IWAKUNI, Japan (AFP) – This decaying US base city will have a rare chance this weekend to hand down a symbolic but potentially influential verdict on the US military presence in Japan.
The western port city near Hiroshima on Sunday will hold the first referendum on a controversial bilateral plan announced in October in which Iwakuni would host 57 more US carrier-based warplanes.
“The central government has the final say, but the referendum will have no small impact on future discussions on the realignment of US troops in Japan,” said Tetsuro Kato, a professor of politics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.
In 1996, people in Okinawa, the small island chain which hosts more than half of the 40,000 US troops in Japan, voted for the contraction of US bases in a similar referendum, which led Washington to agree to give up a key base.
If the current realignment plan is implemented, Iwakuni will become one of the biggest US air bases in northeast Asia, with the number of aircraft here to more than double.
“This is merely a way to pass on something unpleasant to other people,” said Iwakuni Mayor Katsusuke Ihara, who opposes the plan.
“This referendum is a milestone which will decide on the future of Iwakuni and will set a precedent showing the way relations between local people and a US base are supposed to be,” Ihara told AFP.
“By returning to the principle of democracy, we would like to listen directly to our residents’ opinions,” he said. “Without understanding local people, no US bases in Japan can operate with stability.”
US troops are stationed in Japan under a security alliance reached after Tokyo was defeated in World War II. Fourteen of Japan’s 47 prefectures host US bases.
Some 3,000 US marines are stationed in Iwakuni, where Hornet fighters roar from the 574-hectare (1,418-acre) seaside base above residential areas.
Whatever local people’s grievances, the military provides a boost to a sagging local economy.
Iwakuni had enjoyed Japan’s post-war economic boom with local industry producing oil, chemical and other raw products for made-in-Japan exports.
But like many other Japanese cities engaged in heavy industry, Iwakuni has since walked down on the path of decline. The city’s main street is stagnant, with shops’ shutters closed all day long.
In military value, however, Iwakuni is significant — it is only 800 kilometers (500 miles) away from Pyongyang.
The realignment plan was intended to ease the burden on communities hosting US forces, particularly in Okinawa, from where up to 8,000 troops would be pulled out and transferred to the US territory of Guam.
But instead the deal has met a groundswell of opposition, with local leaders pushing for a greater pullout of US forces they accuse of noise and crime.
The central government has signalled it plans to ignore the outcome of the Iwakuni referendum, which requires the approval of a majority of the city’s 85,000 eligible voters.
Some 71 percent of voters in Iwakuni oppose the blueprint, with only 11 percent in favor, according to a poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun, which took responses from 1,020 eligible voters in the city.
“This is not an issue for old people like me but a very important issue for our next generation,” said Hisako Horie, a 82-year-old housewife.
“Accepting additional forces means they are going to stay here permanently,” Horie said. “We had better not seek the immediate economic benefits. I’m worried about the era of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Harumi Kawakami, a 40-year-old businesswoman, however, said: “I support the plan because Iwakuni in fact receives a lot of benefit from the base and we can expect some economic support from the government in return.”
She continued: “The US base is heavily involved in our local businesses and community. We owe a lot of jobs and business orders to base-related businesses. That’s the reality.”
Other residents show apathy.
“Tell me what will change because of our vote. I guess nothing,” said Naoko Hayashi, a 23-year-old rent-a-car employee.
“I neither support nor oppose it. I’m used to the noise and the base itself, which has existed since before I was born.”
A spokesman for the US base remained tightlipped over the referendum, saying it would “not be appropriate” to comment amid discussions between Tokyo and Washington.
“We don’t want to say anything that could affect those negotiations,” said Major Steward Upton.