"That's the price you pay for our protection." - A high-ranking US official referring to the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three American soldiers.
from easybourse
A Japanese court Friday ordered the government to pay more than $57 million in compensation to residents over noise pollution from a U.S. air base on the southern island of Okinawa.
More than 5,500 plaintiffs argued that noise from the Kadena Air Base, home to the U.S. military's largest combat air wing, had caused them health problems.
While the court recognized more plaintiffs would be compensated than in an earlier trial, it turned down for a second time their demand for an end to takeoffs and landings in the early mornings and evenings.
The Naha branch office of the Fukuoka High Court awarded a total of Y5.63 billion ($57.56 million) to 5,519 plaintiffs living near the base.
A lower court in 2005 said some neighbors of the base "suffered psychological damages as their sleep gets disturbed by the fierce noise."
But it only recognized about 70% of the plaintiffs, ordering the Japanese government to pay some Y2.8 billion in compensation.
The United States stations more than 40,000 troops in officially pacifist Japan under a security alliance reached after World War II. More than half of the troops are stationed in Okinawa.
The noise pollution - on top of a series of crimes by U.S. servicemen, including murders and rapes - has caused anger in local Okinawa communities and triggered mass protests.
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