US, Japanese warplanes in Okinawa exercises

May 27, 1981

Japanese and US fighter aircraft began exercises over Okinawa as a surge of anti-American sentiment here began to show signs of waning. Japanese Air Force F-104 Starfighters and US Air Force F-15 Eagles staged mock air battles Tuesday over the island and the adjacent sea at the start of four days of maneuvers.

The exercises began only four days after japan canceled joint naval maneuvers in an effort to quell a controversy over Japan's attitude to defense and an associat ed wave of anti-American feeling.