Okinawa residents mark 500 days of sit-in protest against U.S. base relocation

Some 1,000 people gathered in front of the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in Nago, Okinawa on Wednesday to mark the 500th day of the sit-in protest against the central government's plan of relocating a U.S. Air base within the prefecture.

The rally came a day after the central government filed a lawsuit with the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court, demanding that Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga officially retract his decision to revoke a permit granted for landfill work for the relocation of the U.S. air base.

The protesters sat in front of the main gate of the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab to block construction vehicles, and some protesters shouted "stop the relocation work" and waved signs that read "New Henoko base, no" and "Marines out", according to local media report.

The sit-in protest started on July 7, 2014 just before the government launched an offshore boring survey for the landfill work, and soon became a vigil. Participants included not only local residents, but also students, scholars, artists and politicians from other prefectures.

Around 76.1 percent of the Okinawa residents are opposed to the central government's plan of constructing a new U.S. military base in Nago as replacement for the Futenma U.S. military base, according to an earlier survey conducted by one of the prefecture' s two largest newspapers.