Tanaka pushes for 2012 move of Futenma

Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka reiterated his hopes that the U.S. Marine Corps Station Futenma can be relocated soon to Okinawa's Henoko coastal area. Tanaka, on his first trip to Okinawa since taking on the Defense post Jan. 13 in a Cabinet reshuffle, spoke to the media after meeting with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima in the island's capital city Naha. The controversial proposal is to relocate the U.S. helicopter base from the densely populated civilian area in Ginowan, north Naha, to a remote but environmentally sensitive area near another U.S. military base, Camp Schwab. Tanaka told Nakaima that he "would like to find clues to resolving (the move) through sincere dialogue," a report by the Japanese news agency Kyodo said. But Nakaima maintained that the base must be moved out of Okinawa altogether and he hoped the government in Tokyo would eventually agree to it, the Kyodo report said. The move is in line with an agreement made in 2005 between the United States and Japan to relocate the base, but which has run afoul of many local residents and environmentalists. Some protesters want no U.S. bases on Okinawa, which they say has a disproportionate number of the U.S. troops stationed in Japan. Tanaka also is the first minister to visit Okinawa since the central government handed over an environmental impact report late last year to the prefecture. Around 200 protesters in Naha in December blocked a van attempting to deliver the long-awaited environmental report to the Okinawan prefecture, a report by Kyodo news agency said at the time. The report was later delivered by mail. Okinawa is one of the largest islands in the Ryukyu Island chain that curls south of Japan for more than 600 miles toward Taiwan. The islands are strategically important to the United States because of their proximity to China. But Okinawa is less than 900 square miles and has a population of around 1.5 million people. More than a dozen U.S. bases on the island have one-third of the 40,000 U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan. The U.S. bases are a legacy of World War II when U.S. forces captured the island chain on their way to defeating Japan. In 1972 the U.S. government returned the islands to Japanese administration but the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security with Japan allows the United States to maintain a large military presence. Tanaka was in office only three days before he waded into the Futenma debate, saying he hoped the air base could be relocated by the end of 2012, albeit with consent of the local community. "Whether we can begin construction within this year has been a focus of the procedures for the time being, but we cannot move the project forward without the acceptance of the people of Okinawa," Tanaka said on a television program by public broadcaster NHK. He also said failure to start the move this year could force Japan and the United States to review their bilateral agreement on the relocation project. "If the plan doesn't proceed, the United States would be pressed to review it," he said. When Futenma was set up in 1945, the area surrounding it within Ginowan was little populated. But Ginowan now is a major city district and is often friction between U.S. military personnel and civilians. A move to Henoko would minimize confrontations -- including assaults and traffic accidents -- between civilians and off-duty military staff. The rape of a 12-year-old girl by U.S. servicemen in 1995 set of large protests in Okinawa. But there also is a major concern in Ginowan over the safety of helicopters out of necessity over civilian areas. In August 2004, a U.S. helicopter crashed into the grounds of nearby Okinawa International University. There were no casualties or injuries, except minor injuries to the three U.S. crewmembers. However, the fiery crash reinforced the "move Futenma" protests and up to 30,000 people reportedly attended rallies the next month in the streets of Ginowan.