After the murder of a woman, Koja asks for more protection and explanations on the defenses
Okinawa Governor Genta Koja has announced that he will call for a fundamental revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), the 1960 agreement that governs the American military presence in Japan. The announcement comes after last month’s murder of a 39-year-old woman at an island hotel, for which a U.S. Marine was indicted; a case that has reignited the controversy over the US bases present in the southernmost prefecture of the archipelago. At the press conference in Tokyo, Koja called the crime “extremely heinous and a source of great anxiety” among residents. Among the changes requested are prompt compliance with Japanese requests to transfer detained suspects before indictment and the extension of Japanese laws to American forces. According to critics, the SOFA makes the bases almost extraterritorial, hinders prosecutions and prevents investigations into external soil pollution. Koja also asked that local authorities be able to inspect the areas near the bases, where the leakage of Pfas, the so-called indestructible pollutants, is suspected.
Last Friday, Tokyo and Washington agreed on crime prevention measures, with talks on community relations and the Japanese legal system. The US general command has also extended the 30-day curfew until December 7, and from next April, courses on Okinawa culture and history are planned for incoming troops.
Koja, elected in September with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party at the helm of the government coalition, is the first governor in 12 years to support the plan to move the Futenma base to the north of the island. He also called for the ‘rapid return’ of military land in the island’s commercial hub and urged the government to explain the ‘minimum’ defensive capabilities needed as part of strengthening the southwestern islands.
Although it constitutes 0.6% of Japan’s territory, Okinawa – which is just 600 km from Taiwan – hosts around 70% of US facilities in the Land of the Rising Sun, and hosts the majority of the 54,000 American soldiers stationed in the archipelago.
