ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090145
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NAHA, JAPAN
SOURCE: Associated Press
Okinawans voted more than 10-to-1 Sunday in favor of a reduction of U.S. military bases on their islands, in a referendum aimed at pressuring Washington to pull out its troops.
With virtually all of the ballots counted late Sunday night, more than 90 percent of voters said there were too many U.S. troops on their southern islands, and that an agreement giving the troops special legal status should be changed.
``For half a century, our rights have been stepped on,'' Sotoya Gakiya said after casting his vote near Kadena Air Base, the Air Force's largest outpost in the Pacific. ``At least now we have had a chance to give our opinion.''
With 97 percent of the votes counted, 469,770 were for the reduction of the bases and 43,672 against. Okinawa, which has a population of 1.2 million people, has almost 910,000 voters.
Sunday's referendum was not legally binding, but it was being closely watched by officials in Tokyo and Washington as a gauge of public sentiment regarding an important security alliance.
The vote follows a year of increased tension between Okinawans and the nearly 30,000 U.S. troops stationed here. Such tension is endemic, but erupted into the worst anti-base demonstrations ever after three U.S. servicemen raped a 12-year-old girl on Sept. 4 last year.
Sunday's strongly anti-base vote, though widely expected, was a particularly important victory for Gov. Masahide Ota, a popular and outspoken opponent of the U.S. troops.
``This is a historic event,'' said Ota, who is expected to use the vote as a bargaining chip when he meets with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Tuesday.
Ota refused to comment on what specifically he intends to discuss in those talks, but vowed to continue his efforts to have all the bases removed by 2015.
Hashimoto has said resolving the conflict over the bases is his administration's top priority. But his calls for other parts of Japan to share the load have been met with angry protests at the places where the bases would be relocated.
The Okinawa islands have been a major U.S. military bastion since World War II, when Okinawa's main island was devastated in the final land battle of the war. Okinawa's bases were a major staging point during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
The governments of both the United States and Japan support keeping the troops on Okinawa, although in April they agreed to the biggest return of base land in decades in an attempt to quell the uproar over the rape.
But Okinawans continue to believe their burden is too heavy - more than half of the U.S. troops and roughly 75 percent of all the U.S. military land in Japan are on Okinawa, although Okinawa makes up less than 1 percent of Japan's area.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB