(VOVworld) - Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tokyo Sunday, forming a human chain outside the parliament building to oppose the planned relocation of a US airbase on the island of Okinawa.

Thousands form human chain outside Japan parliament to protest US military base (photo: rt)

 Protesters held banners demanding officials stop the controversial relocation of the US military's Futenma base to Henoko on Okinawa. The airbase hosts an estimated 25,000 US soldiers under an agreement between Japan and the US. Okinawans said there are too many US soldiers there and asked to close the base or relocate it to another part of Japan or abroad. Last week, locals marched to protest the construction of a new US base on Okinawa.