Nago mayor rejects new Futenma relocation plan
2010/02/14 17:18(JST)
The mayor of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, has again indicated that he will reject any proposal to relocate the US Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to the city.
Mayor Susumu Inamine was responding to a new proposal by a junior coalition partner, the People's New Party, to build a helicopter runway at the US Camp Schwab in Nago.
The party will present the idea to a government panel on Wednesday along with another proposal to merge Futenma with the US Kadena Air Base, also in Okinawa.
Inamine told NHK that he has consistently opposed building a new military facility anywhere in Nago.
The Nago mayor urged the government to respect the opinions of the people who elected him last month.
He plans to travel to Tokyo this week to ask government officials to give up the idea of relocating the air station to Nago.
Japan and the United States agreed in 2006 to build a runway in a coastal area of Camp Schwab as an alternative to Futenma.
But the current government that took power last year is considering other options, including relocating the air station outside Okinawa.
Showing posts with label Nago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nago. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Editorial :: Japan and the American Bases
Editorial :: Japan and the American Bases
Published: January 28, 2010
It took the United States and Japan a decade to negotiate a deal that would reduce the number of American troops on Okinawa and reposition those that remain. Japan’s new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, is refusing, so far, to commit to the agreement, and the Obama administration is being less than patient. Before any serious damage is done to this important alliance, both countries must work harder to find a compromise.
The 2006 agreement was designed to lessen tensions between Okinawans and the more than 20,000 American troops they host. The deal includes moving 2,000 Marines from the Futenma United States Marine air station in the city of Ginowan to the less populated Nago on Okinawa’s northern coast, and relocating 8,000 other Marines to Guam.
Before his party’s landslide election in August, Mr. Hatoyama called for moving the base off of Okinawa or out of Japan altogether. The Pentagon got off to a bad start by insisting that Tokyo abide by its commitments. Mr. Hatoyama now says that he will defer any decision until May. Nago’s newly elected mayor has announced that he doesn’t want the Marines to move to his city.
We hope the Obama administration shows flexibility and patience when two senior officials visit Japan for security talks this week. They should encourage Mr. Hatoyama to prove his commitment to being an “equal partner” by offering solutions. And the United States must make a more compelling case for stationing troops in Japan. (There are another 20,000 American troops stationed elsewhere in Japan or just off the coast.)
The alliance is more important than the basing agreement. But the longer the agreement is in limbo, the more it stirs questions about the future of the alliance. There are worrying signs that many of Japan’s new leaders and its postwar generation don’t understand the full value of the security partnership.
A half-century of American protection remains a bargain for the Japanese. In much of Asia, it’s seen as an essential balance against a rising China and a defense, if needed, against North Korea. The United States must respect Mr. Hatoyama’s desire to strike a more independent course, including by seeking improved ties with China. A strong and equal partnership between Tokyo and Washington is in both countries’ overwhelming interest.
Published: January 28, 2010
It took the United States and Japan a decade to negotiate a deal that would reduce the number of American troops on Okinawa and reposition those that remain. Japan’s new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, is refusing, so far, to commit to the agreement, and the Obama administration is being less than patient. Before any serious damage is done to this important alliance, both countries must work harder to find a compromise.
The 2006 agreement was designed to lessen tensions between Okinawans and the more than 20,000 American troops they host. The deal includes moving 2,000 Marines from the Futenma United States Marine air station in the city of Ginowan to the less populated Nago on Okinawa’s northern coast, and relocating 8,000 other Marines to Guam.
Before his party’s landslide election in August, Mr. Hatoyama called for moving the base off of Okinawa or out of Japan altogether. The Pentagon got off to a bad start by insisting that Tokyo abide by its commitments. Mr. Hatoyama now says that he will defer any decision until May. Nago’s newly elected mayor has announced that he doesn’t want the Marines to move to his city.
We hope the Obama administration shows flexibility and patience when two senior officials visit Japan for security talks this week. They should encourage Mr. Hatoyama to prove his commitment to being an “equal partner” by offering solutions. And the United States must make a more compelling case for stationing troops in Japan. (There are another 20,000 American troops stationed elsewhere in Japan or just off the coast.)
The alliance is more important than the basing agreement. But the longer the agreement is in limbo, the more it stirs questions about the future of the alliance. There are worrying signs that many of Japan’s new leaders and its postwar generation don’t understand the full value of the security partnership.
A half-century of American protection remains a bargain for the Japanese. In much of Asia, it’s seen as an essential balance against a rising China and a defense, if needed, against North Korea. The United States must respect Mr. Hatoyama’s desire to strike a more independent course, including by seeking improved ties with China. A strong and equal partnership between Tokyo and Washington is in both countries’ overwhelming interest.
‘Nago vote won’t affect relocation plan’
‘Nago vote won’t affect relocation plan’
Thursday, 28 January 2010 04:43 by Audrey McAvoy |
The Associated Press
CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii — The election of a mayor who opposes moving a U.S. air field to his Japanese town isn’t a setback to efforts to fulfill a 2006 bilateral agreement to relocate the base, the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific said Tuesday.
On Sunday, voters in the town of Nago on Okinawa elected base opponent Susumu Inamine as mayor over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro. Inamine had campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area and won with 52.3 percent of the vote.
Adm. Robert F. Willard said he believes more issues than just the Marine air field contributed to the mayor’s election.
“There’s probably a broader set of questions and a broader analysis that is appropriate to determine who won the election and why,” Willard said. “I don’t think it should be regarded as a setback.”
Still, Willard said the U.S. has “a good amount of work to do” to explain the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance to the Japanese people.
“We bear a responsibility to share that message with them and to encourage the Japanese government, as well as to share with their people the importance of the alliance — why it exists and what benefits all of Asia derives from it,” Willard said.
Thursday, 28 January 2010 04:43 by Audrey McAvoy |
The Associated Press
CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii — The election of a mayor who opposes moving a U.S. air field to his Japanese town isn’t a setback to efforts to fulfill a 2006 bilateral agreement to relocate the base, the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific said Tuesday.
On Sunday, voters in the town of Nago on Okinawa elected base opponent Susumu Inamine as mayor over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro. Inamine had campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area and won with 52.3 percent of the vote.
Adm. Robert F. Willard said he believes more issues than just the Marine air field contributed to the mayor’s election.
“There’s probably a broader set of questions and a broader analysis that is appropriate to determine who won the election and why,” Willard said. “I don’t think it should be regarded as a setback.”
Still, Willard said the U.S. has “a good amount of work to do” to explain the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance to the Japanese people.
“We bear a responsibility to share that message with them and to encourage the Japanese government, as well as to share with their people the importance of the alliance — why it exists and what benefits all of Asia derives from it,” Willard said.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
PaCom boss: Vote not setback to moving Futenma
PaCom boss: Vote not setback to moving Futenma
Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 26, 2010 21:03:24 EST
CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii — The election of a mayor who opposes moving a U.S. air field to his Japanese town isn’t a setback to efforts to fulfill a 2006 bilateral agreement to relocate the base, the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific said Tuesday.
On Sunday, voters in the town of Nago on Okinawa elected base opponent Susumu Inamine as mayor over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro. Inamine had campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area and won with 52.3 percent of the vote.
Adm. Robert F. Willard said he believes more issues than just the Marine air field contributed to the mayor’s election.
“There’s probably a broader set of questions and a broader analysis that is appropriate to determine who won the election and why,” Willard said. “I don’t think it should be regarded as a setback.”
Still, Willard said the U.S. has “a good amount of work to do” to explain the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance to the Japanese people.
“We bear a responsibility to share that message with them and to encourage the Japanese government, as well as to share with their people the importance of the alliance — why it exists and what benefits all of Asia derives from it,” Willard said.
Washington and Tokyo agreed in 2006 to reorganize U.S. troops in Japan, including moving 8,000 Marines to the U.S. territory of Guam, as a way to lighten the burden on Okinawa.
Part of that plan involves relocating Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the northern part of the island where it is less congested.
The newly elected government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has vowed to re-examine the decision to move Futenma to Nago. Some of Hatoyama’s Cabinet members said they want the base moved off Japanese territory entirely, a sentiment shared by many residents there.
His foreign minister this month pledged that Tokyo would determine the future of Futenma by May in a way that would have “minimal impact on the U.S.-Japan alliance.”
Under a security pact signed in 1960, U.S. armed forces are allowed broad use of Japanese land and facilities. In return, the U.S. is obliged to respond to attacks on Japan and protect the country under its nuclear umbrella.
Willard showed some patience for the new Japanese administration as it works out a solution for the base, saying it was “pretty natural” to have the new government “come in with a questioning attitude” and challenge assumptions.
“There’s no question there’s a new administration in Japan, and that the United States is getting acquainted with that new administration and so am I,” Willard said.
The admiral said the military-to-military relationship between the two nations was as strong as it’s ever been.
Shortly after speaking to reporters, Willard joined a videoconference with Japanese military leaders to discuss a bilateral exercise called “Keen Edge ‘10” involving hundreds of U.S. and Japanese personnel in the two countries.
The six-day exercise, which ends Wednesday, is designed to increase combat readiness and the interoperability of the two militaries.
Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 26, 2010 21:03:24 EST
CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii — The election of a mayor who opposes moving a U.S. air field to his Japanese town isn’t a setback to efforts to fulfill a 2006 bilateral agreement to relocate the base, the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific said Tuesday.
On Sunday, voters in the town of Nago on Okinawa elected base opponent Susumu Inamine as mayor over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro. Inamine had campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area and won with 52.3 percent of the vote.
Adm. Robert F. Willard said he believes more issues than just the Marine air field contributed to the mayor’s election.
“There’s probably a broader set of questions and a broader analysis that is appropriate to determine who won the election and why,” Willard said. “I don’t think it should be regarded as a setback.”
Still, Willard said the U.S. has “a good amount of work to do” to explain the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance to the Japanese people.
“We bear a responsibility to share that message with them and to encourage the Japanese government, as well as to share with their people the importance of the alliance — why it exists and what benefits all of Asia derives from it,” Willard said.
Washington and Tokyo agreed in 2006 to reorganize U.S. troops in Japan, including moving 8,000 Marines to the U.S. territory of Guam, as a way to lighten the burden on Okinawa.
Part of that plan involves relocating Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the northern part of the island where it is less congested.
The newly elected government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has vowed to re-examine the decision to move Futenma to Nago. Some of Hatoyama’s Cabinet members said they want the base moved off Japanese territory entirely, a sentiment shared by many residents there.
His foreign minister this month pledged that Tokyo would determine the future of Futenma by May in a way that would have “minimal impact on the U.S.-Japan alliance.”
Under a security pact signed in 1960, U.S. armed forces are allowed broad use of Japanese land and facilities. In return, the U.S. is obliged to respond to attacks on Japan and protect the country under its nuclear umbrella.
Willard showed some patience for the new Japanese administration as it works out a solution for the base, saying it was “pretty natural” to have the new government “come in with a questioning attitude” and challenge assumptions.
“There’s no question there’s a new administration in Japan, and that the United States is getting acquainted with that new administration and so am I,” Willard said.
The admiral said the military-to-military relationship between the two nations was as strong as it’s ever been.
Shortly after speaking to reporters, Willard joined a videoconference with Japanese military leaders to discuss a bilateral exercise called “Keen Edge ‘10” involving hundreds of U.S. and Japanese personnel in the two countries.
The six-day exercise, which ends Wednesday, is designed to increase combat readiness and the interoperability of the two militaries.
The Impasse over U.S. Bases on Okinawa
The Impasse over U.S. Bases on Okinawa
By Nicholas Szechenyi
Jan 26, 2010
Q1: How did this impasse come about?
A1: In 2006, the United States and Japan reached an agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, including the relocation of U.S. forces on the island of Okinawa. The latter involved a package to transfer 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and thereby reduce the burden of the U.S. troop presence on Okinawa residents. The package included a plan to close the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station at Futenma, located in an urban area in central Okinawa, and build a replacement facility in a less populated area on the northern end of the island near the town of Nago. In February 2009, the United States and Japan signed an agreement formally authorizing the Guam transfer and the construction of a replacement facility for Futenma. But Japan’s new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, had pledged to reexamine the agreement during an election campaign last summer and felt obligated to put the realignment process on hold after taking office last fall. The Obama administration has stated its desire to implement the agreement as soon as possible but resigned itself to the new government’s review of the issue.
Q2: What is behind the decision of the Japanese government to review the agreement?
A2: Last August, Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) engineered a landslide victory in elections for the Lower House of Japan’s Diet (parliament) and formed a coalition government with two smaller parties whose support he needs to pass a budget in the current legislative session and deliver votes in Upper House elections this summer. One of the coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), opposes the relocation plan for Futenma and insists the base be moved outside Japan. Last month the SDP threatened to quit the ruling coalition if the government did not support its position, a testament to the complicated domestic political calculations surrounding this issue. On a broader level, the decision to review the agreement arguably stems from a desire by the DPJ to distance itself from the policies of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which until last summer had ruled nearly uninterrupted since 1955.
Q3: Where do things stand now?
A3: The Hatoyama government floated various alternatives to the current relocation plan for Futenma before announcing in December that a decision would be postponed until May of this year, after consultations with coalition partners. On January 24 the residents of Nago, a small town of approximately 60,000, elected a mayor who opposes the current agreement and vows to prevent the new facility from being built there. Prime Minister Hatoyama has repeatedly stressed the need to hear the concerns of Okinawa residents, and the outcome of the Nago mayoral election could therefore factor into his decisionmaking. A panel established by the central government continues to study the Futenma issue.
Q4: How about Japanese public opinion?
A4: A poll published by the Yomiuri newspaper on January 11 found 44 percent of the public in favor of the existing relocation plan for Futenma, with 30 percent suggesting it be moved out of the country and 13 percent wanting it moved out of Okinawa prefecture. A December 21 Mainichi newspaper survey revealed 51 percent of the public disapproved of Prime Minister Hatoyama’s announcement to delay a decision on the Okinawa base issue.
Q5: How engaged are the U.S. and Japanese governments?
A5: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada in Hawaii on January 12 and reiterated the conviction that the existing agreement is the best way forward but that the United States respects the process undertaken by the Hatoyama government. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell will lead a delegation to Japan in early February to continue consultations on this issue.
Q6: Could this have an impact on U.S.-Japan relations?
A6: January 19 marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, in which the United States committed to defend Japan in exchange for U.S. access to bases for the maintenance of peace and security in the Far East. The security alliance is a core pillar of the bilateral relationship, and it is important that the Futenma issue be resolved so that the two governments can move forward. Until the Hatoyama government finally decides how it wants to proceed, observers are left wondering whether the current impasse is merely a product of complicated domestic politics in Japan or a preview of fundamental disagreements that could introduce a period of uncertainty in U.S.-Japan relations.
Nicholas Szechenyi is deputy director and fellow with the Office of the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
By Nicholas Szechenyi
Jan 26, 2010
Q1: How did this impasse come about?
A1: In 2006, the United States and Japan reached an agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, including the relocation of U.S. forces on the island of Okinawa. The latter involved a package to transfer 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and thereby reduce the burden of the U.S. troop presence on Okinawa residents. The package included a plan to close the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station at Futenma, located in an urban area in central Okinawa, and build a replacement facility in a less populated area on the northern end of the island near the town of Nago. In February 2009, the United States and Japan signed an agreement formally authorizing the Guam transfer and the construction of a replacement facility for Futenma. But Japan’s new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, had pledged to reexamine the agreement during an election campaign last summer and felt obligated to put the realignment process on hold after taking office last fall. The Obama administration has stated its desire to implement the agreement as soon as possible but resigned itself to the new government’s review of the issue.
Q2: What is behind the decision of the Japanese government to review the agreement?
A2: Last August, Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) engineered a landslide victory in elections for the Lower House of Japan’s Diet (parliament) and formed a coalition government with two smaller parties whose support he needs to pass a budget in the current legislative session and deliver votes in Upper House elections this summer. One of the coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), opposes the relocation plan for Futenma and insists the base be moved outside Japan. Last month the SDP threatened to quit the ruling coalition if the government did not support its position, a testament to the complicated domestic political calculations surrounding this issue. On a broader level, the decision to review the agreement arguably stems from a desire by the DPJ to distance itself from the policies of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which until last summer had ruled nearly uninterrupted since 1955.
Q3: Where do things stand now?
A3: The Hatoyama government floated various alternatives to the current relocation plan for Futenma before announcing in December that a decision would be postponed until May of this year, after consultations with coalition partners. On January 24 the residents of Nago, a small town of approximately 60,000, elected a mayor who opposes the current agreement and vows to prevent the new facility from being built there. Prime Minister Hatoyama has repeatedly stressed the need to hear the concerns of Okinawa residents, and the outcome of the Nago mayoral election could therefore factor into his decisionmaking. A panel established by the central government continues to study the Futenma issue.
Q4: How about Japanese public opinion?
A4: A poll published by the Yomiuri newspaper on January 11 found 44 percent of the public in favor of the existing relocation plan for Futenma, with 30 percent suggesting it be moved out of the country and 13 percent wanting it moved out of Okinawa prefecture. A December 21 Mainichi newspaper survey revealed 51 percent of the public disapproved of Prime Minister Hatoyama’s announcement to delay a decision on the Okinawa base issue.
Q5: How engaged are the U.S. and Japanese governments?
A5: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada in Hawaii on January 12 and reiterated the conviction that the existing agreement is the best way forward but that the United States respects the process undertaken by the Hatoyama government. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell will lead a delegation to Japan in early February to continue consultations on this issue.
Q6: Could this have an impact on U.S.-Japan relations?
A6: January 19 marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, in which the United States committed to defend Japan in exchange for U.S. access to bases for the maintenance of peace and security in the Far East. The security alliance is a core pillar of the bilateral relationship, and it is important that the Futenma issue be resolved so that the two governments can move forward. Until the Hatoyama government finally decides how it wants to proceed, observers are left wondering whether the current impasse is merely a product of complicated domestic politics in Japan or a preview of fundamental disagreements that could introduce a period of uncertainty in U.S.-Japan relations.
Nicholas Szechenyi is deputy director and fellow with the Office of the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Japan’s dilly-dally, Guam’s opportunity
Japan’s dilly-dally, Guam’s opportunity
Wednesday, 27 January 2010 05:32
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
WITH the recent declaration made by Nago Okinawa Prefecure mayor-elect Susumu Inamine about his opposition to having U.S. bases in Okinawa, Guam gets the opportunity to be included in the new discussions between Japan and the United States regarding Marines’ relocation plan, Sen. Judith Guthretz said yesterday.
The chair of the legislative committee on military buildup explained that the election of anti-U.S. base candidate Inamine earlier this month has virtually ended the possibility of relocating the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, as previously agreed upon in a bilateral accord between the U.S. and Japan.
“This change in leadership in Okinawa is an opportunity for the United States to finally address the concerns of the island community with regard to the impending military buildup,” Guthertz said.
Possible voiding
She added that the dynamics of Japan’s current political landscape gives credence to the probability of a delay or nullification of the accord and the proposed relocation of Marines to Guam because of the movement of the Futenma Marine contingent to Nago.
Japan Prime Minister Hatoyama has seemingly acquiesced to Inamine’s view stating that “The country will start from scratch on this issue and take responsibility.”
Moreover, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has stated that without the move from Futenma there will be no move to Guam.
Guthertz explained that it just makes sense to include the concerns of the people of Guam who will absorb the entirety of the buildup impact. During the initial discussion on the proposed buildup Guam was totally ignored, she said.
Workable approach
Guthertz explained that this is not a workable approach and noted that this sentiment is reflected in the current fallout of support for the buildup as the island citizenry reacts to the draft environment impact statement.
“It is becoming more and more apparent among the people of Guam that the proposed buildup is for too many too soon, and is coming too quickly,” said Guthertz. “In Guam, the public sentiment for the buildup is rapidly shifting from positive to negative as the details in the [draft study] are being understood.
Guthertz offers an alternative to the U.S. government via a comment paper in response to the draft study. She will dub her paper, “Stretching and Spreading the Buildup,” over a over a more manageable and acceptable timeframe.
Guthertz cited a prior commitment made by then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney in 1990 pledging that the Pentagon would conduct prior consultations with the government of Guam regarding any desired change in the military footprint in Guam.
The Pentagon is breaking that solemn promise, she said. “No discussions were held with the Government of Guam prior to the determination of the relocation of Marines, and Guam had no input on the size or speed of the buildup.”
Attention
“We have never been told who and what determined that the relocation would be for 8,652 Marines, and this is wrong! The people of Guam must be heard, there must be collaboration in this process with our island community,” she added.
She said if neither the U.S. federal government nor the government of Japan agrees fund local needs, Guam “will end up in the disastrous situation of having two Guams: a first-world Guam inside the military fences, and third-world Guam outside the fences.”
Wednesday, 27 January 2010 05:32
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
WITH the recent declaration made by Nago Okinawa Prefecure mayor-elect Susumu Inamine about his opposition to having U.S. bases in Okinawa, Guam gets the opportunity to be included in the new discussions between Japan and the United States regarding Marines’ relocation plan, Sen. Judith Guthretz said yesterday.
The chair of the legislative committee on military buildup explained that the election of anti-U.S. base candidate Inamine earlier this month has virtually ended the possibility of relocating the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, as previously agreed upon in a bilateral accord between the U.S. and Japan.
“This change in leadership in Okinawa is an opportunity for the United States to finally address the concerns of the island community with regard to the impending military buildup,” Guthertz said.
Possible voiding
She added that the dynamics of Japan’s current political landscape gives credence to the probability of a delay or nullification of the accord and the proposed relocation of Marines to Guam because of the movement of the Futenma Marine contingent to Nago.
Japan Prime Minister Hatoyama has seemingly acquiesced to Inamine’s view stating that “The country will start from scratch on this issue and take responsibility.”
Moreover, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has stated that without the move from Futenma there will be no move to Guam.
Guthertz explained that it just makes sense to include the concerns of the people of Guam who will absorb the entirety of the buildup impact. During the initial discussion on the proposed buildup Guam was totally ignored, she said.
Workable approach
Guthertz explained that this is not a workable approach and noted that this sentiment is reflected in the current fallout of support for the buildup as the island citizenry reacts to the draft environment impact statement.
“It is becoming more and more apparent among the people of Guam that the proposed buildup is for too many too soon, and is coming too quickly,” said Guthertz. “In Guam, the public sentiment for the buildup is rapidly shifting from positive to negative as the details in the [draft study] are being understood.
Guthertz offers an alternative to the U.S. government via a comment paper in response to the draft study. She will dub her paper, “Stretching and Spreading the Buildup,” over a over a more manageable and acceptable timeframe.
Guthertz cited a prior commitment made by then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney in 1990 pledging that the Pentagon would conduct prior consultations with the government of Guam regarding any desired change in the military footprint in Guam.
The Pentagon is breaking that solemn promise, she said. “No discussions were held with the Government of Guam prior to the determination of the relocation of Marines, and Guam had no input on the size or speed of the buildup.”
Attention
“We have never been told who and what determined that the relocation would be for 8,652 Marines, and this is wrong! The people of Guam must be heard, there must be collaboration in this process with our island community,” she added.
She said if neither the U.S. federal government nor the government of Japan agrees fund local needs, Guam “will end up in the disastrous situation of having two Guams: a first-world Guam inside the military fences, and third-world Guam outside the fences.”
Japan may shelve US base relocation deal
Japan may shelve US base relocation deal
By Tomoko Hosaka
4:00 AM Tuesday Jan 26, 2010
Japan's Prime Minister said yesterday that he might break a key military deal with Washington on relocating United States troops, after a local election in Okinawa showed residents oppose any new Marine base in their region.
Residents of Nago elected a mayor who is staunchly against moving a base there from a larger city nearby - plans which Washington considers fundamental to its troop realignment in the region.
An agreement on the relocation was made under the previous Government, which lost power last year.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the results of Sunday's election reflected the will of the people, and Japan would completely re-examine its accord with the US. "The country will start from scratch on this issue and take responsibility to reach a conclusion by the end of May," he told reporters.
His Government has repeatedly put off making a decision, risking a rift with the US, its main military ally, in the face of security concerns such as North Korea's nuclear programme and China's rising strength.
Nago chose challenger Susumu Inamine - who campaigned against any expansion of US military presence in the area - over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro.
Inamine won with 52.3 per cent of the vote, according to the city's election office.
The city's mayor has little say in national policy, but with Japanese parliamentary elections coming midyear, the results quickly reverberated throughout the country.
"It wasn't just Shimabukuro that was defeated in the election. The biggest loser was Japan's postwar military base strategy," the national Asahi daily said in a front-page editorial yesterday.
Japan signed a deal with the US four years ago that was part of a broader realignment of American troops.
A key part of the plan was relocating the Futenma base to the smaller city of Nago, where the latest election was held. The issue sparked intense protests and dominated debate between the two mayoral candidates. Defeated mayor Shimabukuro supported the base for the jobs and investment it would bring.
The Obama Administration has already expressed frustrations with Tokyo's delays in finalising the relocation of the Futenma base - now in the Okinawa city of Ginowan - saying it is delaying a sweeping realignment plan for US military in the region.
By Tomoko Hosaka
4:00 AM Tuesday Jan 26, 2010
Japan's Prime Minister said yesterday that he might break a key military deal with Washington on relocating United States troops, after a local election in Okinawa showed residents oppose any new Marine base in their region.
Residents of Nago elected a mayor who is staunchly against moving a base there from a larger city nearby - plans which Washington considers fundamental to its troop realignment in the region.
An agreement on the relocation was made under the previous Government, which lost power last year.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the results of Sunday's election reflected the will of the people, and Japan would completely re-examine its accord with the US. "The country will start from scratch on this issue and take responsibility to reach a conclusion by the end of May," he told reporters.
His Government has repeatedly put off making a decision, risking a rift with the US, its main military ally, in the face of security concerns such as North Korea's nuclear programme and China's rising strength.
Nago chose challenger Susumu Inamine - who campaigned against any expansion of US military presence in the area - over incumbent Yoshikazu Shimabukuro.
Inamine won with 52.3 per cent of the vote, according to the city's election office.
The city's mayor has little say in national policy, but with Japanese parliamentary elections coming midyear, the results quickly reverberated throughout the country.
"It wasn't just Shimabukuro that was defeated in the election. The biggest loser was Japan's postwar military base strategy," the national Asahi daily said in a front-page editorial yesterday.
Japan signed a deal with the US four years ago that was part of a broader realignment of American troops.
A key part of the plan was relocating the Futenma base to the smaller city of Nago, where the latest election was held. The issue sparked intense protests and dominated debate between the two mayoral candidates. Defeated mayor Shimabukuro supported the base for the jobs and investment it would bring.
The Obama Administration has already expressed frustrations with Tokyo's delays in finalising the relocation of the Futenma base - now in the Okinawa city of Ginowan - saying it is delaying a sweeping realignment plan for US military in the region.
Another buildup snag
Another buildup snag
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 05:25
by Romeo Carlos | Variety News Staff
Okinawa vote heralds roadblock for Marines move
AT AN early morning breakfast meeting with a group of visiting Japanese and local businessmen news of an election in Okinawa Sunday colored discussions over a planned military-related project funded by the Japanese government.
In yet another setback to plans for transferring 8,000 Marines from Japan to Guam which was set to begin this year, voters in Okinawa elected a mayor on Sunday who campaigned on a promise to oppose the relocation of the Futenma Air Base to Nago from a more crowded part of the southern Japanese island.
“This only complicates things further,” a Japanese representative for a group of contractors preparing ahead of a major construction project to the breakfast workgroup. Like others at the table he asked not to be identified for this story because of the sensitive nature of ongoing talks.
Voters in the Okinawa city of Nago have amped up the pressure on Japan's left-leaning government to nix a 2006 agreement with the U.S. about the base by choosing challenger Susumu Inamine - who campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area - over incumbent mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro.
Rising concern
“There are real concerns,” said a manpower expert from the Philippines at the morning meeting. “Stringent regulations mean up to six months time to plan for labor recruitment but contractors are shy about committing resources right now, when they should be finalizing things because they are afraid of being stuck too far out if this keeps dragging on like this.”
The leader of the Japanese team of businessmen told Variety, "Our contractors are very nervous because the investments at stake are very large," he said, adding that a lengthy delay could increase the costs of buildup projects by millions.
"We already have projects on the table that will move forward, even with this delay. After that however is questionable," the nervous contractors' representative said. He questioned, "If at the last minute we have the green light the question will be ‘will we have the time to get things ready on Guam and how much will the delay add to project costs?’ These things are going to have to be factored."
Another official associated with the visiting business group said he expected their project activity to create between 160 and 200 local nonconstruction jobs as they begin operations on Guam later this year - that is if things stay on track.
But he and his colleagues fear timelines will have to be pushed back as much as up to 14 months if Tokyo ultimately allows the Marines air force base to move to Nago.
Washington officials have repeatedly said, despite counter claims by officials at the Joint Guam Program Office, calling off the agreement would end plans to transfer the marines and their dependents to Guam.
Economic activity
With a stagnant tourism industry and little else bringing in revenue to the government of Guam, the island is in sore need of the infusion of multibillion dollar construction projects to stir economic activity.
Even without significant measures to assure the government, local businesses and residents capture a greater portion of the windfall that will flow through Guam, government coffers stand to surge by more than $100 million per year.
Moreover, in the event Tokyo and Washington leadership is unable to arrive at an agreement over what to do about the controversial air base it may lead to years of dialog to renegotiate the entire matter, and leaving Guam on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs meant to support the demands of increased military presence on the island.
But if the planned buildup tarries much longer or simply never materializes the longterm debt implications are likely to have a worse impact on the island’s future than the planned militarization ever would.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 05:25
by Romeo Carlos | Variety News Staff
Okinawa vote heralds roadblock for Marines move
AT AN early morning breakfast meeting with a group of visiting Japanese and local businessmen news of an election in Okinawa Sunday colored discussions over a planned military-related project funded by the Japanese government.
In yet another setback to plans for transferring 8,000 Marines from Japan to Guam which was set to begin this year, voters in Okinawa elected a mayor on Sunday who campaigned on a promise to oppose the relocation of the Futenma Air Base to Nago from a more crowded part of the southern Japanese island.
“This only complicates things further,” a Japanese representative for a group of contractors preparing ahead of a major construction project to the breakfast workgroup. Like others at the table he asked not to be identified for this story because of the sensitive nature of ongoing talks.
Voters in the Okinawa city of Nago have amped up the pressure on Japan's left-leaning government to nix a 2006 agreement with the U.S. about the base by choosing challenger Susumu Inamine - who campaigned against any expansion of U.S. military presence in the area - over incumbent mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro.
Rising concern
“There are real concerns,” said a manpower expert from the Philippines at the morning meeting. “Stringent regulations mean up to six months time to plan for labor recruitment but contractors are shy about committing resources right now, when they should be finalizing things because they are afraid of being stuck too far out if this keeps dragging on like this.”
The leader of the Japanese team of businessmen told Variety, "Our contractors are very nervous because the investments at stake are very large," he said, adding that a lengthy delay could increase the costs of buildup projects by millions.
"We already have projects on the table that will move forward, even with this delay. After that however is questionable," the nervous contractors' representative said. He questioned, "If at the last minute we have the green light the question will be ‘will we have the time to get things ready on Guam and how much will the delay add to project costs?’ These things are going to have to be factored."
Another official associated with the visiting business group said he expected their project activity to create between 160 and 200 local nonconstruction jobs as they begin operations on Guam later this year - that is if things stay on track.
But he and his colleagues fear timelines will have to be pushed back as much as up to 14 months if Tokyo ultimately allows the Marines air force base to move to Nago.
Washington officials have repeatedly said, despite counter claims by officials at the Joint Guam Program Office, calling off the agreement would end plans to transfer the marines and their dependents to Guam.
Economic activity
With a stagnant tourism industry and little else bringing in revenue to the government of Guam, the island is in sore need of the infusion of multibillion dollar construction projects to stir economic activity.
Even without significant measures to assure the government, local businesses and residents capture a greater portion of the windfall that will flow through Guam, government coffers stand to surge by more than $100 million per year.
Moreover, in the event Tokyo and Washington leadership is unable to arrive at an agreement over what to do about the controversial air base it may lead to years of dialog to renegotiate the entire matter, and leaving Guam on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs meant to support the demands of increased military presence on the island.
But if the planned buildup tarries much longer or simply never materializes the longterm debt implications are likely to have a worse impact on the island’s future than the planned militarization ever would.
Mayor's election in Okinawa is setback for U.S. air base move
Mayor's election in Okinawa is setback for U.S. air base move
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 25, 2010
TOKYO -- In a small-town election that may have a big impact on U.S. ties with Japan, voters in Nago on Okinawa chose a new mayor Sunday who opposes the relocation of a noisy U.S. military air base to his town.
Susumu Inamine, who said during his campaign that he did not want the air station constructed in Nago, defeated the incumbent, Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, who has long supported hosting the base as a way of increasing jobs and investment.
"I was campaigning in the election with a pledge not to have a new base built," Inamine told supporters Sunday night.
The United States and Japan agreed four years ago to move the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, now located in a dense urban area in the center of Okinawa, to Nago, a town of 60,000 in the thinly populated northern part of the tropical island. It was to have been built on landfill along a pristine coast on the edge of the town.
But to the exasperation of the Obama administration, that deal was put on hold last fall after the election of a new government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who says Japan has been too passive in its dealings with the United States. Hatoyama has suggested that the base be moved off Okinawa or out of Japan altogether -- and has also said that the outcome of the mayoral vote in Nago would be a factor in his government's final decision, which he has promised to make by May.
Inamine's anti-base campaign attracted support from environmentalists and from local members of Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners, as well as from the Japanese Communist Party.
Nago's mayor avoided mention of the airbase in his campaign, saying its relocation was not a matter that could or should be decided by him or residents of his city.
That view is shared by U.S. Marine Corps commanders, who view the Futenma air station as a linchpin in the continuous training and on-call mobility of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based on Okinawa and is the only such U.S. force in the Far East.
"National security policy cannot be made in towns and villages," Lt. Gen. Keith J. Stalder, commander of Marine forces in the Pacific, said in an interview last week.
Relocating the Marine air station to Nago is a key part of a $26 billion deal between Japan and the United States to transfer 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and turn over valuable tracts of land to people on the island. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last fall that the deal would probably collapse if the air station does not move to Nago.
Several U.S. officials said last week they believe that senior leaders in the Hatoyama government have begun to realize that there is no workable alternative to relocating the air station as previously agreed. They also said that such an important decision should be made in Tokyo and not in a local election.
Construction of the air station in Nago would require a massive landfill in a picturesque stretch of waters now used by fishermen and snorkelers. It is opposed by environmentalists who have filed a lawsuit saying it would destroy habitat of the rare dugong, a manatee-like sea mammal. A Japanese government environmental assessment has said that dugongs have not been seen in the proposed construction area for many years.
For many Okinawans, the Futenma air station has become a symbol of the noise, pollution and risk of accidents that they associate with the large U.S. military presence on the island.
Surrounded by 92,000 people in the city of Ginowan, Futenma torments its neighbors with the comings and going of combat helicopters and transport aircraft.
In 2004, a helicopter based at the airfield crashed into the administration building of a nearby college. There were no deaths, but the incident angered local residents and led to the 2006 agreement to move the air base to Nago.
The vote in Nago does not necessarily kill the relocation of the air station. The final decision is up to the governor of Okinawa, who has shown qualified support for the base relocation plan, and the central government in Tokyo.
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 25, 2010
TOKYO -- In a small-town election that may have a big impact on U.S. ties with Japan, voters in Nago on Okinawa chose a new mayor Sunday who opposes the relocation of a noisy U.S. military air base to his town.
Susumu Inamine, who said during his campaign that he did not want the air station constructed in Nago, defeated the incumbent, Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, who has long supported hosting the base as a way of increasing jobs and investment.
"I was campaigning in the election with a pledge not to have a new base built," Inamine told supporters Sunday night.
The United States and Japan agreed four years ago to move the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, now located in a dense urban area in the center of Okinawa, to Nago, a town of 60,000 in the thinly populated northern part of the tropical island. It was to have been built on landfill along a pristine coast on the edge of the town.
But to the exasperation of the Obama administration, that deal was put on hold last fall after the election of a new government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who says Japan has been too passive in its dealings with the United States. Hatoyama has suggested that the base be moved off Okinawa or out of Japan altogether -- and has also said that the outcome of the mayoral vote in Nago would be a factor in his government's final decision, which he has promised to make by May.
Inamine's anti-base campaign attracted support from environmentalists and from local members of Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners, as well as from the Japanese Communist Party.
Nago's mayor avoided mention of the airbase in his campaign, saying its relocation was not a matter that could or should be decided by him or residents of his city.
That view is shared by U.S. Marine Corps commanders, who view the Futenma air station as a linchpin in the continuous training and on-call mobility of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based on Okinawa and is the only such U.S. force in the Far East.
"National security policy cannot be made in towns and villages," Lt. Gen. Keith J. Stalder, commander of Marine forces in the Pacific, said in an interview last week.
Relocating the Marine air station to Nago is a key part of a $26 billion deal between Japan and the United States to transfer 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and turn over valuable tracts of land to people on the island. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last fall that the deal would probably collapse if the air station does not move to Nago.
Several U.S. officials said last week they believe that senior leaders in the Hatoyama government have begun to realize that there is no workable alternative to relocating the air station as previously agreed. They also said that such an important decision should be made in Tokyo and not in a local election.
Construction of the air station in Nago would require a massive landfill in a picturesque stretch of waters now used by fishermen and snorkelers. It is opposed by environmentalists who have filed a lawsuit saying it would destroy habitat of the rare dugong, a manatee-like sea mammal. A Japanese government environmental assessment has said that dugongs have not been seen in the proposed construction area for many years.
For many Okinawans, the Futenma air station has become a symbol of the noise, pollution and risk of accidents that they associate with the large U.S. military presence on the island.
Surrounded by 92,000 people in the city of Ginowan, Futenma torments its neighbors with the comings and going of combat helicopters and transport aircraft.
In 2004, a helicopter based at the airfield crashed into the administration building of a nearby college. There were no deaths, but the incident angered local residents and led to the 2006 agreement to move the air base to Nago.
The vote in Nago does not necessarily kill the relocation of the air station. The final decision is up to the governor of Okinawa, who has shown qualified support for the base relocation plan, and the central government in Tokyo.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Voting begins in Nago poll that may affect Hatoyama decision on Futemma
Voting begins in Nago poll that may affect Hatoyama decision on Futemma
Jan 23 07:10 PM US/Eastern
(AP) - NAGO, Japan, Jan. 24 (Kyodo) — Voting began Sunday morning in an election to pick the leader of the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, which may determine Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's decision on the future of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Ginowan, another city in the southernmost Japanese prefecture.
The mayoral election is being closely watched as Hatoyama has said that he wants to see the result before deciding whether to relocate the Futemma facility, which currently sits in a residential area in Ginowan, to Nago in line with a 2006 Japan-U.S. deal or to transfer it outside the prefecture as he has advocated.
Incumbent Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, 63, has shown his willingness to accept the existing plan if Tokyo decides to do so, while his sole rival Susumu Inamine, 64, is resolutely opposed to it.
Under the bilateral deal, the central Okinawa city of Nago with a population of about 60,000 will have to have a new heliport base built along the coast of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab near the city's Henoko area to accommodate the Futemma facility.
"We have suffered for 13 years...with neighbors long being at loggerheads with each other," Inamine told voters Saturday. "But let's put an end to it in this (election). I will not have another base constructed in Henoko waters."
Inamine was referring to a local referendum in 1997 in which a majority voted against the relocation and the fact that the U.S. base issue has divided the city over whether it should accept the base in exchange for a considerable amount of government subsidies. The city has been plagued by fiscal problems.
During campaigning Saturday, meanwhile, Shimabukuro made virtually no mention of the relocation issue, arguing it is a matter that neither a mayor nor local people in the city should decide on.
Instead, Shimabukuro has highlighted what he has achieved during his past four-year term including the creation of 1,000 jobs by inviting companies from outside the city, as well as maintaining economic stability by taking advantage of base-related state subsidies.
Inamine is running as an independent but has support from Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners -- the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party -- and the Japanese Communist Party, while Shimabukuro, running also as an independent, has the backing of two opposition parties -- the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party.
Inamine, who is former chairman of the city's education board, is also supported by civic groups opposing the construction of a new U.S. base, while Shimabukuro is largely backed by construction firms that have benefited from the state subsidies and related public works projects.
Hatoyama reiterated last week that his government would conclude negotiations with the United States by the end of May on where to relocate the Futemma facility.
Since taking office last September, the 62-year-old Japanese leader has been evasive on the issue and this has been widely seen as straining Japan-U.S. relations.
Jan 23 07:10 PM US/Eastern
(AP) - NAGO, Japan, Jan. 24 (Kyodo) — Voting began Sunday morning in an election to pick the leader of the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, which may determine Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's decision on the future of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Ginowan, another city in the southernmost Japanese prefecture.
The mayoral election is being closely watched as Hatoyama has said that he wants to see the result before deciding whether to relocate the Futemma facility, which currently sits in a residential area in Ginowan, to Nago in line with a 2006 Japan-U.S. deal or to transfer it outside the prefecture as he has advocated.
Incumbent Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, 63, has shown his willingness to accept the existing plan if Tokyo decides to do so, while his sole rival Susumu Inamine, 64, is resolutely opposed to it.
Under the bilateral deal, the central Okinawa city of Nago with a population of about 60,000 will have to have a new heliport base built along the coast of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab near the city's Henoko area to accommodate the Futemma facility.
"We have suffered for 13 years...with neighbors long being at loggerheads with each other," Inamine told voters Saturday. "But let's put an end to it in this (election). I will not have another base constructed in Henoko waters."
Inamine was referring to a local referendum in 1997 in which a majority voted against the relocation and the fact that the U.S. base issue has divided the city over whether it should accept the base in exchange for a considerable amount of government subsidies. The city has been plagued by fiscal problems.
During campaigning Saturday, meanwhile, Shimabukuro made virtually no mention of the relocation issue, arguing it is a matter that neither a mayor nor local people in the city should decide on.
Instead, Shimabukuro has highlighted what he has achieved during his past four-year term including the creation of 1,000 jobs by inviting companies from outside the city, as well as maintaining economic stability by taking advantage of base-related state subsidies.
Inamine is running as an independent but has support from Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners -- the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party -- and the Japanese Communist Party, while Shimabukuro, running also as an independent, has the backing of two opposition parties -- the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party.
Inamine, who is former chairman of the city's education board, is also supported by civic groups opposing the construction of a new U.S. base, while Shimabukuro is largely backed by construction firms that have benefited from the state subsidies and related public works projects.
Hatoyama reiterated last week that his government would conclude negotiations with the United States by the end of May on where to relocate the Futemma facility.
Since taking office last September, the 62-year-old Japanese leader has been evasive on the issue and this has been widely seen as straining Japan-U.S. relations.
Futenma not expected to dictate election
Futenma not expected to dictate election
By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, January 24, 2010
NAGO, Okinawa — People unfamiliar with this northern Okinawa city may be overstating the importance of Sunday’s mayoral election, comparing it to a referendum on moving Marine air operations to Camp Schwab.
The issue is just not that black and white, some residents and political analysts say.
More than 76 percent of the city’s 60,000 residents live on the other side of a mountain from Schwab, selected as a replacement site for Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, and they would not be affected by the noise and safety concerns opponents of the project say it would bring.
Masaaki Gabe, professor of international relations at the University of the Ryukyus, said he did not believe the election would be a clear-cut resolution to the issue.
"I don’t think Futenma weighs that heavily for voters when they choose their mayor," he said Thursday, noting that while the attention of the press and people outside the city has focused on Nago elections over the past 13 years as referendums on the base issue, voters were more focused on community economic matters.
The city has an unemployment rate of 12.5 percent, double the national average.
Still, politicians in Tokyo are watching the results closely. The defeat of the current mayor, who has reluctantly supported the plan, could strengthen the resistance of Japan’s new government to following through on the 2006 agreement that calls for building the new base and closing Futenma, located in the heart of urban Ginowan.
Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, 63, is fighting for his political life against challenger Susumu Inamine, 64, who has made opposition to the relocation one of the key planks to his platform.
"I promise not to allow construction of a new base in the sea of Henoko," Inamine said Thursday at a rally. He is supported by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners.
While his opponent is focusing on the base issue, Shimabukuro is downplaying its importance.
"Futenma is clearly a national defense issue, for which the national government should be responsible," campaign spokesman Ichiro Miyagi said Thursday. "People here are tired of [outsiders] highlighting an issue that was clearly not their focus."
On that even Shimabukuro’s opponents can agree.
"It’s time to bring to an end to the Futenma issue so that people in Nago can be relieved from the long spell that painfully divided this city," said Yoshitami Oshiro, a campaign manager for Inamine and a city assembly member.
The DPJ-led government has decided to review the 2006 relocation agreement, setting May as a deadline for deciding whether to continue with the Camp Schwab plan or press for an alternate location outside Okinawa.
However, although local newspaper polls over the past decade have shown a majority of residents oppose the project, they have elected pro-relocation mayors.
The controversy has divided this city for so long that some residents interviewed by Stars and Stripes asked not to be identified.
"My biggest concern is how to revive our city," said a 44-year-old restaurant owner in downtown Nago, who asked to remain anonymous. "I don’t care one way or another about the Futenma issue. Working for the education of our children, the welfare of city residents and promotion of the local economy are what I expect of our mayor.
By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, January 24, 2010
NAGO, Okinawa — People unfamiliar with this northern Okinawa city may be overstating the importance of Sunday’s mayoral election, comparing it to a referendum on moving Marine air operations to Camp Schwab.
The issue is just not that black and white, some residents and political analysts say.
More than 76 percent of the city’s 60,000 residents live on the other side of a mountain from Schwab, selected as a replacement site for Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, and they would not be affected by the noise and safety concerns opponents of the project say it would bring.
Masaaki Gabe, professor of international relations at the University of the Ryukyus, said he did not believe the election would be a clear-cut resolution to the issue.
"I don’t think Futenma weighs that heavily for voters when they choose their mayor," he said Thursday, noting that while the attention of the press and people outside the city has focused on Nago elections over the past 13 years as referendums on the base issue, voters were more focused on community economic matters.
The city has an unemployment rate of 12.5 percent, double the national average.
Still, politicians in Tokyo are watching the results closely. The defeat of the current mayor, who has reluctantly supported the plan, could strengthen the resistance of Japan’s new government to following through on the 2006 agreement that calls for building the new base and closing Futenma, located in the heart of urban Ginowan.
Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, 63, is fighting for his political life against challenger Susumu Inamine, 64, who has made opposition to the relocation one of the key planks to his platform.
"I promise not to allow construction of a new base in the sea of Henoko," Inamine said Thursday at a rally. He is supported by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and its coalition partners.
While his opponent is focusing on the base issue, Shimabukuro is downplaying its importance.
"Futenma is clearly a national defense issue, for which the national government should be responsible," campaign spokesman Ichiro Miyagi said Thursday. "People here are tired of [outsiders] highlighting an issue that was clearly not their focus."
On that even Shimabukuro’s opponents can agree.
"It’s time to bring to an end to the Futenma issue so that people in Nago can be relieved from the long spell that painfully divided this city," said Yoshitami Oshiro, a campaign manager for Inamine and a city assembly member.
The DPJ-led government has decided to review the 2006 relocation agreement, setting May as a deadline for deciding whether to continue with the Camp Schwab plan or press for an alternate location outside Okinawa.
However, although local newspaper polls over the past decade have shown a majority of residents oppose the project, they have elected pro-relocation mayors.
The controversy has divided this city for so long that some residents interviewed by Stars and Stripes asked not to be identified.
"My biggest concern is how to revive our city," said a 44-year-old restaurant owner in downtown Nago, who asked to remain anonymous. "I don’t care one way or another about the Futenma issue. Working for the education of our children, the welfare of city residents and promotion of the local economy are what I expect of our mayor.
Local Vote Could Decide Japan Base Issue
Local Vote Could Decide Japan Base Issue
By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: January 22, 2010
TOKYO — Few Americans have ever heard of Yoshikazu Shimabukuro or Susumu Inamine, or even the tiny Okinawan city of Nago where the two men are candidates in a heated race for mayor.
But this seemingly minor election could, in an indirect way, have major consequences for the United States’ ties with Japan, its most important Asian ally. Depending on the outcome, political experts say, the vote on Sunday could fuel a widening diplomatic rift with Japan, and possibly even add to pressure to reduce the 50,000 American military personnel now stationed there.
Nago is where the United States and Japan agreed four years ago to relocate a busy Marine helicopter base in a controversial deal that took a decade to complete — largely because it was so hard to find a community that was willing to accept the Americans.
Now Nago, a city of 60,000, may be about to reconsider its acceptance of the base, with its runways built on landfill in pristine turquoise waters near Henoko, a sleepy fishing village administered by Nago. The question of whether to reject the 2006 deal has emerged as the dominant issue in Sunday’s vote, which pits the pro-base incumbent, Mr. Shimabukuro, 63, against Mr. Inamine, 64, the chairman of the city’s education board, who opposes the base.
In Tokyo, the election is being closely watched as a crucial referendum on the 2006 deal that could sway the new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, who has yet to state clearly whether he supports or opposes the plan. Mr. Hatoyama has raised the ire of the Obama administration by putting the relocation agreement on hold until May, when he will decide whether to support it, or name a new site for the base.
Mr. Hatoyama is caught between the demands from Washington that he honor the agreement and domestic pressure to make good on his campaign promises to review the deal. But Mr. Hatoyama has said he will heed voters on Okinawa, who overwhelmingly backed his party in last summer’s historic national election, which ended the half-century rule of the Liberal Democrats, and Sunday’s election in Nago is widely seen as an important barometer of public opinion on the island.
An equally large problem, say political experts, is the fact that Nago was the only community that Tokyo could convince to take the base, the sprawling United States Marine Air Station Futenma, now located in the middle of Okinawa’s crowded Ginowan city. Losing Nago as an option leaves few realistic alternatives, say analysts. These could include merging the Marine base into a nearby Air Force base, or moving them off of Okinawa altogether, most likely to Guam — both options that have been resisted by Washington.
“If Mr. Inamine wins, it becomes very hard to do the current plan,” said Takashi Kawakami, a professor specializing in security issues at Tokyo’s Takushoku University. “It will feed calls for moving the base out of Okinawa or out of Japan.”
In Nago, current popular acceptance of the base stands on a fragile consensus that it will bring much needed jobs and investment. But last summer’s election victory by Mr. Hatoyama’s Democrats stirred up hopes for a reduction in the military burden for Okinawa, the southern island where many of the American military personnel in Japan are located.
A group of antiwar and environmental protesters has erected a large tent on the beach at Henoko to stage a permanent sit-in against the planned base, which they say would destroy one of the last habitats of the endangered dugong, a large sea mammal related to the manatee.
These sentiments have helped give Mr. Inamine, the anti-base challenger, a slight lead in recent polls by local newspapers. Another factor, revealed in interviews late last year with Nago residents, is a growing feeling of irritation with the constant delays in construction, and the stress this has caused their community.
“The base has divided our community, and even families have been split,” said Shoji Gishitomi, 35, a fisherman in Henoko. “We want to get this past us, one way or the other.”
Indeed, political experts and local residents agree that Mr. Hatoyama’s decision to delay a decision on the base, made out of an apparent desire to find a solution to please both Washington and Okinawa, may only end up angering both.
“The United States doesn’t know if it can trust Hatoyama or not,” said Hiroshi Ashitomi, one of the protesters staging the sit-in at Henoko, “and neither do we Okinawans.”
By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: January 22, 2010
TOKYO — Few Americans have ever heard of Yoshikazu Shimabukuro or Susumu Inamine, or even the tiny Okinawan city of Nago where the two men are candidates in a heated race for mayor.
But this seemingly minor election could, in an indirect way, have major consequences for the United States’ ties with Japan, its most important Asian ally. Depending on the outcome, political experts say, the vote on Sunday could fuel a widening diplomatic rift with Japan, and possibly even add to pressure to reduce the 50,000 American military personnel now stationed there.
Nago is where the United States and Japan agreed four years ago to relocate a busy Marine helicopter base in a controversial deal that took a decade to complete — largely because it was so hard to find a community that was willing to accept the Americans.
Now Nago, a city of 60,000, may be about to reconsider its acceptance of the base, with its runways built on landfill in pristine turquoise waters near Henoko, a sleepy fishing village administered by Nago. The question of whether to reject the 2006 deal has emerged as the dominant issue in Sunday’s vote, which pits the pro-base incumbent, Mr. Shimabukuro, 63, against Mr. Inamine, 64, the chairman of the city’s education board, who opposes the base.
In Tokyo, the election is being closely watched as a crucial referendum on the 2006 deal that could sway the new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, who has yet to state clearly whether he supports or opposes the plan. Mr. Hatoyama has raised the ire of the Obama administration by putting the relocation agreement on hold until May, when he will decide whether to support it, or name a new site for the base.
Mr. Hatoyama is caught between the demands from Washington that he honor the agreement and domestic pressure to make good on his campaign promises to review the deal. But Mr. Hatoyama has said he will heed voters on Okinawa, who overwhelmingly backed his party in last summer’s historic national election, which ended the half-century rule of the Liberal Democrats, and Sunday’s election in Nago is widely seen as an important barometer of public opinion on the island.
An equally large problem, say political experts, is the fact that Nago was the only community that Tokyo could convince to take the base, the sprawling United States Marine Air Station Futenma, now located in the middle of Okinawa’s crowded Ginowan city. Losing Nago as an option leaves few realistic alternatives, say analysts. These could include merging the Marine base into a nearby Air Force base, or moving them off of Okinawa altogether, most likely to Guam — both options that have been resisted by Washington.
“If Mr. Inamine wins, it becomes very hard to do the current plan,” said Takashi Kawakami, a professor specializing in security issues at Tokyo’s Takushoku University. “It will feed calls for moving the base out of Okinawa or out of Japan.”
In Nago, current popular acceptance of the base stands on a fragile consensus that it will bring much needed jobs and investment. But last summer’s election victory by Mr. Hatoyama’s Democrats stirred up hopes for a reduction in the military burden for Okinawa, the southern island where many of the American military personnel in Japan are located.
A group of antiwar and environmental protesters has erected a large tent on the beach at Henoko to stage a permanent sit-in against the planned base, which they say would destroy one of the last habitats of the endangered dugong, a large sea mammal related to the manatee.
These sentiments have helped give Mr. Inamine, the anti-base challenger, a slight lead in recent polls by local newspapers. Another factor, revealed in interviews late last year with Nago residents, is a growing feeling of irritation with the constant delays in construction, and the stress this has caused their community.
“The base has divided our community, and even families have been split,” said Shoji Gishitomi, 35, a fisherman in Henoko. “We want to get this past us, one way or the other.”
Indeed, political experts and local residents agree that Mr. Hatoyama’s decision to delay a decision on the base, made out of an apparent desire to find a solution to please both Washington and Okinawa, may only end up angering both.
“The United States doesn’t know if it can trust Hatoyama or not,” said Hiroshi Ashitomi, one of the protesters staging the sit-in at Henoko, “and neither do we Okinawans.”
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