Apr 23 03:49 AM US/Eastern
(AP) - NAHA, Japan, April 23 (Kyodo) — Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said Friday he will attend a mass rally to be held in the prefecture on Sunday that will call for relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station outside the region.
Nakaima's attendance at the rally, to which organizers are hoping to draw 100,000 people, is expected to put additional pressure on the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, which is struggling to find an alternative relocation site for the Futemma base by the end of May.
"I have judged (the rally) as the best opportunity to have the people of the prefecture and those in the country listen to my idea that it's necessary to remove the dangers posed by Futemma as soon as possible," Nakaima said at a news conference.
At the rally, the governor said, he intends to express his hope that the government will conclude the matter with a view to moving the base outside of the prefecture and reducing burdens on Okinawa.
But he indicated that he is unlikely to oppose the base's relocation within the prefecture, saying, "This issue will not be resolved unless it is handled realistically because of the need for talks between the governments of Japan and the United States."
Nakaima suggested that he wants to avoid finding himself in a situation where a breakdown in the relocation deal between the two countries would force the Futemma base to remain as is.
Previously, the governor has conditionally accepted the existing deal, under which the base will be moved from the crowded city of Ginowan to a coastal area of the Marines Camp Schwab in Nago, also in Okinawa -- a plan finalized in 2006.
The governor was initially cautious about attending the upcoming rally out of concern that doing so could force his hand on the matter. But he has apparently changed course against the backdrop of mounting local calls for the base to be relocated outside the prefecture.
On Nakaima's decision to attend the rally, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Friday he is in no position to comment on it. "That's the governor's decision in the end," he said at a news conference in Tokyo.
Hirano called Nakaima on Tuesday, apparently to ask him to be prudent about attending the rally.
Most of the mayors of the 41 municipal governments in the prefecture are set to attend the rally, which will be held in the village of Yomitan. All the major political parties in the prefecture, including the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, are also expected to be represented at the event.
The current relocation plan was forged when the LDP was in control of the government.
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