04 June 2015

Editorial: In US, Okinawa Governor Pleads Case Against Base Relocation

Okinawa Governor and III Marine Expeditionary Force
commanding  general exchange greetings
(Image: Flickr User - U.S. Pacific Command)
By Shannon Tiezzi

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, a vocal opponent of the Futenma relocation plan, has his work cut out for him.

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga won election last December promising to oppose the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa, but he’s had little luck getting the government in Tokyo to reconsider the project. So this week Onaga is in the United States, hoping to present his case to U.S. officials directly.

As The Diplomat has reported previously, Onaga has tried to halt construction work on the new Marine air base in the Henoko district. He threatened to revoke prefectural approval for the construction project, citing environmental concerns, even saying he would take the central government to court if necessary. Onaga argues that the burden of hosting U.S. troops should be more evenly distributed throughout Japan, rather than centered on Okinawa.

The central government has so far ignored his protests – as well as the literal protests by Okinawans who also want the construction work stopped. When U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter visited Tokyo in April, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida assured him that the relocation of the current Futenma Air Station to Henoko would proceed.

Onaga, however, is still hoping he can change the plan. He arrived in Washington, D.C. on Monday for a series of meetings with U.S. officials, including U.S. senators as well as officials from the Departments of State and Defense.

Read the full story at The Diplomat