ABSTRACT
A US-Japan Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) produced a comprehensive plan to address the Okinawa residents' complaints. The centerpiece of this effort was the decision to close Futenma Marine Air Station, a large airfield located in the midst of Ginowan city in the south. Plans to move Japan's Self-Defense Force (SDF) to the southwest accelerated, and access to bases in Okinawa became necessary to cope with China's growing military interest in the waters and airspace around Japan. Japan's challenge in coping with strategic adjustment is perhaps most conspicuous in Okinawa. The protracted effort to transform US bases at home and in Europe in the aftermath of the Cold War offers important insights into Japan's effort to manage its own strategic adjustment. In 2001, the Bush administration inherited the task of closing Futenma, but ultimately incorporated Okinawa basing in a broader realignment initiative for the US-Japan alliance.
