Protests against the US military presence in Okinawa

Satsuma directed Ryukyu to increase trade with China in order to circumnavigate the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of enforced isolationism.

The U.S. has been continuously unwilling to remove troops from Okinawa because of its strategic location for surveillance and deployment for Pacific-Asian foreign affairs.

[6] Following this in 1956, the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR) recommended keeping U.S. forces in Okinawa, with no plans to leave in exchange for rental payments, and pursuit of acquiring more land for military use in a price report.

[7] In response to these actions, members of the Okinawan Parliament threatened to quit, and 16 political organizations combined to form the All-Okinawa Coalition for Land Protection.

They also made antiwar arguments, arguing that they did not want their island used as an instrument to prepare for war and result in the death of more people.

[9] The residential area surrounding the Kadena Air Base has been subject to dangerously loud noise exposure from aircraft.

[12] In September 1995, three U.S. servicemen from the Navy and Marines serving at Camp Hansen kidnapped, beat, and raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl.

[13] Making international news, the incident shifted the dialogue to that of the damage caused by imperialism and calls for protection for women.

[3] Following the rape incident, the U.S. was pushed to agree to close the Futenma Air Station and relocate it away from downtown Ginowan in response to large protests surrounding the issue.

[17] In December 2013, Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima gave the go ahead for construction on the Henoko Bay base; this was responded with citizen disapproval and outrage.

[18] On August 11, 2018, about 70,000 individuals gathered in Naha in opposition to the moving of the Futenma Air Station to the Henoko Bay, a less populated fishing village compared to Ginowan.

Some Okinawan voters claimed their voices were not heard in Tokyo as the central government still pushes for the move of the base to stay committed to the security alliance between the US and Japan.