The Lower House on May 9 approved legislation to bolster a defense industry that has seen many Japanese contractors leaving it because of low profitability, but critics charge the bill may just prop up inefficient companies.
The planned construction site for a new U.S. military facility to take over the functions of the Futenma base in Okinawa Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
It s been two years since people in Okinawa Prefecture clearly showed a collective will to reject the government’s plan to build a new U.S. military base in the Henoko district of Nago, a city in the prefecture, in a referendum.
During those two years, however, the government has been forging ahead with land reclamation work to build a new air facility that would take over the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture.
Takamatsu Gushiken, who has been involved in recovering the remains of the war dead, points to cleared land where they may have been buried in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on Nov. 26. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
As chief Cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga was in charge of easing Okinawa Prefecture’s disproportionate burden of hosting U.S. bases in Japan.
His pet phrase on file has been that he would be considerate of residents’ feelings.
Still, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which Suga underpinned as the most senior government spokesman, pushed for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the prefecture even though Okinawans have adamantly opposed the central government’s project.