Gov’t, ruling camp fear chopper accidents’ impact on mayoral race in Okinawa

January 11, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government and ruling camp are concerned that the recent successive crash-landing of US military helicopters in Okinawa Prefecture may impact the upcoming mayoral election in Nago in the southernmost prefecture.

A helicopter from the Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan crash-landed on Ikeijima, an island in the city of Uruma, on Saturday and another chopper belonging to the same base did so in the village of Yomitan on Monday.

No residents were injured but the accidents have fueled anger among locals, who were already outraged by serious incidents caused by the US forces in the prefecture, including one in which a flying helicopter dropped a window onto the playground of a school adjacent to the Futenma base in December.

Relevant cabinet ministers are doing all they can to calm the situation.

In telephone talks Tuesday, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera urged his U.S. counterpart, James Mattis, to take drastic preventative measures, citing the spate of accidents in Okinawa involving US warplanes since September last year.

The same day, Foreign Minister Taro Kono called on US Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty to prevent a recurrence of such incidents, noting that the "frequent occurrence of accidents is increasing anxiety among local residents."

Meanwhile, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party aims to attract local attention away from the accidents to better compete against incumbent Mayor Susumu Inamine in the Feb. 4 poll by hammering out regional development plans.

The result of the mayoral race, in which the key campaign issue will be the relocation of the Futenma base within the prefecture, will directly affect the Okinawa gubernatorial election, likely to take place in November.

Incumbent Okinawa governor Takeshi Onaga has opposed the central government-decided construction of a replacement facility for the base, now under way in the Henoko coastal district in Nago.

"The timing (of the accidents) is too bad," said an LDP executive.

The LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, will back an LDP-affiliated former city assembly member in the mayoral race. The party plans to refrain from referring to the base relocation issue as much as it can in the campaign, while making regional revitalization pledges. It will let party heavyweights Wataru Takeshita and Fumio Kishida visit Okinawa shortly to support the candidate.

Meanwhile, the so-called "all-Okinawa" coalition, including Inamine, who is seeking a third term, and Onaga, points out that if US aircraft crash in Uruma and Yomitan, they are likely to crash in Nago as well.

Onaga said the central government should "feel ashamed" that it lacks ability to lead the US military to take truly effective preventive measures. Jiji Press