Is Japan pulling out of the American orbit?

[FreeFocus]

A few months ago in the Japanese national elections, the ruling party (LDP, Liberal Democratic Party) was defeated by the center-left opposition, the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan). This was significant because the LDP had ruled basically since the reconstruction of Japan after WWII. Moreover, it signified somewhat of a leftward shift in Japanese political consciousness when you consider it along with the Japanese Communist Party's successes and soaring interest in Marx and his writings. DPJ leaders have openly questioned America's imperialist relationship with Japan (of course, not in these terms though), pointing out the presence of thousands of American troops stationed in Japan over 60 years after the end of WWII. Japanese people have felt the effects of this, as there are numerous examples of soldiers stationed on bases raping teenage girls or killing residents. Just last week, DPJ leaders came out and said that the Japanese government is reevaluating Japan's role in Afghanistan.

Perhaps this is all a ploy by the government to get more attention from America, but it might be signaling a significant geopolitical shift.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thousands-protest-at-japanese-us-air-base-1817276.html

The article says that 21,000 protesters came out against the presence of the Okinawa military base. (Okinawa has also been more or less shitted on since the Meiji era when it was incorporated into Japan) Obama is going over to Japan this week to shore up the relationship again. If Japan drifts out of the American orbit, that has significant geopolitical consequences - the US would lose a major foothold in Asia and the Pacific, thereby losing an important check on China and NK. The specter of a grassroots movement to push the US occupation out of Japan is intriguing and should be of great interest to leftists.

[pierrotlefou]

It's good that there is a popular interest in marxism. It's a good start if nothing else. The change in government shows that, at least in a more leftist sense, that things need to change. The new govt is definitely not left, especially in relation to anyone here, but it's at least a slightly positive change from a more conservative government.

[x359594]

...there are numerous examples of soldiers stationed on bases raping teenage girls or killing residents...The specter of a grassroots movement to push the US occupation out of Japan is intriguing and should be of great interest to leftists.

There's been a grass roots movement to oust the US bases for at least 60 years, since the Girard incident of the mid 1950s. Okinawans are already highly mobilized against the bases there because of the traffic accidents that occur in the vicinity, the near-crashes of aircraft, the noise pollution (the US air base in Ginowan is located right in the center of the city.) And of course the rapes and molestations, said to occur on average of one a day. See the anthology Okinawa: Cold War Island edited by Chalmers Johnson for the full sordid history.

According to the hypothesis of a retired CIA analyst who specialized in East Asian matters, the US bases in Okinawa are the place most likely for the US empire to suffer its own version of the Berlin Wall.

One scenario takes as its premise another outrage like the 1995 gang rape of a 12 year old girl by three US Marines which produced a demonstration of over 80,000 people, but this time they over run the base and trash the place; the US President orders troops not to fire and remain in their barracks. This is followed by attacks on all the other bases in Okinawa (75% of US bases in Japan are in Okinawa.) Then the dominoes start falling for real, and soon the 8th Army is forced to leave the ROK followed by American bases around the world. Thus ends the US empire; what happens at home remains to be seen.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

The incidents in Okinawa notwithstanding, the US military is not going to leave Japan anytime soon. Unless Japan has a revolution, I really just don't see it happening when the DPRK is testing missiles over Japan.

Within 5 years there will likely be another fleet stationed there along with the USS George Washington's carrier group, whose home port is Yokosuko (my own spelling).