Japanese town defies US military

IWAKUNI, Japan (AFP) - With a mayor inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, this desolate western town has become a symbol of a Japan that can say no to the central government and its US allies.

Katsusuke Ihara, 57, is running in Sunday's election against a candidate parachuted in from Tokyo, which wants the city to accept plans to become one of the biggest US air force hubs in Northeast Asia.

Ihara's quest may appear quixotic. He quit as mayor in December, triggering the election, after failing in his bid to stop the extension of the air base.

With the central government standing firm, Ihara has also cut off his hair as a sign of protest. And if Tokyo maintains its stance, Ihara insists he is ready to emulate Gandhi and walk 935 kilometres (580 miles) to the capital.

"I thought of Gandhi's march in India against the British. If I am elected and the government still refuses to drop its plan, I will have to walk until Tokyo like Gandhi," he told AFP in an interview.

"If I am elected, the result will be important for democracy," he said.

Wearing a yellow scarf and yellow ribbon on his lapel to represent the colour of his campaign, Ihara, a former labour ministry official who led Iwakuni for nine years, says he supports the US troop presence in principle but opposes the "anti-democratic" attitude from Tokyo.

"I am not opposed to the US-Japan security treaty. I must cooperate with the national security policy," he said. "But this time it is too much."

Japan, which has been officially pacifist since defeat in World War II, hosts more than 40,000 US troops who are committed by treaty to defend the close Asian ally.

But friction has often been seen between US troops and local communities.

"The main problem is noise and accidents and crimes, mainly incidents with Japanese women," Ihara said.

Iwakuni, a city of some 150,000 people near Hiroshima where only a handful of restaurants can be found at night, has a 300-hectare (740-acre) base home to some 50 warplanes and 6,000 US soldiers and their families.

Under a 2005 deal between the US and Japanese governments -- which the former mayor insists was never discussed with him -- the Iwakuni base will be enlarged to bring in another 59 planes and 4,000 troops and their families.

The shift is part of the global realignment of US forces. Iwakuni's location is seen as particularly strategic -- it is only 800 kilometres (500 miles) from Pyongyang, capital of communist North Korea.

Ihara championed a referendum in March 2006 in which 87 percent of Iwakuni voters said they opposed the base extension.

But the central government threatened that his refusal to accept the base extension would cost Iwakuni 3.5 billion yen (33 million dollars) in subsidies. The city went into a financial crisis, with the mayor's opponents taking charge of the municipal council.

A Kyodo News poll of 545 voters published Tuesday said Ihara was trailing against his opponent, Yoshihiko Fukuda.

Fukuda, a 37-year-old former member of parliament who is not related to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, admitted that 59 additional planes in Iwakuni is a lot for locals to accept.

"But the most contentious point is Iwakuni citizens' everyday lives," he said, calling for a focus on practical measures such as changing flight paths.

The role of the base "is to create a kind of deterrent against North Korea and China," he said.

"This role has not been explained to people of Iwakuni," he said. "Japan is at peace thanks to the US-Japan security treaty."

The US military in Iwakuni, which has stayed out of domestic politics, declined interview requests.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is hoping for a replay of a November 2006 election on the southern island of Okinawa which hosts half of the US troops in Japan.

In that election, voters rejected a candidate vowing a tough line against the US military, instead backing an ally of the central government who focused on improving the ailing economy.

But Shunji Watanabe, a 58-year-old filling station attendant in Iwakuni, said he wouldn't buy the economic argument.

"There have been a lot of incidents in the past with the Americans like rape and fights. People want the base to shut down," he said.