Japanese island community split over US army base Camp Schwab expansion as mayoral election looms
Sunday’s vote has effectively become a referendum on whether the base should be accepted or whether it should be closed down
Sunday’s vote has effectively become a referendum on whether the base should be accepted or whether it should be closed down
There is effectively only one issue that will decide Sunday’s mayoral election in the small town of Nago, in Okinawa Prefecture. But it is one that has pit neighbour against neighbour and family members against each other.
“This is a really tight-knit community and if you asked their personal feelings, I don’t think anyone would say they want the US base to be enlarged,” said Hideko Otake, who is involved in the campaign against the development of the US Marine Corps’ Camp Schwab.
“But equally, there are a lot of companies who will benefit from having the Americans here and people in business are putting pressure on their employees to vote in favour of the plan.
“There are other groups that have effectively been bought by the government, such as the local fishing cooperative, who took a payoff because the work is going to affect their business, so now the fishermen work as security guards,” she said.
“It is all creating a lot of pressure in the community.”
Nago sits astride the main island of Okinawa and, since 1959, has been home to Camp Schwab. Locals have largely tolerated the US troops at the base, with the few accidents or petty crime – sometimes punctuated by more serious incidents – grudgingly accepted as a fact of life for Okinawan communities living with American bases in their midst.