Drive the US military out of Okinawa!
RCI Japan 24 October 2026
On October 4, 2026, U.S. Army Private Devin Jacob Ballard allegedly murdered Anna Yagi, a woman from Okinawa Prefecture. However, the U.S. military has yet to apologize to the victim's family or the people of Okinawa. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Takaichi has only expressed "regret" over this brutal murder and has only said that she "protests" against it.
This can't possibly be enough!
For over 80 years, the U.S. military has imposed violence and oppression on the Japanese people, especially those in Okinawa. Immediately after World War II, the Japanese government established the "Special Comfort Facilities Association," mobilizing as many as 55,000 women into the sex industry for American soldiers. In 1955, U.S. Sergeant Isaac J. Hart raped and murdered a five-year-old girl in Okinawa. Forty years later, in 1995, a 12-year-old girl was gang-raped by three American soldiers.
These incidents represent only a small part of the fear and anger that people living near the bases have endured for many years. Approximately 70% of U.S. military facilities in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa, and 82% of Okinawan residents fear becoming victims of crimes or accidents related to the bases.
Why do the people of Okinawa have to suffer like this?
The people of Okinawa have the right to live in peace, without fear of violence and harassment by U.S. soldiers. They have the right to raise their voices in anger against the presence of the bases and to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The people of Okinawa have continued to raise their voices for decades.
So why does the Japanese government refuse to listen to those voices?
The reason is obvious.
Japanese capitalism is aligning itself with US imperialism to counter rising Chinese imperialism and protect its interests in the Pacific region. The rapid military buildup promoted by the Takaichi administration is part of this strategy. Far from reducing military bases, the construction of Self-Defense Forces bases is progressing even further in the Southwest Islands.
For them, the safety and livelihoods of the people of Okinawa are secondary concerns.
Women and girls are subjected to violence, and even their lives are taken, justified as sacrifices to protect interests in trade routes, markets, and raw materials.
I can't stay silent any longer!
As revolutionary communists, we declare in firm conviction:
That's enough!
If imperialism and capitalism can only survive by trampling on people, stripping them of their dignity, and treating them as disposable in order to protect their own interests, then it is not people's lives that should be eliminated. It is capitalism itself!
The Japanese working class does not desire to dominate workers and the poor in China, South Korea, or anywhere else in Asia and the world. What we seek is not conflict with people from other countries, but solidarity that transcends national borders.
What is needed is not further military buildup. The land occupied by military bases and the vast sums of money poured into armaments should be used to enrich people's lives through education, healthcare, welfare, culture, and other means.
Earlier this year, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Japan, raising their voices against militarism. The anger and desires of the people of Okinawa are not unique to Okinawa; they are shared by workers and young people throughout Japan.
Workers and young people will rise up in every prefecture, every workplace, every university, and every community. By building a nationwide mass movement, we can create the power to oppose this government that prioritizes the interests of capital over the lives of workers.
In 1960, the Anpo protests developed into a nationwide mass movement, cornering the Kishi administration. And now, we need a new Anpo protest.
However, what is needed is not a movement that merely demands the removal of U.S. military bases. It is a movement that will fight to the end, driving out American imperialism from Japan and overthrowing Japanese capitalism.
That is why we are building the "Revolutionary Communist International Japan Branch." Our goal is for the Japanese working class to lead the revolution to victory through their own efforts and establish a socialist Japan as a member of the East Asian Socialist Federation.
The liberation of Okinawa is inseparable from the liberation of the Japanese working class. The liberation of Japan is inseparable from the liberation of the working class in East Asia and the world!
Fight alongside us!
We scream!
* Yankees, go home! US military, get out of Japan!
* We don't need military bases in Okinawa! Instead of military expansion, allocate funds to welfare!
* Overthrow the Takaichi administration! Drive out the merchants of death who profit from war!
* A Japan for the workers, not for the capitalists!
https://communist.jp/kick-us-bases-out-of-okinawa-statement/
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