ITAMI, Osaka Pref. -- In order for the U.S. and Japan to maintain friendly relations, America must reduce its military presence on Okinawa, which is little more than a colonial outpost controlled by the U.S. military, said leading Okinawa politician Tokushin Yamauchi during a recent symposium.
The former prefectural vice governor who led the successful campaign to have the U.S. return the Yomitan auxiliary airfield, Yamauchi is regarded by many local residents as the main challenger to Gov. Keiichi Inamine in the 2002 gubernatorial election.
Yamauchi has long opposed the presence of the U.S. bases, and, by his own admission, has been a thorn in the side of both the Foreign Ministry and the U.S. military since he first became mayor of Yomitan in the mid-1970s.