NAHA, Okinawa — Japanese police, whose only new equipment for the event are 23,200 pairs of sunglasses, have effectively caused anti-U.S. bases demonstrations at the Okinawa G8 Summit to flop badly.
On second thought, the police should not get all the credit, or blame.
"Sure, having American bases occupy one-fifth of the prefecture's land nearly 50 years after the war is an affront to Japanese sovereignty," says Tetsuo "Babe" Sasaki, who makes a living selling used cars on the fringe of downtown Naha. "The 26,000 American military men and their dependents are usually good neighbors but, hey, this is supposed to be Japan, not outside the gate at Camp Pendleton in California."