On Sept. 9, rally organizers say over 100,000 people took part in a protest in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, to oppose the plan to deploy 24 MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is in Ginowan.
The participants adopted a resolution calling for withdrawal of the Osprey deployment plan and removal of the Futenma air base. On the same day, some 10,000 people surrounded the Diet Building to protest against the plan to station the aircraft at Futenma, according to the organizers.
It is clear that Okinawan residents have strong apprehension about the safety of the tilt-rotor aircraft, which are to replace CH-46 helicopters now deployed at the Futenma facility. They also feel that the Osprey deployment will further increase the host burden on Okinawa, where 74 percent of the U.S. military bases in Japan are concentrated in terms of area.