Editing Okinawa Prefecture (section)

===U.S. administration (1945–1972)===
On April 1, 1945, the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] launched an invasion of Okinawa with approximately 185,000 troops. They encountered determined and intense resistance from the Japanese defenders. During the subsequent fighting, approximately one-third of Okinawa's civilian population lost their lives. The dead, of all nationalities, are commemorated at the [[Cornerstone of Peace]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=平和の礎（いしじ） |url=https://heiwa-irei-okinawa.jp/facility/heiwanoishiji/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=沖縄県営平和祈念公園 |language=ja}}</ref>

After the end of World War II, the United States set up the United States [[United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands|Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands]], which later became the [[United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands]]. The United States established numerous military bases on the Ryukyu Islands during its 27-year-long "trusteeship rule".<ref>{{Citation |title=Battle of Okinawa |date=2025-04-11 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa |access-date=2025-04-12 |language=en}}</ref> 

====Continued U.S. military buildup====
During the [[Korean War]], [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortresses]] flew bombing missions over Korea from [[Kadena Air Base]] on Okinawa. The military buildup on the island during the [[Cold War]] increased a division between local inhabitants and the American military. Under the 1952 [[Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan]], [[United States Forces Japan]] (USFJ) have maintained a large military presence.
 
During the mid-1950s, the U.S. seized land from Okinawans to build new bases or expand currently existing ones. According to the Melvin Price Report, by 1955, the military had displaced 250,000 residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ryukyu-okinawa.net/pages/archive/price.html|title=The Melvin Price Report|last=Special Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, House of Representatives|date=1955|website=via Ryukyu-Okinawa History and Culture Website|access-date=May 23, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806025243/http://ryukyu-okinawa.net/pages/archive/price.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Secret U.S. deployment of nuclear weapons====
Since 1960, the U.S. and Japan have maintained an agreement that allows the U.S. to secretly bring nuclear weapons into Japanese ports.<ref name="NHK01">{{cite web |url= http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/japan/okinawa/okinawa.htm |title= Revelations in Newly Released Documents about U.S. Nuclear Weapons and Okinawa Fuel; NHK Documentary |date= May 14, 1997 |first= Robert A. |last= Wampler |website=George Washington University |access-date= February 11, 2018 |archive-date= January 16, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130116025521/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/japan/okinawa/okinawa.htm |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="NHK02">{{cite web |title= Memorandum, Ambassador Brown to Secretary Rogers, 4/29/69, Subject: NSC Meeting April 30 – Policy Toward Japan: Briefing Memorandum (Secret), with attached |website=George Washington University |page= 1 |url= https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//japan/okinawa/oki1_a.htm |date= April 30, 1969 |access-date= February 11, 2018 |archive-date= February 13, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180213021557/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//japan/okinawa/oki1_a.htm |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="NHK03">{{cite web |title= NSSM 5 – Japan, Table of Contents and Part III: Okinawa Reversion (Secret) |website=George Washington University |page= 22|url= https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//japan/okinawa/oki3_f.htm|year= 1969|access-date= February 11, 2018|archive-date= August 25, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170825014344/http://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/japan/okinawa/oki3_f.htm|url-status= live}}</ref> The Japanese people tended to oppose the introduction of nuclear arms into Japanese territory<ref name="NHK04">{{cite web |title= Memorandum of Conversation, Nixon/Sato, 11/19/69 (Top Secret/Sensitive) |website=George Washington University |page= 2|url= https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//japan/okinawa/oki5_b.htm|date= November 19, 1969|access-date= February 11, 2018|archive-date= August 25, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170825011212/http://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/japan/okinawa/oki5_b.htm|url-status= live}}</ref> and the Japanese government's assertion of [[Japan's non-nuclear weapons policy|Japan's non-nuclear policy]] and a statement of the [[Three Non-Nuclear Principles]] reflected this popular opposition. Most of the weapons were alleged to be stored in ammunition bunkers at Kadena Air Base.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apjjf.org/2013/11/1/Jon-Mitchell/3883/article.html|title="Herbicide Stockpile" at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa: 1971 U.S. Army report on Agent Orange {{!}} The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus|last=Journal|first=The Asia Pacific|website=apjjf.org|date=January 7, 2013 |access-date=November 15, 2018|archive-date=August 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200816141552/https://apjjf.org/2013/11/1/Jon-Mitchell/3883/article.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Between 1954 and 1972, 19 different types of nuclear weapons were deployed in Okinawa, but with fewer than around 1,000 warheads at any one time.<ref name="NHK05">{{cite journal|last1=Norris|first1=Robert S.|last2=Arkin|first2=William M.|author-link2=William Arkin|last3=Burr|first3=William|author-link3=William Burr|title=Where They Were|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|date=November 1999|volume=55|issue=6|pages=26–35|doi=10.2968/055006011|url=https://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb/meetings/where-they-were.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623080403/http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb/meetings/where-they-were.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=June 23, 2013}}</ref> In fall 1960, U.S. commandos in [[Green Light Teams]] secret training missions carried small nuclear weapons on the east coast of Okinawa Island.<ref>Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins", (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019), p. 102</ref>

==== Vietnam War ====
[[File:Map of US Military Bases in Okinawa in 1969.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of U.S. military bases on [[Okinawa Island]] in 1969]]

Between 1965 and 1972, Okinawa was a key staging point for United States in its military operations directed towards North Vietnam. Along with Guam, it presented a geographically strategic launch pad for covert bombing missions over Cambodia and Laos.<ref>John Morrocco. Rain of Fire. (United States: Boston Publishing Company), pg 14</ref> Anti-[[Vietnam War]] sentiment became linked politically to the movement for reversion of Okinawa to Japan. In 1965, the U.S. military bases, earlier viewed as paternal post war protection, were increasingly seen as aggressive. The Vietnam War highlighted the differences between United States and Okinawa but showed a commonality between the islands and mainland Japan.<ref name="NYT65">{{cite news|first=Robert|last=Trumbull|newspaper=The New York Times|title=OKINAWA B-52'S ANGER JAPANESE: Bombing of Vietnam From Island Stirs Public Outcry.|date=August 1, 1965|url=http://0-www.proquest.com.mercury.concordia.ca/|access-date=September 27, 2009|archive-date=December 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209143838/http://0-www.proquest.com.mercury.concordia.ca/|url-status=live}}</ref>

As controversy grew regarding the alleged placement of nuclear weapons on Okinawa, fears intensified over the escalation of the Vietnam War. Okinawa was perceived by some inside Japan as a potential target for China, should the communist government feel threatened by United States.<ref>Mori, Kyozo, Two Ends of a Telescope Japanese and American Views of Okinawa, Japan Quarterly, 15:1 (1968:Jan./Mar.) p.17</ref> American military secrecy blocked any local reporting on what was actually occurring at bases such as Kadena Air Base. As information leaked out, and images of air strikes were published, the local population began to fear the potential for retaliation.<ref name="NYT65" />

Political leaders such as [[Makoto Oda]], a major figure in the [[Beheiren]] movement (Foundation of Citizens for Peace in Vietnam), believed that the return of Okinawa to Japan would lead to the removal of U.S. forces, ending Japan's involvement in Vietnam.<ref name="Havens, T. R. H. 1987 Pg 120">Havens, T. R. H. (1987) Fire Across the Sea: The Vietnam War and Japan, 1965–1975. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Pg 120</ref> In a speech delivered in 1967, Oda was critical of Prime Minister [[Eisaku Satō]]'s unilateral support of America's war in Vietnam, claiming "Realistically we are all guilty of complicity in the Vietnam War".<ref name="Havens, T. R. H. 1987 Pg 120" /> The Beheiren became a more visible anti-war movement on Okinawa as the American involvement in Vietnam intensified. The movement employed tactics ranging from demonstrations to handing leaflets to soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines directly, warning of the implications for a third World War.<ref>Havens, T. R. H. (1987) Fire Across the Sea: The Vietnam War and Japan, 1965–1975. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Pg 123</ref>

The U.S. military bases on Okinawa became a focal point for [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-Vietnam War]] sentiment. By 1969, over 50,000 American military personnel were stationed on Okinawa.<ref>Christopher T. Sanders (2000) America's Overseas Garrisons the Leasehold Empire Oxford University Press PG 164</ref> [[United States Department of Defense]] began referring to Okinawa as the "Keystone of the Pacific". This slogan was imprinted on local U.S. military license plates.<ref>Havens, T. R. H. (1987) Fire Across the Sea: The Vietnam War and Japan, 1965–1975. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press Pg 88</ref>

In 1969, chemicals leaked from the U.S. storage depot at Chibana in central Okinawa, under [[Operation Red Hat]]. Evacuations of residents took place over a wide area for two months. Even two years later, government investigators found that Okinawans and the environment near the leak were still suffering because of the depot.<ref name="APJ2014">{{cite journal|first=Steve|last=Rabson|url=http://www.japanfocus.org/-Steve-Rabson/3884|title=Okinawa's Henoko was a 'Storage Location' for Nuclear Weapons: Published Accounts|journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus|volume=11|issue=1(6)|access-date=January 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213003429/http://japanfocus.org//-Steve-Rabson/3884|archive-date=February 13, 2013}}</ref>

On May 15, 1972, the U.S. government returned the islands to Japan following the signing of the [[1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChGQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA449 |title=Reversion to Japan of the Ryukyu and Daito Islands, official text |access-date=August 5, 2014 |year=1973 |last1=States |first1=United |archive-date=January 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101093357/https://books.google.com/books?id=ChGQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA449 |url-status=live }}</ref>