In 2012, the United States said it would redeploy 9,000 Marines from the island where communities complain bases are an unfair burden -- with objections ranging from pollution to noise and helicopter crashes.
The relocation began with "a small detachment of approximately 100 logistics support Marines" transferred to the US island territory of Guam, Japan's defence ministry and the US Marine Corps said.
"Commencement of relocation to Guam signifies the first phase of relocating Marines to locations outside of Japan," said the joint statement.
There are currently around 19,000 Marines in Okinawa -- strategically located east of Taiwan, which has become a flashpoint for tensions between the United States and China.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
Washington is Taiwan's most important backer and biggest supplier of arms, but has long maintained "strategic ambiguity" about the prospect of backing it with boots on the ground.
The 9,000 relocating Marines are set to be moved elsewhere in the Pacific -- to Guam, Hawaii or Australia, the United States has said.
Okinawa comprises just 0.6 percent of Japan's territory but hosts more than half of the 50,000 US troops posted in the country.
The 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US soldiers in Okinawa also prompted widespread backlash, with calls for a rethink of the 1960 pact allowing the United States to post soldiers in Japan.
Cambodia says US navy ship to make port call
Phnom Penh (AFP) Dec 13, 2024 -
A US warship will dock in Cambodia next week, the country's defence ministry said Friday, in the first American military port call in eight years to one of China's closest regional allies.
Washington's relationship with Phnom Penh has been deteriorating for years, with China pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure investments under Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen.
In a statement, the ministry said the USS Savannah's visit to the southern port city of Sihanoukville aims to "strengthen and expand friendship" and "promote bilateral cooperation between Cambodia and the United States".
Since 2022, China has been funding the renovation of the Ream naval base -- some 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Sihanoukville -- originally built partly using US funds.
Washington has said Ream could give Beijing a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea, which China largely claims.
But Cambodian officials have repeatedly denied that the base is for use by any foreign power.
Chinese warships first docked at the base in December last year, and in May two berthed at Sihanoukville port as part of Beijing's biggest-ever joint military drills with Cambodia.
Cambodia's defence ministry said 27 US navy vessels have visited the nation since 2007, but that next week's five-day visit would be the first docking in eight years.
Members of the ship's 103 crew will meet with Ream's commander and engage in activities to "enhance the exchange of culture and cooperation," the statement said.
The announcement follows a visit by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in June aimed at resetting ties with the staunch China ally.
Cambodia's foreign minister Prak Sokhonn and the US embassy's Bridgette Walker on Wednesday hailed the "reinvigoration" of military ties between the two countries.
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