Okinawa Governor Tamaki claims that the reason why the reversion of Futenma Airfield to Japan has not happened is that the Administration “prioritizes Henoko!” (12ap25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Slender Dwarf Morning Glory, roadside Futenma, 7ap25.


Both the US and Japanese Governments agreed on the total reversion of the US Futenma Airfield in Ginowan, Okinawa, to Japanese control 29 years ago. Facing the anniversary of that agreement on 12 April, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki, at his scheduled press conference on 11 April, was queried why that reversion was yet to be realized even now. 


The governor expressed his opinion that it was because the National Administration was obsessed with the notion of its policy of “prioritizing  its relocation of the base to Henoko in Nago.


In 1996, both the US and Japanese Governments agreed on the reversion of 11 US Base facilities in Okinawa, with a total land area of 5,000 hectares. In 1999, Henoko was decided on as the relocation site for Futenma Airfield.


In 2013, the governor at the time, Hirokazu Nakaima, gave permission for landfill operations along the coast at Henoko. However, his successor, the late Takeshi Onaga rescinded the permission in 2015.


Since then, the Prefecture and the National Administration have gone back and forth in continuous court battles.


Governor Tamaki noted, “The reversion could probably be realized, if the Administration were, somehow or other, to request from the US an operational structure for shutting down Kadena Airfield. However, in all this time, no Administration has given us any information that it had ever requested any such thing.”


Original Japanese article: Sankei Shimbun, published Friday 11 April 2025 at 15:53

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/422a6d687d589ab45ba66bea8497630206b0822e


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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