Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tokyo on Sunday, forming a human chain outside the parliament constructing to oppose the deliberate relocation of a US airbase on the island of Okinawa.
The rally was the newest in a collection of protests which were occurring throughout the nation. According to Sunday’s march organizers, cited by AFP, 15,000 individuals surrounded the National Diet Building in Tokyo.
Holding “Government should listen to the people” and “I hate bases” banners, protesters have been demanding that officers cease the controversial relocation of the US military’s Futenma base to Henoko, on Okinawa.
The relocation of the airbase on the southern island of Okinawa has been met with fierce opposition from the locals, as airbase hosts an estimated 26,000 US troops.
Last week, a march outside a US base on Okinawa Island resulted in scuffles between police and demonstrators.
The Okinawa US air base has been a difficulty for nearly 20 years, because it was first proposed in 1996. There has at all times been robust opposition from the island’s residents, who say they need to not have to hold the burden of internet hosting greater than half of the 47,000 US troops based mostly in Japan.