Japan’s military buildup on the islands caught between China and the US
By the year’s end, Japan is due to unveil its new national security strategy — released once every four years.
It’s expected to chart the course for a major military overhaul and bring the tension between Japan’s pacifist identity and current strategic reality to a head.
Nowhere is that tension more acute than Okinawa — closer to Taiwan than Tokyo — where the scars of World War II run deep.
The islands are already home to 31 US military bases, which China has repeatedly signalled it could strike this year.
SBS International Correspondent Claudia Farhart travelled to Okinawa’s main island, where Japan’s anti-war movement is now struggling against a new military buildup.
00:00 – Japan’s move away from pacifism divides Okinawa, where the scars of World War II run deep
05:17 – China signals it could strike the US’s military bases in Okinawa, as regional tensions rise
11:32 – The murder of an Okinawan woman by a US marine threatens to undermine the Japan-US security alliance
16:22 – The movement pushing Okinawa to break away from Japan finds a friend in China
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