Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fresh, light, delicious and served cold, Okinawa's most popular brew is Orion, pronounced ”Or-ee-
own,” the ”ee” sound rhyming with me, he or she and not ”O-ri-on,” the “i” as in eye. Although the
Orion Brewery (
オリオンビール株式会 社
; Orion Bīru Kabushiki Gaisha) only supplies 1 percent
of the overall beer market in Japan, in Okinawa its share is 50 percent. It's a true local product. The
brewery is in Nago and tours are offered daily. The best part: free mugs of beer at the end of each
tour, designated driver excepted.
The American Presence in Okinawa
According to a number of polls, over 70 percent of Japanese ciizens appreciate the mutual security
and defense treaty with the United States and the presence of the US Forces Japan (
在日米軍
; Zaini-
chi Beigun). However, a growing percentage of the populaion has been demanding a reducion in
the numbers of US bases and military personnel in the country. Nowhere are these issues more acute
than in Okinawa where some 75 percent of all the US military faciliies in Japan are located. On Ok-
inawa, US military installaions occupy almost 20 percent of the total land area or one-ith of the
island.
The issues may be said to encompass two broad complaints: base locaion and base personnel.
First, many bases, such as Yokota Air Base near Tokyo, the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Kadena Air Base
on Okinawa and, most strikingly, the Marine Corps Air Staion at Futenma, Okinawa, are located in the
vicinity of or in the heart of residenial districts. They may not have been residenial districts when
established more than 60 years ago. For example, most of Futenma then was a sugar cane field but
the populaion has grown all around it. Local ciizens have been complaining for years about excess-
ive aircraft noise as well as the occasional aircraft accident or flight mishap. By far the most heated
discussion has been over MCAS Futenma. In an agreement signed between the US and Japan in Octo-
ber of 2005, the US agreed to the relocaion of the base to a remote area further north on the island.
In addiion, the US agreed to the permanent relocaion of some 8,000 Marines to the US Territory of
Guam. But what was at the ime seen as the beginning of an end has now morphed into an endless
beginning, with no end in sight. The ink was barely dry when Japan reneged on the agreement, in-
sisting simply that Futenma be closed and that no alternative air staion be built. Naturally, the US in-
sists that the original agreement be kept in accordance with its terms. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama, who had rashly staked his reputaion on the base's removal, was forced to resign his of-
fice when it became clear that he could not deliver on his bold promises. Although local Okinawan
oicials keep beating the Futenma ani-base drum, no senior Japanese poliicians dare touch the con-
troversy. No new air staion is being built, no one is packing up at Futenma, no Marines are moving to
Guam and no negoiaions are taking place, at least for now. At the moment, it is a stalemate.
