Abe Govt, Okinawa Remain Apart over U.S. Base Relocation

November 7, 2018

Tokyo--Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration and the Okinawa prefectural government remained apart on Tuesday over the planned relocation of a key U.S. base within the southern Japan prefecture.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki had a meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on the day, following the restart last week of work related to land reclamation in the Henoko coastal district in Nago, Okinawa, for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station.

During the meeting, Suga stressed that the central government will continue the base relocation work, while Tamaki, who was elected Okinawa governor in late September, clarified his position against the construction of a Henoko replacement facility for the Futenma base, now in Ginowan.

Over the base relocation project, Okinawa Prefecture in August revoked its approval for Henoko landfill, given in 2013 by then Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, prompting the central government to suspend the revocation in October.

Tamaki told Suga that the prefecture is now ready to request an internal affairs ministry-affiliated third-party committee for settling national-local disputes to examine the central government action.

At the same time, the governor proposed that the state and the prefecture hold talks until the end of this month to resolve this issue and that the base relocation work be suspended during the talks.

Suga agreed to hold the talks, but rejected the suspension of the Henoko work.

The talks are slated to be held between Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiro Sugita and Kiichiro Jahana, deputy governor of Okinawa.

Also during the meeting on Tuesday, Tamaki requested that the central government secure 319 billion yen for the development in Okinawa for 2019, as currently planned. Jiji Press