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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Governors criticize U.S. military realignment plan

At the National Governors' Association meeting held on November 11 at the prime minister's official residence, Okinawa Governor Inamine Keiichi and other governors hosting U.S. military bases expressed opposition to the Japan-U.S. agreement on realigning the U.S. forces in Japan.

Governor Inamine said, "The agreement is really outrageous because the U.S. Futenma Air Station was supposed to be taken out of Okinawa."

Governor Matsuzawa Shigefume of Kanagawa Prefecture, which has the second largest number of U.S. bases after Okinawa, criticized the government for not providing concerned local governments with any information about developments in the realignment talks.

In responding to the governors' criticism, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro asked them to "understand that this is a sensitive matter of Japan's security."

He showed the posture of imposing the realignment plan on them, saying, "I want you to take into account the national interests and ask the localities concerned to shoulder the inevitable burden."

Kanagawa governor Matsuzawa, who chairs the association of 14 prefectures, including Tokyo, where U.S. bases are located, held talks with Defense Agency Director General Nukaga Fukushiro on the same day and requested that he respect local government opinions.

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The Sagamihara City Assembly in Kanagawa Prefecture convened an extraordinary session on November 11 and unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the interim report that includes a plan to establish a new U.S. command from U.S. Army I Corps at U.S. Army Camp Zama in the prefecture. -- Akahata, November 12, 2005