America has been waiting for this for months, says the Economist:
“Japan’s leader, does not exude political gravitas. So it was dispiritingly in-character that when he made an announcement on May 4th that could make or break his premiership, he did so on a national holiday, speaking unpersuasively to the very people most likely to disapprove of what he said.
The bombshell he dropped on his first visit as prime minister to the island of Okinawa was that he was backtracking on what has become the most sensitive promise of last year’s election campaign—to move an American marine base off the island and possibly out of Japan altogether.
His explanation, as far as it went, made sense, though it took a painfully long time to reach. After long deliberation, the prime minister said, he had concluded that the security of a region with a nuclear-armed, reckless North Korea depends, in part, on having some American marines in Okinawa. But instead of seizing the opportunity to explain to Okinawans how American troops help keep the peace, he referred to the soldiers dismissively as a “burden” that had to be shared by Okinawans.”
[SNIP]
American occupation has been quite the burden to bear, especially for one 12-year-old 6th-grade Japanese girl, beaten and raped in 1995 by American GIs. Thirteen years hence two more women that we know of paid a similar price.
