TOKYO, March 29 -- The Japanese government on Friday signed documents requiring landowners on the southern island of Okinawa to extend land leases to the U.S. military, said a spokesman for the prime minister. A Japanese Defense Agency official put into effect the orders approved Thursday by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Those orders overrode, at least temporarily, the objections of Okinawa's rebellious governor, who has stubbornly refused to approve the leases. 'Although I can understand the way people in Okinawa think, it is hard to change all at once a situation that has developed over 50 years, ' said Hashimoto after signing documents empowering the Defense Agency to approve the lease extensions. Shortly after the authorization, Okinawa Governor Masahide Ota said in a statement that while he understood Hashimoto's decision, he hoped the prime minister will sincerely deal with the base issues. Ota said the Okinawa Prefectural government will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, Ota refused to approve the contracts, deepening further the divide between him and the central government only hours after Hashimoto announced he would preempt Ota and sign the papers himself. Hashimoto's action came three days after the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court dealt Ota a legal setback, ordering him to extend the leases on the southern Japanese island, where anti-U.S. feeling is running high. Ota has insisted throughout his anti-bases campaign that his actions reflect the will of the Okinawan people, who he says are fed up with the concentration of U.S. military personnel on their small Pacific island, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) south of Tokyo.
Okinawa is the location for 75 percent of all U.S. bases in Japan and also acts as a home-away-from-home to some 28,000 U.S. forward- deployment troops, mainly Marines. Anti-U.S. feeling on Okinawa and throughout Japan became increasingly strident after three U.S. servicemen were convicted of raping a schoolgirl. The three were sentenced in March to jail terms ranging from 7 to ten years. The Tokyo government has argued that Ota's refusal to approve the lease extensions has hindered the country's ability to fulfill its obligations under the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, under which some 44,000 U.S. troops are allowed to be based in Japan. Unless Ota's Supreme Court appeal is successful, 3,002 landowners will be required to renew leases on land totaling 35,000 square meters (3,150 square feet).
