Okinawa Gov.-elect Denny Tamaki said Monday that he would ask both the Japanese and U. S. governments to hold talks with him about the planned transfer of the U. S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in Ginowan to the Henoko area in Nago, both in the prefecture, saying that the transfer is unnecessary.
Okinawa Gov.-elect Denny Tamaki said Monday that he would ask both the Japanese and U. S. governments to hold talks with him about the planned transfer of the U. S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in Ginowan to the Henoko area in Nago, both in the prefecture, saying that the transfer is unnecessary.
“If drills currently held at the Futenma station take place at U. S. bases outside Japan in rotation, neither the Futenma station nor its transfer to Henoko will be needed,” Tamaki said in an interview with media organizations on the day.
It was the first time he had suggested an alternative solution to the plan, which he did not do during the campaign. Tamaki won the gubernatorial election on Sunday.
“For example, if there can be a situation in which [the U. S. military] holds no drills in Okinawa Prefecture, using instead U. S. military facilities in Guam and on Tinian Island [a self-governing territory of the United States], then it won’t be necessary to build a new base in the Henoko area,” he explained.
Regarding talks with the Japanese government, Tamaki said, “We need to talk about how to solve the problem and hold discussions with the United States.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stressed the government’s continued support for the plan.
“The government remains unchanged regarding its plan for the transfer to Henoko and the return of the Futenma air station to happen soon,” Suga said at a press conference on Monday.
