Okinawan base-realignment promises have largely gone unfulfilled for two decades

Evidence

It’s been nearly two decades since the 1995 rape and the 1996 agreement to replace Futenma. In many ways, very little has happened. The military has returned some land, but many of the bases scheduled for return remain in operation. Futenma is still open and set to remain open until at least 2021. Construction of a replacement in Nago still faces intense protest and is moving very slowly, despite a new promise of $2.9 billion a year in Japanese government subsidies for the prefecture. Protests have grown and expanded islandwide. In Takae, a richly forested area in northern Okinawa that’s the site of the Marines’ Jungle Warfare Training Center, locals and their supporters have been protesting since 2007 against construction of six new helipads. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 863

Categorization

• XREF: Gives concrete evidence that base realignments announced after scandals often stall despite monetary inducements.