Abe, Okinawa governor meet to discuss US base relocation

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga on Friday made some headway on the central government's contentious plans to relocate a controversial U.S. airbase within Japan's southernmost prefecture.

At a meeting held at the prime minister's office, the pair agreed that the central and prefectural governments through intensive consultations over the coming weeks will try to work through the current stalemate.

Onaga said Abe told him that were it not for Friday's meeting, the pair might still be at loggerheads over the issue, opinion of which on the tiny island of Okinawa stands staunchly opposed to Abe's base relocation plans.

Under a previous bilateral accord between the United States and Japan, the U.S. Marine Corps' Air Station Futenma will be relocated from the densely populated area in Ginowan, to the less populated coastal Henoko district of Nago also on the island, a move that is vehemently opposed by prefectural officials and citizens of Okinawa, who already shoulder the majority of Japan's U.S. base-hosting burdens.

Onaga, for his part, said he would like to deepen discussions during the period of consultations, scheduled to take place during five weeks when land reclamation work in Henoko has been suspended, to gain a deeper understanding of the central government's intentions.

The first round of talks are scheduled to take place on Tuesday between Onaga and Abe's top spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.

Onaga said he's keen to convey his and the prefecture's opinions on Okinawa's postwar base-hosting burdens, including the specifics of how and why the Futenma base was built in the first place.

Onaga said he also wants to hear the central government's views on issues it describes as relating to deterrence and geopolitics.

However, while Onaga has persistently maintained his opposition to the base's relocation, Abe and the central government have maintained that the base's move remains the only solution.

The vast majority of the islanders, including its officials, wish to see the base relocated off the island all together, and out of Japan if possible, with the rift being a source of regular protests and ill-feeling on the small southern island.