Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga met Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima on Wednesday and sought support for the central government's policy of relocating a U.S. military base in the prefecture, Japanese media reported.
But Nakaima told the central government's top official during their meeting in Naha city that he wanted the airfield moved out of Okinawa rather than relocating it in another place in the same prefecture. He told Suga that it would take too long to build a replacement facility at Henoko district of Nago in the prefecture as planned by the central government.
The Japanese government last month had applied to Okinawa for permission to reclaim a sparsely populated coastal area of Henoko to build a replacement for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station now located in the densely populated area of Ginowan city in Okinawa.
Nakaima said the government's application would be assessed on the basis of relevant laws. He also asked the central government to clarify when the U.S. military would return land under its possession south of its Kadena Air Base in the prefecture, Japan's NHK broadcaster reported.
Suga said the government was working to achieve the return of the land to ease Okinawa's burden. But he also sought the prefecture's understanding for building the replacement facility in Henoko in line with a Japan-U.S. agreement.
Nakaima also told the official that people in Okinawa were opposed to the government's plan to hold a ceremony on April 28 to mark the restoration of Japan's sovereignty over Okinawa under the 1952 San Francisco Peace Treaty after 80 months of U.S. occupation. The plan has enraged Okinawans as the prefecture remained under U.S. administration until 1972.
A close U.S. ally in the Asia-Pacific, Japan is hosting several American military bases with more than 50,000 soldiers.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.