THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280368
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TOKYO LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Okinawa's governor vowed Wednesday to take his battle against U.S. military bases all the way to Japan's Supreme Court by defying a ruling that he must renew leases for the bases.
But Gov. Masahide Ota's action was mainly symbolic. Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto has the right to override him and sign the leases, and was expected to do so today.
Anti-American emotions have run high on Okinawa - where U.S. bases take up one-fifth of the island - since a 12-year-old girl was raped in September. Three U.S. servicemen were convicted of the rape this month.
``Considering the feelings of the Okinawans, it is very difficult for me to sign,'' Ota said Wednesday.
The bases issue also came up in talks Wednesday between U.S. Ambassador Walter Mondale and Japan's chief government spokesman, Seiroku Kajiyama.
During the meeting to discuss President Clinton's April 16-18 visit to Japan, Kajiyama asked the United States to show ``understanding and sympathy'' to Okinawa's desire for a decreased military presence, local news reports said.
Of the 47,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan, 30,000 are on Okinawa. Ota contends the bases are hurting the local economy and have kept Okinawa Japan's poorest region.
While promising to maintain U.S. troops in Japan, the Japanese government has said it is considering moving some of the bases to other parts of the country. It has not said how this would be accomplished or where the troops would go.
On Monday, Ota was ordered by the Fukuoka High Court in Naha, Okinawa's prefectural capital, to sign the lease papers for the U.S. military bases by today.
Of the 32,000 landowners with plots used by the U.S. military on Okinawa, 2,937 have refused to renew their leases, affecting about 10 percent of the total land used by the American bases in Okinawa.
Also Wednesday, military police on Okinawa began investigating the rear-ending of Ota's car, allegedly by a Marine Corps vehicle at Naha Airport. No one was injured, but the bumper was damaged.
A Marine Corps statement said the prefectural government did not notify the U.S. military of the March 21 accident until it appeared in local newspapers Tuesday. ILLUSTRATION: Masahide Ota's action may prove symbolic.
by CNB