Trump Win Confuses Residents near Bases, Worries Hibakusha

Tokyo, Nov. 10 (Jiji Press)--Donald Trump's upset victory in the U.S. presidential election has left residents near U.S. bases in Japan confused, while raising concerns among people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were devastated by U.S. atomic bombings in 1945. Trump's election "gave us a glimmer of light," said Takashi Kishimoto, a senior member of a civic group promoting peace campaigns in Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts many U.S. bases in Japan. He noted the real estate magnate's suggestion during the election campaign of the possible withdrawal of U.S. troops from Japan if the nation does not bear the full upkeep costs for them. Hillary Clinton, Trump's contender, was expected to maintain the status quo on the base issue, Kishimoto, 53, said. Under Trump, U.S. security policy may change in the future, Kishimoto said, adding that he wants Trump to respect the local public opinion and remove U.S. bases from Okinawa. "Trump may accomplish big things as he has no political strings," a 66-year-old former civil servant in the Okinawa capital of Naha said. He said he believes that U.S. bases in Okinawa will be scaled down. But Tatsushi Yokota, a lawyer for a group of residents who filed a damages lawsuit over noise from the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma base in Ginowan, Okinawa, was unenthusiastic. "We expected much when President Barack Obama took office, but nothing has changed," Yokota, 43, said. "I don't think U.S. troops will withdraw from Okinawa whoever becomes president." A restaurant owner in his 40s near the U.S. military's Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, downplayed Trump's radical remarks as an election campaign performance. "They're not realistic," he said. At a store selling imported U.S. items, including military uniforms, a 59-year-old female sales clerk said she was surprised at the election outcome, but added that she expects little change in Japan-U.S. relations. Sunao Tsuboi, 91-year-old leader of an association of hibakusha atomic bomb sufferers in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, stressed that he firmly believes in Obama's policy of seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons. Tsuboi met with Obama when he made a historic visit to Hiroshima in May as the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in either Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Tsuboi was angry at Trump's remarks suggesting that Japan should be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. "What on earth was he talking about? It's unforgivable," he said in the city of Hiroshima. "We'll never make a compromise on nuclear issues. I want to continue communicating our thoughts," Tsuboi said. Koichi Kawano, 76, who chairs a group for hibakusha in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, expressed concern that the incoming Trump administration may ask Japan to be armed with nuclear weapons or allow them to be deployed to U.S. forces in Japan. "His policy may go in the opposition direction from international efforts toward banning nuclear weapons," he said. END