There are two kinds of Japanese nationalists: you have the far right with their black vans, desiring to turn Japan into an armed superpower once more; then you have these hyper-idealistic Communist Party cadres who for years see the US military bases as a threat to sovereignty and peace, and expect them to leave. Unfortunately, Japan is so vulnerable in many ways that those bases will have to stay indefinitely, and it is the responsibility of the Pentagon to ensure that the few bad apples in the services have to be get rid of.

The Philippines should be a preview of what happens if such bases were shut down, as it happened in 1992: although it satisfied Filipino nationalists, the resulting vacuum left by the Americans caused the Chinese Mainland occupying the Spratlys unchallenged.