April 19, 2010
Tokyo, April 19 (Jiji Press) -- The Japanese government is examining the possibility of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visiting Tokunoshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, to seek local understanding of a U.S. base relocation proposal, the top spokesman said Monday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano made the remark at a news conference after Hatoyama showed his stance of seriously considering options to relocate the Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, while respecting the popular will expressed in a weekend antibase rally in Tokunoshima, north of Okinawa.
"It (the rally) should be taken as expression of a public opinion," Hatoyama told reporters. "The government will take into account such views of the public to seriously consider where the Futenma base should be relocated," he said.
Hirano said that Hatoyama's remarks appear to show his determination to handle the Futenma issue with extreme care for local communities that could be affected.
On Sunday, 15,000 protesters gathered in a rally on Tokunoshima, one of the candidate locations to which the government is considering moving the heliport functions of the Futenma base. The number of participants accounts for nearly 60 pct of the residents of the island.
(2010/04/19-13:37)
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