Double Shock

For months U.S. military authorities on Okinawa watched with alarm as Communist votes on the island multiplied in local elections. Last week, as the voters of Okinawa and the other Ryukyu islands chose a new legislature in the first general election in two years, the Red-run Minren Party campaigned with arrogant confidence, demanding that the U.S. fold up its bases and go home. The conservative Democratic Party and Independent Jugo Thoma, U.S.-appointed chief executive of the Okinawan government, doggedly defended their cooperation with the U.S. administration, pointed to schools built and roads abuilding. The Socialist Masses Party concentrated on throwing sake parties, where the rice wine flowed freely.

When the returns came in. both the U.S. and the Reds got a shock. The big winner: the bibulous Socialists, who captured nine of the legislature's 29 seats. The pro-American Democrats skidded Irom 17 seats to seven, and only one of Thoma's supporters was elected. But the Communist Minren won only five seats, half the number they expected. "A stunning blow," confessed Saichi Nakeshi. Red mayor of Naha. "The people disliked the idea of being used as a tool of international Communism," commented the Socialists' snaggle-toothed Tsumichio Asato.

The Socialist Party is antiCommunist, but it opposes the basing of atomic weapons on Okinawa. It favors return of Okinawa to Japan, but for the moment the steam seems to have leaked out of that issue. Major Socialist demand: that the U.S. pay for all land requisitioned by the military with monthly rentals (which can be adjusted upward) instead of a one-shot, lump-sum payment. If their demands are not met, the Socialists can point to a disquieting fact: the Red-led Minren, despite their poor harvest of seats, polled 28% of the total vote-a higher total than any other party.

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