Japan has told the United states that the latter's Futenma Marine Corps Air Station should be relocated from the Ginowan city in the Okinawa prefecture to a less populated area of the same prefecture "steadily and swiftly."
Japan also called for speedy return of plots of land in Okinawa used for U.S. military facilities south of America's Kadena air base to their original Japanese owners.
All these issues figured in the telephonic talks Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera had with the new U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday night. They agreed to cooperate to resolve the pending issues including the relocation of Futenma Air Station, Japanese media reported.
Onodera said resolving the two issues as agreed was important to reduce the burden on the southern island prefecture. He also asked Hagel to ensure safety in low-altitude training flights of U.S. Osprey military aircraft. Training flights of the controversial transport aircraft are currently underway in western Japan.
Onodera also brought to the notice of Hagel frequent incursions of Chinese government vessels into Japanese territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Hagel said the U.S. and Japan should closely cooperate in resolving the difficult problem.
A key U.S. ally in the Asia-Pacific, Japan is home to several U.S. military bases with more than 50,000 Marines.
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