In the absolutely final lawsuit over the Henoko relocation, Okinawa Prefecture gets its second loss, with no recognition of standing. (3se24)

Splendor of Okinawa: Great Bougainvillea, beachside Mihama, 23au24


The US Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan is planned for relocation to Henoko in Nago, both in Okinawa Prefecture.

The Defense ministry had requested design changes, but the Prefecture refused permission. The National Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation Ministry voided the lack of permission in its ruling. Considering that illegal, the Prefecture, in a protest suit appeal trial, requested the nullification of the ministry’s ruling.


On 2 September, the Naha Branch of the Fukuoka High Court (presiding judge Takashi Miura) passed down its ruling rejecting the appeal and supporting the ruling of the Naha First District Court.

 

As for the relocation plan, after 14 suits fought between the Government and the Prefecture, this will be the last. Still, the Prefecture is considering another appeal up to the Supreme Court.


In 2020, the Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau asked the Prefecture for changes in the design for reinforcement work due to a weak seabed in the area proposed for a landfill at Henoko


The Prefecture refused permission because the research work was insufficient. In response, in 2022, the  Trnsportation Ministry, which had received a request for an investgation based on Japan’s regional autonomy law, ruled that the prefecture’s refusal of acceptance was void.


In response to the Prefecture’s plea to nullify that ruling, Chief Judge Miura ruled, “A prefecture has no standing to file suit to cancel such a ruling.” So, it was decided that the Prefecture’s very appeal was unlawful.


As for the ruling requesting an investigation over legally entrusted duties which the Nation entrusts to local autonomous entities, the Naha District Court pointed out that, if a prefecture’s petition for administrative redress is acknowledged, speedy resolution of disputes will become difficult”

 

In response to the court’s ruling, Governor Denny Tamaki offered his comment, “It’s an outright shame that our expectation of a fair and neutral verdict, the very soul of the regional autonomy that our Constitution guarantees, is trampled on by our courts.”

 

Original Japanese article: Asahi Digital, published Monday 2 September 2024 at 19:24. Byline: Taro Ono

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/9726aa957c096c9bdcaa1c5f6c7ca42056681740


Denny in the News:


Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although Okinawa is important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 


This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 


Any suggestion on improving my translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.


Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.

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