Okinawa marks 80 years since 'Typhoon of Steel,' with U.S. presence still a burden

Japan Times

6 days ago

Eighty years have passed since the Battle of Okinawa effectively came to an end, but the scars of war and occupation remain etched into the islands.
On next Monday, Japan's southernmost prefecture commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa, among the bloodiest ground battles of World War II — one that killed roughly 200,000 people and has left a legacy of military occupation, protest and unresolved grief.
Today, Okinawa Prefecture still hosts about 70% of U.S. military bases in Japan, and with the Self-Defense Forces ramping up their presence amid growing tensions with China, the dream of a peaceful island without bases feels farther out of reach than ever.
'Hell on earth'
In the final stages of the Pacific War, as American forces island-hopped toward Japan via Saipan and the Philippines, the Imperial Japanese Army dug in on Okinawa in a last-ditch effort to buy time for the defense of the mainland.
U.S. troops landed on the Kerama Islands in March 1945 and on Okinawa's main island in April that year. What followed was a devastating assault, dubbed the 'Typhoon of Steel,' that resulted in the Japanese forces, who were headquartered at Shuri Castle in the city of Naha, retreating to the southern part of the main island the following month.
The battle ended on June 23 with the suicide of General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the Japanese 32nd Army.
Roughly 200,000 people — Japanese and U.S soldiers and civilians alike — died in the fighting, a toll so staggering it was said to have been 'hell on earth.' Schoolchildren were conscripted into combat and nursing units such as the Himeyuri Student Corps, and one in four Okinawan civilians perished.
Some Japanese soldiers reportedly expelled civilians from underground shelters and executed them on suspicion of spying. Mass suicides, starvation and disease followed in the wake of the battle, seeding long-standing distrust of the military among residents.
Bayonets and bulldozers
With Japan's surrender came the start of what Okinawans call 'the American Era.' The San Francisco Peace Treaty, which came into force in April 1952, restored Japan's sovereignty, but Okinawa was carved out and placed under U.S. military administration.
Seeing Okinawa as the keystone of the Pacific, the United States accelerated base construction, often displacing residents through the use of bayonets and bulldozers. Land seizures without adequate compensation sparked fierce resistance, culminating in an islandwide protest movement.
Incidents involving U.S. personnel further deepened the divide. In September 1955, a 6-year-old girl was raped and murdered by a U.S. soldier. Four years later, a jet crashed into Miyamori Elementary School in the city of Ishikawa (now part of the city of Uruma), killing 18 people, including 12 children. These tragedies amplified calls to revert Okinawa to Japan and the protection offered under its pacifist Constitution.
Equal to the mainland and nuclear free
In August 1965, then-Prime Minister Eisaku Sato became the first sitting Japanese leader to visit Okinawa. By November 1969, Tokyo and Washington had agreed to return the islands to Japanese control, and Okinawa returned to the mainland in May 1972.
While the U.S. and Japanese governments pledged to make Okinawa equal to the mainland and nuclear-free, a secret pact later revealed Japan had agreed to allow the U.S. to bring nuclear weapons into Okinawa during emergencies.
Meanwhile, as mainland bases were scaled back, the proportion of exclusive U.S. military facilities in Okinawa rose — from 58.8% at reversion to 70.3% today.
Public anger spiked again in 1995 after the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. servicemen, leading to a widespread citizens' movement demanding reduction in the U.S. military presence. In response, the two governments agreed to fully return the Futenma air base in the city of Ginowan.
But the deal came with a caveat: the base would be relocated to the Henoko area in the city of Nago, also within Okinawa. The prefecture has staunchly opposed the plan, which many see as a betrayal of local will.
Security, but at what cost
With Chinese military activity intensifying around Taiwan and Japan's southwest islands, Tokyo has shifted more of the Self-Defense Forces to the region. But efforts to expand training grounds in places like Uruma have faced fierce opposition from local governments and residents.
'The reversion movement was about peace and democracy,' said Hiroshi Komatsu, an associate professor of international relations at Waseda University. 'But base reduction hasn't progressed like it has on the mainland, and relocation to Henoko is being pushed through against the will of the people. Almost none of what Okinawans hoped for at reversion has been realized.'
'We need to seriously reconsider how the concentration of bases in Okinawa has widened the rift between the islands and the mainland,' he added. 'Either Japan must share the base burden more equally nationwide, or we must find a form of national security that doesn't rely so heavily on deterrence.'
Translated by The Japan Times