The relocation of the Marine Corps base – an issue burdened by the competing imperatives of Hatoyama’s coalition government, American military strategy, and local anti-base politics on the island of Okinawa – is now a focal point of tensions with the US. The base agreement – reached after ten years of bilateral negotiations – is the most practical option for avoiding potentially disastrous aerial accidents in a heavily populated area, and for reducing crimes committed by US soldiers against local Japanese, including, most notoriously, several rapes.