Photo/Illutration Protesters march on May 15, 1972, in Naha to oppose Okinawa's return to Japan without relocating U.S. bases while tearing a banner to celebrate the reversion on the day. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Newly released government documents show how Okinawa became home to so many U.S. military bases after its reversion to Japan in 1972 despite concerns from a local leader of the heavy U.S. presence.

The diplomatic records disclosed by the Foreign Ministry on Dec. 25 reveal the detailed discussions between Tokyo and Okinawa over the 1969 Japan-U.S. joint statement concerning the southern island’s return to Japanese sovereignty.

While Okinawa called for the relocation of U.S. bases in the documents, Tokyo simply tried to fend off the issue just as it currently is doing 50 years after the release of the joint declaration.

On Nov. 21, 1969, Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and U.S. President Richard Nixon agreed to the return of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty in 1972 without nuclear weaponry, and that military facilities there would be treated in the same manner as those in Japan's main island.

They also came to an agreement on the automatic extension of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

The agreement between Tokyo and Washington was announced in the joint statement, but whether U.S. bases in Okinawa would be moved out was not mentioned in the declaration.

Seven days later, on Nov. 28, 1969, Chobyo Yara, chief executive of the Okinawan government, expressed concerns during a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Kiichi Aichi.

“Given that the joint statement says the security treaty will be firmly retained and refers to bases in Okinawa as important, the large densely arranged military facilities on Okinawa may never be relocated,” said Yara. “Will Okinawa be home to fewer bases?”

In response, Aichi stated that “the possibility is highly likely.” But his remark appears to have been made simply based on optimism.

“Military officials give up things quickly, so they might have a change of heart sooner than we expect,” said Aichi. “Now that we both have crossed the Rubicon, we should cooperate with each other so Okinawa will be fully accepted as a Japanese prefecture.”

In reference to the response of Okinawans to the Japan-U.S. declaration, Sakae Kishi, head of the Japanese government’s Okinawa office, reported by telegraph that “the 1 million people on Okinawa calmly accepted the decision with autumn rain continuing.”

“In Okinawans’ minds are not only the joy of the liberation from U.S. rule but also concerns about the remaining U.S. military,” noted Kishi.

Kishi pointed out that financial support is essential so that the reversion would not be seen in the same way as Tokyo’s forced annexation of Okinawa to Japan in the prewar era, arguing that it would be “stupid to allow such criticism to be raised just trying to save a tiny amount of funds.”

In line with Kishi’s suggestion, Tokyo invested in Okinawa to develop roads, ports and other infrastructure facilities since the 1972 reversion with the objective of reducing the economic gap between the island prefecture and Japan’s mainland.

But according to Okinawa Prefecture and other sources, the southern island has been forced to host many U.S. bases. Although the Japanese mainland and Okinawa were home to 90 percent and 10 percent of bases, respectively, around 1952, the ratio was reversed and reached 3:7 in the mid-1970s.

As of March 2019, 70.3 percent of U.S. bases across Japan exist in Okinawa. That translates into 18,500 hectares of land, or three times the area of the round zone inside the huge Yamanote loop line in central Tokyo.

Masaaki Gabe, an international politics professor at the University of the Ryukyus, noted that the recently released records show Tokyo and Okinawa were “talking at cross-purposes.”

“The documents reveal the Japanese government showed consideration to dispel criticism, but it is doubtful whether Tokyo had a clear view on the relocation of bases as Okinawa demanded,” said Gabe. “Foreign Minister Aichi seemingly just utilized a makeshift excuse.”