1.
Okinawa, Okinawa
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Okinawa is the second-largest city in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, following Naha, the capital city. It is located in the part of the island of Okinawa. As of December 2012, the city has an population of 138,431. The total area is 49.00 km², under the Ryukyu Kingdom the present-day area of Okinawa City was occupied by two magiri, a type of administrative district. The Goeku magiri occupied the south of the city, and the north of the city was part of the Misato magiri, in 1908, Okinawa Prefecture ended the magiri system and established the villages of Goeku and Misato. Both villages were agricultural and lacked urbanized areas prior to World War II, after the Battle of Okinawa the United States established the first refugee camp in Okinawa in the area south of present-day Kadena Air Base. The population of the former villages swelled rapidly, an area of Goeku, called Goya, was mispronounced by Americans as Koza. During the occupation of Okinawa, the U. S. military government established the city of Koza in Goeku, Koza was the first city to use the katakana syllabary for its name. Misato merged into a community, and in 1946, again became separate. Both municipalities, which were largely agricultural, became heavily urbanized as a result of the construction of refugee camps. The area became a base city catering to United States military personnel, on June 13,1956, Goeku changed its name to the village of Koza, on July 1 of the same year it became a city. The city of Okinawa was the site of the Koza riot on the night of December 20,1970, roughly 5,000 Okinawans came into violent contact with roughly 700 American MPs. Approximately 60 Americans were injured and 75 cars were burned, additionally, several buildings on Kadena Air Base were destroyed or heavily damaged. The Koza riot was considered a symbol of Okinawan anger after 25 years of US military occupation, the riot was unexpected, and strained the ongoing negotiations on the end of the United States administration of Okinawa. The city of Okinawa was founded on April 1,1974 with the merger of Koza, the commercial center of the city lies along Route 330. It extends from Goya Crossing to Koza Crossing, the district extending from Goya to the gate of Kadena Air Base, and Chūō Park Avenue, has many visitors from the U. S. military, and many shops have signs in both Japanese and English. However, the development of shopping centers in nearby communities has resulted in some decline in these areas. Neighboring municipalities consist of, Uruma Kadena Chatan Onna Kitanakagusuku Yomitan, in June 2013 more than 20 barrels were found on an Okinawa city civilian soccer field built on former U. S. military land
2.
United States Forces Japan
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The United States Forces Japan is an active subordinate unified command of the United States Pacific Command. It was activated at Fuchū Air Station, Tokyo, Japan on 1 July 1957 to replace the Far East Command, USFJ is commanded by the Commander, U. S. Forces, Japan. COMUSJAPAN is also the Commander, Fifth Air Force, at present, USFJ is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan. COMUSJAPAN, plans, directs and supervises the execution of missions and he establishes and implements policies to accomplish the mission of the United States Armed Forces in Japan. As USCINCPACs resident representative, COMUSJAPAN supports the Security Treaty and administers the Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Japan and he is responsible for coordinating various matters of interest with the service commanders in Japan. These include matters affecting US-Japan relationships among and between Department of Defense agencies, DOD agencies and the U. S. Ambassador to Japan, and DOD agencies and the Government of Japan. After the Japanese surrender in the end of World War II in Asia, the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy were decommissioned, and the U. S. Armed Forces took control of their military bases until the new government could be formed and positioned to reestablish authority, Allied forces planned to demilitarize Japan, and new government adopted the Constitution of Japan with a no-armed-force clause in 1947. In 1951 the Treaty of San Francisco was signed by the countries and Japan. At the same time, the U. S. and Japan signed the Japan-America Security Alliance, by this treaty, USFJ is responsible for the defense of Japan. At the expiration of the treaty, the United States and Japan signed the new Treaty of Mutual Cooperation, the status of the United States Forces Japan was defined in the U. S. –Japan Status of Forces Agreement. This treaty is still in effect, and it forms the basis of Japans foreign policy, in the Vietnam War, the US military bases in Japan, especially those in Okinawa Prefecture, were used as important strategic and logistic bases. In 1970, Koza riot occurred against the US military presence in Okinawa, the USAF strategic bombers were deployed in the bases in Okinawa, which was still administered by the U. S. government. The United States Seventh Fleet is based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force is based in Okinawa. 130 USAF fighters are stationed in the Misawa Air Base and Kadena Air Base, the Japanese government paid ¥217 billion in 2007 as annual host-nation support called Omoiyari Yosan. As of the 2011 budget, such payment was no longer to be referred to as Omoiyari Yosan or sympathy budget, the U. S. government employs over 8,000 Master Labor Contract /Indirect Hire Agreement workers on Okinawa not including Okinawan contract workers. Immediately after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami,9,720 dependents of United States military and government civilian employees in Japan evacuated the country, mainly to the United States. The relocation of the U. S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko had been resolved in December 2013 with the signing of the agreement by the governor of Okinawa
3.
Military police
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Military police are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In the Second World War, the police of the German Army still used a metal gorget as an emblem. Naval police members are sometimes called masters-at-arms and shore patrol, Military police in Brazil has two meanings. There are provost corps for each of the Brazilian Armed Forces, Army Police for the Army, Navy Police for the Navy, the second type are the civilian preventative police, with military organization comparable to gendarmerie, called the Military Police. Each State has their own Military Police, there is also a joint National Public Security Force, created in 1999. This force is composed of the most qualified State Military Police personnel from all the states and they have the power to arrest anyone who is subject to the Code of Service Discipline, regardless of position or rank under the National Defence Act. If in fact a crime is committed on or in relation to DND property or assets, MP have the power to arrest and charge the offender, military or civilian, under the Criminal Code. It is important to note though that the purpose of the CFMP is not to replace the job of a police officer. MP also have the power to enforce the Provincial Highway Traffic Acts on all military bases in Canada pursuant to the Government Property Traffic Regulations, in Colombia, MPs are very common. They can be seen guarding closed roads, museums, embassies, government buildings, in the National Army of Colombia they are assigned to the 37 Military Police Battalions, wearing green uniforms with the military police helmet. A Naval Police battalion is in service in the Colombian Marine Corps, Each branch of the military of the United States maintains its own police force. The U. S. CGIS primarily investigates and charges those in its own population with serious crimes, such as rape, assault or forgery, Navy, designated as Naval Security Force, primarily responsible for law enforcement and force protection. NSF personnel are led by Naval commissioned officers from the Limited Duty Officer and Chief Warrant Officer communities, additionally, a host installations Security Force are augmented by Sailors on Temporary Assignment of Duty from their parent units, as part of the Auxiliary Security Force. Prior to the 1970s, Master-at-Arms and Shore Patrol were used synonymously to refer to Sailors assigned to law enforcement. Air Force Security Forces —United States Air Force Each service also maintains uniformed civilian police departments and they are referred to as Department of Defense Police. These police fall under each directorate they work for within the United States Department of Defense, for example, the Department of the Air Force Police operate under the Air Provost Marshal. The police officers duties are similar to those of civilian police officers. They enforce the Uniform Code of Military Justice, federal and state laws, the United States Constabulary was a gendarmerie force used to secure and patrol the American Zone of West Germany immediately after World War II
4.
Kadena Air Base
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Kadena Air Base, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is home to the USAFs 18th Wing, the 353d Special Operations Group, reconnaissance units, 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery, over 20,000 American servicemembers, family members, and Japanese employees live or work aboard Kadena Air Base. The airfield, used by Imperial Japanese warplanes, was one of the first targets of the Tenth United States Army 7th Infantry Division, the United States seized it from the Japanese. What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway, Army engineers from the 13th Combat Engineer Battalion, 7th U. S. Infantry Division quickly made repairs and, by nightfall the same day, upon reassignment, its headquarters element absorbed the command staff of the inactivated XX Bomber Command. Kadena was used by the staff for administrative flying requirements. In the planned invasion of Japan, the mission of Eighth Air Force would be to conduct strategic bombing raids from Okinawa, however, the atomic bombings of Japan led to the Japanese surrender before Eighth Air Force saw action in the Pacific theater. The surrender of Japanese forces in the Ryukyu Islands came on 7 September, General Joseph Stilwell accepted the surrender in an area that would later become Kadenas Stearley Heights housing area. 317th Troop Carrier Group Assigned to Seventh Air Force in the Philippines, Deployed aircraft to Kadena and flew courier and passenger routes to Japan, Guam, Korea, and the Philippines, and transported freight and personnel in the area. 333d Bombardment Group Assigned to Eighth Air Force for planned invasion of Japan, Operations terminated before the group could enter combat. For a time after the war the group ferried Allied prisoners of war from Japan to the Philippine Islands, 346th Bombardment Group Assigned to Eighth Air Force for planned invasion of Japan. Operations terminated before the group could enter combat, after the war the group participated in several show-of-force missions over Japan and for a time ferried Allied prisoners of war from Okinawa to the Philippine Islands. 316th Bombardment Wing Assigned to Eighth Air Force for planned invasion of Japan, Operations terminated before the group could enter combat. Far East Air Forces January 1946, redesignated as 316th Composite Wing in January 1946, and 316th Bombardment Wing in May 1946. 413th Fighter Group Assigned to Eighth Air Force and served as a part of the air defense, on 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida. It was replaced by the 1st Air Division which directed fighter reconnaissance, twentieth Air Force became the command and control organization for Kadena on 16 May 1949. The Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a presence in Okinawa. On 15 February 1951, the US Naval Facility, Naha, was activated, Commander Fleet Activities, Ryukyus was commissioned on 8 March 1957
5.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
6.
Occupation of Japan
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The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan and this foreign presence marked the only time in Japans history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. It transformed the country into a democracy that recalled New Deal priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt. Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 14,1945, when the Japanese government notified the Allies that it had accepted the Potsdam Declaration. At Yalta, Stalin made sure Roosevelt was clear on the promise he had made that urged assistance from the USSR on intervening in the war in Japan with the U. S, (On the following day, Emperor Hirohito announced Japans unconditional surrender on the radio. The announcement was the emperors first ever planned radio broadcast and the first time most citizens of Japan ever heard their sovereigns voice. This date is known as Victory over Japan, or V-J Day, and marked the end of World War II, Japanese officials left for Manila, Philippines on August 19 to meet MacArthur and to be briefed on his plans for the occupation. On August 28,1945,150 US personnel flew to Atsugi and they were followed by USS Missouri, whose accompanying vessels landed the 4th Marine Division on the southern coast of Kanagawa. MacArthur arrived in Tokyo on August 30, and immediately decreed several laws, No Allied personnel were to assault Japanese people. No Allied personnel were to eat the scarce Japanese food, flying the Hinomaru or Rising Sun flag was initially severely restricted. This restriction was lifted in 1948 and completely lifted the following year. On September 2,1945, Japan formally surrendered with the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, on September 6, US President Truman approved a document titled US Initial Post-Surrender Policy for Japan. The document set two main objectives for the occupation, eliminating Japans war potential and turning Japan into a nation with pro-United Nations orientation. At the head of the Occupation administration was General MacArthur, who was supposed to defer to an advisory council set up by the Allied powers. Looking back to his work in Japan, MacArthur described the Japanese reactions as acting similar to a boy of twelve and were at odds of putting away their troubled past. On V-J Day, US President Harry Truman appointed General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, during the war, the Allied Powers had planned to divide Japan amongst themselves for the purposes of occupation, as was done for the occupation of Germany. The Soviet Union had some intentions of occupying Hokkaidō, had this occurred, there might have eventually been a communist state in the Soviet zone of occupation. However, unlike the Soviet occupations of East Germany and North Korea, even with these measures, millions of people were still on the brink of starvation for several years after the surrender
7.
Okinawa Prefecture
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The larger are mostly high islands and the smaller ones are mostly coral islands. The largest of the islands is Okinawa, the climate of the islands ranges from humid subtropical climate in the north to tropical rainforest climate in the south. Precipitation is very high, and is affected by the rainy season, the islands beyond the Tokara Strait are characterized by their coral reefs. The Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands have a native population collectively called the Ryukyuan people, the varied Ryukyuan languages are traditionally spoken on these islands, and the major islands have their own distinct languages. In modern times, the Japanese language is the language of the islands. The northern islands are called the Satsunan Islands, while the southern part of the chain are called the Ryukyu Islands in Japanese. Following are the grouping and names used by the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard, the islands are listed from north to south where possible. Nansei Islands Satsunan Islands Ōsumi Islands with, Tanegashima, Yaku, Kuchinoerabu, Mageshima in the North-Eastern Group and they agreed on February 15,2010, to use Amami-guntō for the Amami Islands, prior to that, Amami-shotō had also been used. The English and Japanese uses of the term Ryukyu differ, in English, the term Ryukyu may apply to the entire chain of islands, while in Japanese Ryukyu usually refers only to the islands that were previously part of the Ryūkyū Kingdom after 1624. Nansei-shotō is the name for the whole island chain in Japanese. Japan has used the name on nautical charts since 1907, based on the Japanese charts, the international chart series uses Nansei Shoto. Nansei literally means southwest, the direction of the chain from mainland Japan. Some humanities scholars prefer the uncommon term Ryūkyū-ko for the island chain. In geology, however, the Ryukyu Arc includes subsurface structures such as the Okinawa Trough, the name of Ryūkyū is strongly associated with the Ryūkyū Kingdom, a kingdom that originated from the Okinawa Islands and subjected the Sakishima and Amami Islands. The name is considered outdated in Japanese although some entities of Okinawa still bear the name. In Japanese, the Ryukyu Islands cover only the Okinawa, Miyako, the northern half of the island chain is referred to as the Satsunan Islands in Japanese, as opposed to Northern Ryukyu Islands in English. Humanities scholars generally agree that the Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, there is, however, no good name for the group. The native population do not have their own name, since they do not recognize themselves as a group this size, Ryukyu is the principal candidate because it roughly corresponds to the maximum extent of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
8.
Prefectures of Japan
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The Prefectures of Japan consist of 47 prefectures. They form the first level of jurisdiction and administrative division of Japan and they consist of 43 prefectures proper, two urban prefectures, one circuit or territory and one metropolis. The Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures to replace the provinces of Japan in 1868, each prefectures chief executive is a directly-elected governor. Ordinances and budgets are enacted by an assembly whose members are elected for four-year terms. Under the current Local Autonomy Law, each prefecture is subdivided into cities and districts and each district into towns, for example, Hokkaido has 14 subprefectures that act as branch offices of the prefecture. Some other prefectures also have offices that carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a merged city-prefecture, the Wests use of prefecture to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th-century Portuguese explorers and traders use of prefeitura to describe the fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to municipality than province and those fiefs were headed by a local warlord or family. Though the fiefs have long since been dismantled, merged, and reorganized multiple times, and been granted legislative governance and oversight, the Meiji government established the current system in July 1871 with the abolition of the Han system and establishment of the prefecture system. Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former Han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the part of 1871. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more power to prefectures. In 2003, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states, the plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of administrative regions and cut administrative costs. As of August 2012, no reorganization has been scheduled, the central government delegates many functions to the prefectures and municipalities, but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of government expenditure, the central government controls local budgets, tax rates. Historically, during the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō-ruled zones around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township-ruled zones elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the system in 1868, the nine bugyō-ruled zones became fu, while the township-ruled zones. Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, during World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture
9.
Itoman, Okinawa
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Itoman is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The city sits at the tip of Okinawa Island. As of April 2013, the city has an population of 59,605. The total area is 46.63 km², Itoman sits on a flat tableland with craggy rolling hills of Ryukyuan limestone which range between Cape Kyan to the south and Yozadake to the north. The south of the town is known for its sea cliffs around Cape Kyan. Itoman has a history as a fishing port. In the pre-modern period its fisherman ventured as far as the Indian Ocean, records indicate that the fisherman made contact with Australia and New Guinea. By 1908 the village of Itoman numbered 8,000 residents, men of Itoman worked on fishing boats, and women worked at the transport and sale of fish in the prefectural capitol of Naha. In 1918 Naha and Itoman were connected by a horse-drawn tram, the Okinawa Prefectural Railways Itoman Line was established in 1924, and operated until 1945. Itoman was a front of the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. The area saw enormous casualties to both forces and civilians. Itoman is noted for the Himeyuri Butai, a hospital nursing corps of 221 high-school students who committed suicide at the end of the battle. Itoman was established as a town in 1908, in 1961 it absorbed the villages of Kanegusuku, Takamine, and Miwa. Itoman was elevated to city status on December 1,1971, Itoman is administered from the city hall in Shiozaki. The Itoman Board of Education oversees the preschool, elementary, and middle school, community education centers, the Itoman City Council consists of 23 members who serve a four-year term, and are led by a chairperson and vice-chairperson of the council. Fishing remains the industry of the city of Itoman. Japan National Route 331, which connects Naha and Ōgimi along the eastern coast of Okinawa Island, runs through Itoman and connects the city to other municipalities in Okinawa
