Despite mounting concerns about its proximity to an increasingly assertive China, the Japanese island chain of Okinawa observed the 50th anniversary of the end of US occupation and its restoration to Japan yesterday with calls for more economic growth and fewer US bases.

Okinawa, a chain of tropical islands off the coast of far southwest Japan, far closer to Taiwan than Tokyo, was devastated by World War II. Two months of violent warfare between the US and Japanese forces killed up to one-third of the population. Following it, the United States ruled for nearly 30 years.

The islands were finally restored to Japan on May 15, 1972, in what was considered as a hopeful step forward from the war’s sad legacy.

They do, however, continue to house the majority of US military bases in Japan, a devil’s bargain that has supplied jobs while also fueling concerns about crime and military accidents.

Now, as China asserts itself more assertively in the Pacific region and tensions around Taiwan build, Okinawans are apprehensive that they may once again find themselves on the front lines, particularly in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“These are small islands,” said a protester on the island of Miyako, host to Japan’s newest army base. “Building up a military base will not protect them but rather make them a target of attack.”

She refused to disclose her full name.

Okinawans have long disliked bearing the disproportionate burden of hosting US bases, which has occasionally triggered massive riots.

In a March poll of 812 Okinawans, 56 percent indicated they strongly opposed US bases; only one-quarter of 1,115 persons outside the prefecture said the same.

In remarks at a government ceremony in Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida acknowledged this, as well as the economic imbalances that continue to make Okinawa one of Japan’s poorest areas.

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