Japan Court Rejects Lawsuit Demanding Flight Restrictions at US Kadena Airbase

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The local court ruled that the case, in which residents sued the US government asking for nighttime flights from the base to be banned as well as demanding financial compensation for health damages related to excessive noise and sleep deprivation, was not within its jurisdiction, the Stars and Stripes newspaper reported.

The plaintiffs vowed to appeal the decision, according to the publication.

The residents also sued the Japanese government over the matter, with the hearing due later this month.

US military presence in the Okinawa Prefecture, which is located on a tiny island in the south of the Japanese archipelago and hosts the vast majority of the country's total US military presence, has been a source of repeated controversies in the Asian country.

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma has been the subject of local protests due to being located in the heart of a densely populated area. The government decided to relocate the base to the Kadena Air Base, but local authorities appeal the decision as residents wished to see the US facility gone altogether.

The Kadena base has too been the source of much discontent and security concerns, especially after a US jet crashed in the waters east of Okinawa in September, 2016.

Mass protests are also regularly staged over incidents of alleged rape by US armed forces' personnel stationed in Okinawa. The rape scandal escalated after the murder of a Japanese woman by former US Marine Kenneth Franklin Shinzato who has now admitted to the crime.