Okinawa governor bears down on his opposition to Henoko, regardless of the Futenma reversion agreement 29 years ago. (14ap25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Jersey Lily, Gushikawa RC Church, 13ap25.


On 12 April 29 years ago, both the US and Japanese Governments agreed on the reversion to Japanese control of the US Futenma Airfield in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.


On 11 April, the day before that anniversary, Governor Denny Tamaki held his regular press conference. There, he expressed, once again, his stance in opposition to relocating that base to Henoko in Nago, emphasizing, “Firming up the weak seabed at the construction site will require several years. So, the relocation has nothing to do with the speedy closing of the base and reversion of the land to Japan.” 


On 12 April 1996, both the US and Japanese Governments announced that the total reversion of the base land would be realized in 5 to 7 years. Questioned on why the reversion had still not been realized even now, Governor Tamaki stated emphatically, “It’s all due to the Government’s obsession with its one solution only policy on Henoko!”


However, at a press conference the same day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi claimed, “Based on our principle that the relocation to Henoko is our sole policy to solve the problem, we are linking  the shutdown of Futenma with its dangers to  steady progress in the Henoko construction.” 


Meanwhile, for the relocation to Henoko, in January of last year, the Defense Ministry began constructing “yard facilities” above the sea as temporary storage areas for materials at the site of the broad weak seabed in Oura Bay. At the end of last December, actual work on construction to strengthen the weak seabed began.


The court battles between the Prefecture and the Government over Henoko have come to a halt, with the decisions reached in the cases falling against the Prefecture in each and every case.


Original Japanese article: Kyodo Communications, published Friday 11 April 2025 at 16:07.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8559f631be49ceb8b06a29d7ca26c76219b11ffc


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 the 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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