Late last year, the government steamrolled through the construction of helipads for the U.S. military in the northern main island of Okinawa amid a local outcry over what is viewed as a further increase in the burden of hosting U.S. bases in the prefecture.
The move left a group of residents in a small hamlet in the Takae district reeling after spending the past 10 years staging sit-ins to halt the work.
They have also warned of the broader implications such an approach may have for the rest of Japan.