Okinawa's Day in the Sun

As the Summit Nears, a Look at Japan's Tropical Outpost

The most famous travelers will come to Okinawa July 21-23, though they are unlikely to stop by the snake house. This year, Okinawa will host the "Group of Eight" (G-8) meeting of major industrialized countries, which will bring the presidential likes of Bill Clinton, France's Jacques Chirac and Vladimir Putin of Russia to the northern Okinawa city of Nago.

"Before the war, there was a strong current of assimilation [with Japan] and Okinawans felt their culture was inferior," he said. "But in the 1980s, there was a search for our cultural identity. Okinawans are now proud. They realize it's okay to be 'Okinawan Japanese,' to be different."

[FINAL Edition]
The Washington Post - Washington, D.C.
Author: Doug Struck
Date: Jul 16, 2000
Section: TRAVEL
Document Types: Feature
Text Word Count: 2274

Okinawa bases more important than during Cold War: Campbell

WASHINGTON
July 13, 2000 Kyodo

The U.S. government thinks the importance of U.S. military bases in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture has increased for its East Asian security policy, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense indicated Thursday.

Kurt Campbell told a political seminar that Okinawa's strategic importance stems from its geographical location -- its proximity to the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait -- and the dynamic developments of the region in recent years.

"The very delicate and dynamic situations on the Korean Peninsula and the cross-strait situation ironically make bases in Okinawa perhaps more important now than in the Cold War," said Campbell, who was at the Pentagon until last April to take charge of East Asian and Pacific affairs.

He said no one in the current administration would officially acknowledge the observation, given the sensitive nature of the Okinawa base issue -- especially the Japanese government's consensus that further steps must be taken to ease the burden of Okinawa people.

"No one wants to come and actually say that...but I can assure you that's the reality," he said.

Some in the administration are considering the possibility of demonstrating "flexibility" over the Okinawa issue but none of them would actually openly do so, Campbell suggested.

"To contemplate flexibility in the area potentially sends (wrong) messages both to Taipei, Beijing and Pyongyang," said Campbell.

He said, "Japan's strategic dialogue with the U.S. takes on greater importance" over the next year and a half.

U.S. Marines to be banned from drinking during G8

Saturday, July 8, 2000

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) The U.S. Marine Corps said Friday it will ban Okinawa-based marines from consuming alcohol around the time of the July 21-23 Group of Eight summit.

The announcement of the ban, which will be effective from July 20 to 24 both inside and outside U.S. military bases, follows Monday's arrest of a marine on suspicion of trespassing in a private home and molesting a 14-year-old girl living there.

The marines will also be required to be in uniform at all times during the five-day period, the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa said.

Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston, the chief of U.S. Marine Corps forces in Okinawa, said he is certain each marine understands the need for the disciplinary measure as well as the importance of the Okinawa summit.

The various units of the force will also be held responsible for the activities of its members around the clock between July 14 and 24, according to the marines' local public relations office.

Alcohol will not be sold on the bases for the duration of the ban, the office said.

Meanwhile, a 31-year-old marine corporal was found to have been driving drunk and without a license Tuesday when he broke through the fence of a parking lot at a park in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, and then drove off, police sources said.

After the corporal drank beer with a 25-year-old fellow marine at a beach near the parking lot, they decided to drive home at around 10:30 p.m. but found the gate was closed, according to the investigation. While the younger marine went to find a security guard, the corporal drove the car through the gate.

The U.S. military in Okinawa had ordered soldiers to obtain Japanese driver's licenses and restricted their drinking age following incidents such as the rape of an Okinawa schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen in 1995.

Resolution of protest

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) The Okinawa Municipal Assembly adopted a resolution Friday protesting the alleged molestation of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine here Monday.

The city of Nago, the expected future site for operations of the Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, central Okinawa Prefecture, adopted a similar resolution Thursday and plans to demand preventive measures by the prefectural government.

Nago will host the July 21-23 summit of the Group of Eight major countries.

Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston, chief of U.S. forces in Okinawa Prefecture, offered an apology to Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine on Thursday.

Hailston issued a statement Wednesday apologizing to the girl's family and expressing his regret over the anxiety the incident has caused.

State Foreign Secretary Katsuhito Asano also visited Okinawa and complained about the incident to Hailston on Thursday.

The U.S. forces in Japan and the Japanese government are struggling to quell widespread discontent among Okinawans with the U.S. military ahead of the G8 summit.

Police on Monday arrested a 19-year-old U.S. Marine based at the Futenma Air Station on suspicion he broke into a home in the city of Okinawa and molested a junior high school girl as she slept.

Disciplinary steps

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States is considering imposing restrictions on U.S. military personnel in the aftermath of allegations that a U.S. Marine molested a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa Prefecture, a Defense Department spokesman said.

"The U.S. force commanders there on Okinawa are contemplating additional actions to take," deputy spokesman Craig Quigley said Thursday.

The commanders will announce the measures when a final version is worked out, he said. Quigley did not specify which bases or regions would be affected by the measures.

When U.S. servicemen in Okinawa raped a schoolgirl in 1995, a late-night curfew was imposed on U.S. soldiers at bases in the prefecture.