990s' the anti-base movement in Okinawa that emerged after the rape issue in the fall of 1995, was a direct challenge to US and Japanese government efforts to redefine the US-Japan alliance. By redefining the alliance, the US aimed to ensure Japan's support, as a subordinate military partner, in a strategy of joint global hegemony. Japan's military cooperation and rear-area support for US military actions in the vicinity of Japan, and the strengthening and consolidation of US bases on Okinawa, was required.
The 1990s anti-base movement in Okinawa has provided the opportunity for greater cooperation between the Okinawa and Korean anti-base movements. New avenues of cooperation are possible. The peaceful unification of North and South Korea would be extremely advantageous for the reduction and withdrawal of US military bases in Okinawa and Korea. But, the call for the reduction and withdrawal of US military bases has yet to resound broadly among the public, and any real path towards peaceful coexistence on the Korean peninsula, and peace among the countries of Asia, will depend upon broad popular support.

抄録全体を表示