Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 16 - 22 [OKINAWA]

Okinawa governor criticizes Japan-US agreement on conditional return of US bases

Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu on May 15 blamed Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko for agreeing with the U.S. government on the conditional return of five bases located south of the U.S. Kadena base on Okinawa’s main island.

After a ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of the return of Okinawa to Japan in Ginowan City, Nakaima told reporters that the latest bilateral agreement sets the verification of the relocation sites and the transport of U.S. Marine Corps personnel to Guam as conditions for the return of the five bases. “They say that the construction of a new U.S. base at Henoko is no longer packaged with the return of the five bases. However, the conditions offer almost no difference (with the former agreement),” he stated.

Regarding the planned deployment of MV-22 Ospreys to the Futenma Base in Ginowan, the governor said, “I received news about the controversial aircraft’s frequent falling accidents. It is unusual to assign military airplanes causing so many fatal accidents to a base which sits in the middle of a populous urban district. I can only say that the deployment should be canceled.”