Japan Press Weekly

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2018 September 12 - 18 [POLITICS]

70% of Okinawans opposed to Henoko base project, focal issue of governor race

Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper on September 17 published its opinion poll result indicating that nearly 70% of Okinawans are opposed to the construction of a new U.S. base in the Henoko district, which is the biggest issue in the gubernatorial election scheduled for the end of this month.

The poll shows that 28.1% of the respondents said the U.S. Futenma base should be relocated to outside Okinawa, 21.2% thought that the base should be moved to another country, and 19.7% believed that it should be unconditionally closed and removed. The percentage of those who are opposed to the Henoko project stood at 69.7% in total.

In the same poll, asked about which issue is the most important in choosing who to vote for, the most respondents cited “the U.S. base issue” (41.6%), followed by “the issues of economy, business, and employment” (26.7%), and “the issues of medical care and welfare” (13%).

Past related articles:
> Okinawans petition prefectural gov’t to hold referendum on US base construction in Henoko [September 6, 2018]
> ‘All Okinawa’-backed gubernatorial election candidate: Get Henoko base project stopped [August 30, 2018]