Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated the Japanese government's commitment to relocate a controversial US air base stationed in Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture. This is due to the growing antipathy on the island to a recent massive arrival of US military and related misadventures. "By obtaining an understanding of local citizens, we will proceed with the transfer plan of the base in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling“, Said the prime minister, in reference to a series of lawsuits and counter-actions brought by Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga to the central government.
Onaga is a firm supporter of reducing the burden of the US base for Okinawans and moving the Marine Corps Futenma Air Station from Ginowan to the coastal region of Henoko, also on the island. Abe's statements came in the wake of the election of Taketoyo Toguchi, 56, as mayor of Nago, defeating Susumu Inamine, 72, who was seeking a third term.
Inamine, supported by Onaga, opposed to the relocation of the base, said that its rival deliberately avoided the key problem of relocating the base and focused on economic promises to develop the region as a priority.
Okinawans, who are constantly angered by the crimes and accidents caused by US military personnel on the island, see more favorably the possibility of obtaining greater economic support from the central government.
The Supreme Court, in December 2016, declared illegal the revocation of a permit of Onaga issued by his predecessor to allow the continuation of the work for the transfer of the base.
In April 2017, against a harsh local reaction, the central government began reclamation works for the new base by building sea walls, as foreseen by an agreement made with the United States in 1996 on the transfer of military bases.
Okinawan authorities oppose the construction work because they fear that sediment poured into the dams under construction for the replacement facility in Oura Bay is extremely harmful to the environment.
The general plans for the new base involve 157 acres of land recovered from pristine waters off the Henoko area and the construction of a V-shaped track.
Okinawan officials said the remediation work runs counter to Japan's national biodiversity strategy, as it damages an ecosystem unique to Okinawa. Environmentalists have also expressed concerns about the materials used for the remediation work that introduce invasive specifications to the region. The experts, after examining the reef on the ocean floor near the tip of one of the dams, concluded that the Pores lutea coral, which is part of the reef, is only 20 meters from the tip of the dam, so the likely to be destroyed by construction works. The waters of Oura Bay are also the final resting place of the endangered Japanese dugong, which is a large marine mammal and a cousin of the manatee. Environmentalists are certain of the species extinction if central government construction continues.
Okinawa prefectural authorities also said the construction works are legally violating the rights granted to local fishermen in the coastal region. Along with environmental concerns. Officials and citizens are particularly outraged by a recent spate of accidents in Okinawa involving US military helicopters. In December 2017, a large glass fell from an American CH-53E transport helicopter and crashed into the ground adjacent to an elementary school, a few meters from where the children were attending a gymnastics class. The crash did not stop the Futenma-based helicopters from flying over the school following the crash, despite strong protests from the local government. In January alone, three helicopters, also from the controversial Futenma base, were forced to make emergency landings in the population centers of Okinawa. On Thursday, the Okinawa prefectural assembly unanimously adopted a resolution protesting the helicopter-related misadventures, highlighting the fact that US forces in Okinawa continue to manage the helicopter models involved despite failing to provide adequate reasons and explanations for accidents.
The resolution also calls for an immediate blocking of flights to civilian areas, as the Marines who agreed to avoid flying over the aforementioned elementary school did not comply with the agreement, as a video shows. The prefectural assembly, in the resolution to be delivered to the American embassy in Tokyo and to American forces operating under the command of the United States Pacific, also requests that the marines stationed in Okinawa be transferred out of the prefecture as soon as possible. Okinawa is home to 74% of all US bases in Japan, and local fears about growing incidents and crimes related to the US military as well as issues related to Futenma's base move have seen a widening of the crisis both politically and socially. between the small subtropical island and the central government. Those on the island have increasingly described living their situation as a form of "occupation". In July 2017, Onaga, however, filed a new lawsuit aimed at blocking the Futenma relocation plan.