In the middle of March, the Chunichi Shimbun published a survey of average people's opinions of the U.S.-Japan defense alliance. Seventy-eight percent of the respondents said they thought the alliance was either very important or mostly necessary. In addition, 59 percent felt the alliance was OK the way it is, while 38 percent said it should be reviewed, especially with regard to Okinawa, which hosts 75 percent of the U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan. Among this group there was a variety of responses to the problem of the Futenma air base, with about 60 percent saying it should be moved out of Okinawa. However, only about a fifth of these people thought it should be put somewhere else in Japan. In a different survey conducted by Livedoor News, 71 percent said they would strongly oppose any base being built in their prefectures.

These results point to a major problem facing Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which continues to dither about Futenma. Hatoyama's indecision may bring down his administration, maybe even the party itself, but his indecision mirrors the general population's lack of understanding of what it wants. The people seem reconciled to the prospect of being eternally under the military umbrella of the United States, but they'd prefer that someone else host all those American soldiers. And while they sympathize with the people of Okinawa for having a disproportionate burden in this regard, they don't know what to do about it.

It is difficult to say how much of this irresolute stance has been fostered by the media, but in an interview in the April 16 issue of Kinyobi, Okinawa Prefecture assemblyman Yonekichi Shinzato complained about the difference between local coverage and national coverage of the Futenma issue. Local reporters concentrate on the opinions of local residents, while the national media always frames the Okinawa base controversy in terms of the larger issue of national and regional security.