Tokyo-Naha Standoff Continues before Start of Landfilling off Henoko

December 14, 2018

Tokyo--The Japanese central and Okinawa prefectural governments remained apart over the construction of a U.S. base in Nago on Thursday, one day ahead of the planned start of landfill work off the Henoko coastal district of the city in the southern Japan prefecture.

During his meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki demanded that the soil placement work be canceled.

But Suga turned down the request, saying Tokyo will proceed with the reclamation work "as planned" from Friday.

"Okinawa people will voice their tremendous anger" if the central government starts filling in the sea with soil, Tamaki said.

Meanwhile, Suga stressed the need to construct a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air base, located in a densely populated residential area in Ginowan, saying that the government "can't neglect the danger of the base."

After his meeting with Suga, Tamaki told reporters that Naha is considering taking a countermeasure against the central government's planned move.

In a separate meeting with Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Tamaki reiterated the demand. But Iwaya said the work will begin as planned if weather permits.

Once the offshore area is reclaimed, it is impossible to restitute there, pundits said.

The Japanese and U.S. governments maintain that the relocation of the Futenma base to Henoko is the "only option" in terms of removing the risks posed by the base and leaving the U.S. military's deterrent power intact.

They aim to realize the return of the Futenma base site as early as 2022 through the relocation.

Determined to block the replacement facility construction, the Okinawa government requested the internal affairs ministry's state-local dispute settlement committee to examine what Okinawa claims as an illegal decision by land minister Keiichi Ishii to suspend Okinawa's revocation of its approval for landfilling off Henoko. In addition, the prefectural government plans to hold a referendum on whether to approve the base relocation on Feb. 24. Jiji Press