Late Okinawa Gov. Onaga Cited 2 Successor Candidates

August 20, 2018

Naha, Okinawa Pref.- Takeshi Onaga, the late governor of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa, had cited two people as his possible successor candidates before his death earlier this month, it was learned Sunday.

The two are Denny Tamaki, a member of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, and local businessman Morimasa Goya.

The "All Okinawa" group, which had supported Onaga, a staunch opponent of the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station within Okinawa, confirmed the late prefectural leader's remarks citing the two people as his successor candidates, at a meeting on Sunday on work to pick its candidate in the Okinawa gubernatorial election on Sept. 30.

Members of All Okinawa agreed on a policy of asking Tamaki and Goya to run in the election.

At a press conference after the meeting, held in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, Yonekichi Shinzato, head of the Okinawa prefectural assembly, said that he heard Onaga's voice that was recorded before he died of pancreatic cancer on Aug. 8.

In the recorded voice, Onaga mentioned Tamaki and Goya, and indicated his hope for the two to run in a gubernatorial election in Okinawa, according to Shinzato.

At the same press conference, Taiga Teruya, an Okinawa assembly member of the opposition Social Democratic Party, said, "I'll ask (Tamaki or Goya) to run in the coming race by firmly accepting the late governor's message."

Strongly opposing the relocation of the Futenma air station from Ginowan, Okinawa, to the Henoko coastal area in Nago, another Okinawa city, Onaga had demanded that the base be moved out of Okinawa.

In talks with reporters on Sunday, Tamaki, a member of the Liberal Party, an opposition force, reserved his decision, while saying, "I seriously take the late governor's words and have to earnestly consider the environment and conditions" for his possible candidacy in the election. A native of Okinawa, Tamaki has been elected to the Lower House four times.

Goya, head of Kanehide Holdings Co., an Okinawa business group engaged on construction, engineering and other operations, suggested that he will not run in the election, saying, "I'll continue supporting the Okinawa prefectural administration as a businessman."

Meanwhile, Shigenobu Asato, former chief of Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau, a local tourism promotion body, said at a press conference in Naha that he will not run although he earlier thought positively about joining the race.

His withdrawal means that former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima will be fielded as a unified candidate of conservative forces in the election.

The Okinawa gubernatorial election was originally slated to take place in November in tandem with the expiration of Onaga's four-year term, but was moved up following his death. Jiji Press