Thousands of people have gathered on the Japanese island of Okinawa in one of the biggest demonstrations in two decades against US military bases following the arrest of an American suspected of murdering a local woman.
Sunday's protest marks a new low for the United States and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in their relations with the island and threatens plans to have the US Marines Futenma air station moved to a less populous part of the island.
The US and Japan agreed in 1996 to close the Futenma site, located in a residential urban area, after the rape of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl by three US military personnel spurred mass demonstrations against the American presence.
That plan has been on hold since residents living near the proposed relocation site protested against the move, worried about noise, pollution and crime.
Okinawa residents stage a protest rally against US Military bases in Naha in Okinawa. Source: AAP
Okinawa assembly members opposed to the move won a majority in the prefectural assembly election this month, providing renewed support for Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga's plan to have the base move elsewhere.
Okinawa hosts 50,000 US nationals, including 30,000 military personnel and civilians employed at US bases.
With the US and Japan looking to contain China's growing might in the East China Sea, the Okinawan island chain, which stretches close to Taiwan, is becoming strategically more valuable to military planners.
Last month's arrest of the 32-year-old US civilian working at a US base prompted the US military to announce a 30-day period of mourning for the victim and restrict off-base drinking on the island in a bid to assuage local anger.
But relations were further frayed by the subsequent arrest of a US sailor on Okinawa on suspicion of drunk driving following a car crash.
Okinawa residents holding a placard reading 'Our anger has surpassed its limit', stage a protest rally against US Military bases in Naha in Okinawa Source: AAP
