The recent redeployment of 105 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam represents a significant step towards reducing the American military footprint in Japan. This initiative, stemming from a 12-year-old agreement, aims to eventually see the removal of 9,000 Marines, a plan that has lagged for two decades. The original negotiations were ignited by a 1995 incident that sparked protests advocating for the reduction of U.S. bases on the island, built following the pivotal WWII battle in 1945. Delays in new base construction have further complicated this transition.
This marks the first time the Marines cut their head count on Okinawa as part of a deal between Washington and Tokyo to shrink an oversized American military presence.
Under the agreement, 9,000 Marines are eventually supposed to leave. But their departure is already two decades behind the original schedule.
The deal was the result of negotiations sparked in 1995 following a crime that triggered mass protests against the American presence on the island.
The first iteration of the deal, agreed in 1996, aimed to reduce the burden by building a new air base, but that has not occurred.
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