The presence of the U.S. military, 63 years after World War II, is a huge source of anger for the citizens of Japan, Korea, Germany and Italy. On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the U.S. military uses an artillery firing range known as Yausubetsu. The range is small in comparison to ranges in the United States and Germany -- only 30 kilometers by 10 kilometers -- but the source of irritation to Japanese farmers whose land was taken for the range and for those who live near the range is large. The peaceful rolling hills and valleys of the area are the home of the dairy industry of Hokkaido. The Japanese have used a cartoon of an angry dairy cow with boxing gloves as their symbol of protest of the U.S. military's use of the range.

The Japanese government pressured farmers in the area to sell their land when the artillery range was established in 1962. All but three families eventually sold out. Mr. Kawase refused to sell or move, and instead has built three structures that are used by activists year round to protest Japanese and American use of Yausubetsu for artillery practice. Mr. Kawase, a very spry 82 years old, build a huge Quonset hut on his property where 100 activists can sleep on mats, make posters and banners and listen to speakers. In the kitchen of the building, activists cook huge meals from plants and vegetables of the Hokkaido countryside and serve fresh milk and cheeses from angry local dairy herd owners.

On the roof of the building, for military aircraft flying over and those on the land to see, Mr. Kawase has painted in huge Japanese script the text of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan: