As US-China competition intensifies in East Asia, the USA and Japan are strengthening military bases and training in and around Okinawa. As a result, the Okinawan people worry that Okinawa might again become a battlefield as in World War II. Opposition to military bases is increasing, as is discussion of the dispute over US military bases in host countries. Earlier research suggests that the stability of base politics in Okinawa was achieved because of Japanese compensation politics and Okinawa's unique history and environment. However, some factors and methodological aspects of the issue have been neglected, which this study explores. This study applies the Q methodology in an examination of the survey we conducted with scholars studying the US military base in Okinawa and local government officials to identify the multiple essential factors of stabilizing US base politics in Okinawa: real politics for financial compensation, historical traces and real difficulties, Tokyo's strategic games with multilevel local governments, and Asia-Pacific security and Okinawa's responsibility. Our findings offer new theoretical insights into the studies on base politics.

The comparative literature on base politics often suggests that stable base politics in Okinawa were achieved, thanks to Japanese compensation politics. These claims mostly focus on the central government’s strategic use of compensation politics toward Okinawa from Tokyo’s perspective, ignoring the influence of local decision makers. Through a case study of the Futenma relocation process and in-depth interviews with the decision makers at the Henoko relocation site, this study highlighted the role of the local district government (Henoko) under the framework of Tokyo’s strategic use of compensation politics for multilevel local governments (Okinawa Prefectural Government, Nago City Government, and Henoko). The study not only adds to the importance of local Henoko decision makers in strengthening compensation politics but also provides more nuanced views of base politics in Okinawa, which is essential to understanding how Japan managed to stabilize Okinawa’s base politics in the context of anti-U.S. military bases.