In a referendum March 12, a majority of residents in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, voted no on a government plan to host additional 57 carrier-based warplanes at the U.S. Marine Corps air station there. Under a plan for the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, the planes are to be transferred from the U.S. naval air station at Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Tokyo and Washington had agreed to the plan last October, and the "no" vote shocked the Japanese government.
Separately, the proposed removal of the Marine Corps air station at Futenma, Okinawa -- the focal issue in the realignment plan -- has run into fierce opposition from local residents. Should the "no" vote in Iwakuni cause a domino effect of resistance to the U.S. military presence, it will become impossible for the government to finalize the realignment plan by the end of this month in the way that it hopes.
If the plan is implemented without agreement with local authorities, the Japan-U.S. defense alliance will face serious trouble. The government bears heavy responsibility for the quandary: It failed to explain to the public the need for sharing the burden of hosting the U.S. military.