New American base on the southern island of Okinawa being obstruct by Japanese people in protest

On Friday, the protesters tried to block 80 trucks carrying building materials on an access road, prompting police to intervene and break up the sit-down demonstration.

“Under the democratic fundamental principle which is an ‘election,’ the people of Okinawa said we don’t need the base,” said protester Shinichi Mura. “Unfortunately the Japanese government doesn’t think of Japanese people as the priority.”

The locals are concerned about potential noise pollution, and safety and environmental hazards.

The Japanese and US governments have pursued the relocation of the Futenma air base to the less populated Henoko coastal area in the Okinawa city of Nago, saying the plan is “the only solution” to address noise problems and accident risks.

Many Okinawans, however, want the base to be relocated outside the prefecture.

According to the relocation plan, the state-of-the-art airbase will be built in the waters off the island over the next five years to replace the Futenma base.

According to US Forces Japan, nearly half of 100,000 US troops in Japan reside on Okinawa.

Multiple cases of misconduct by US forces, featuring several rape cases and rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman in 2016, has raised anti-American sentiment among the pacifist islanders.

Also on Friday, Japan criticized the US military for breaking a pledge to avoid flying helicopters over a school next to the Futenma base.

The Marines insisted that their helicopters had avoided the school.

The school has become a focal point for discontent over the US presence on the island since a window fell from a US Marines helicopter onto its playground last month.