[Tsuwabuki]

They can, but they won't. The status quo, maintained by the Hatoyama administration it seems, is that indeed, Japan looks to the USN as the primary defensive force with its neighbors. The idea that the few public protestors represent any kind of influence on the issue is false. I still have USN business that I do in Yokosuka, and many of my former unit members have served or are currently serving there. Yokosuka remains the largest overseas naval base for the USN. This is not going to change. At least not in the next few decades.