Apr 20 09:43 AM US/Eastern
(AP) - TOKYO, April 20 (Kyodo) — Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture rejected on Tuesday an overture by the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama for a meeting on the relocation of a U.S. Marine base, further clouding the chances of the government settling the months-long dispute by its self-imposed deadline of the end of May.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kinya Takino called mayors of the three towns on the island Tuesday and requested that they hold a meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, in an apparent bid to have Hirano explain an idea of transferring the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture to the island, according to the mayors.
All of the mayors turned down the overture and agreed that none of them would meet Hirano because such an act would betray the islanders' will, they said.
Speaking to reporters in the evening, however, Hatoyama denied that the government has picked a relocation site.
"We're not at a stage where a government plan has taken shape," he said, adding, "Please ask Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Takino why he called them. It's not something I'm aware of."
At a regular press conference, Hirano admitted Takino made phone calls to the mayors, but he declined to make any further comment on the context of their conversations.
The seven-month-old government has not officially announced any relocation plan yet, but the idea, according to government sources, is to transfer the Futemma airfield, currently in a crowded residential area in the city of Ginowan, to Tokunoshima, about 200 kilometers north of Okinawa.
But prospects that the idea can help end the dispute are now even dimmer as it has triggered fierce opposition from residents on Tokunoshima, home to about 27,000 people, while Washington has stated that gaining approval of local residents is a precondition for giving its consideration to any potential relocation sites.
One of the Cabinet members concerned, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, also questioned the feasibility of the idea Tuesday.
"Should we have to ask Tokunoshima (to host Futemma), I believe it would be quite difficult (to have it accept) under the current circumstances," he said at a press conference earlier in the day. "It has become even clearer that transferring it (the Futemma facility) to any location other than Okinawa is an extremely tough thing to do."
Over the phone to the mayors, Takino was quoted by the mayors as telling them, "I'd like you to meet with Mr. Hirano in Kagoshima City and directly provide us with accurate information on Sunday's protest rally and the public will on the island," referring to the rally at which an organizer claims about 15,000 residents gathered.
The mayors are Kosuke Ohisa from the town of Amagi, Akira Okubo from Isen, and Hideki Takaoka from Tokunoshima.
Looking back on the meeting with Hirano in Tokyo last month, Okubo said Hirano told them that the idea of moving Futemma to Tokunoshima is just a rumor spread by the media.
"I feel resentment for that insincere attitude of his," he said.
On Tuesday evening, Hatoyama offered his apologies again to the islanders, saying speculative views have worried them.
The island has been opposed to the possible relocation, but the top government spokesman Hirano said, "We'll listen to the opinions (of people in an affected area) only after we officially sound them out about our plan."
Despite the murky outlook, Hatoyama, who leads the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, maintained his vow to settle the issue by the end of May, saying Tuesday morning, "I've said I'll resolve this by the end of May, so I'm working hard toward that end with determination."
Also on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said that hosting U.S. forces puts a burden on people in Japan, but that they should also keep in mind the role U.S. forces in Japan are playing for the security of Japan and surrounding areas.
"In light of that role, I can't think about the option of (moving the facility) outside the country," Okada said at a regular press conference.
With the dispute putting Hatoyama in a precarious position, national strategy minister Yoshito Sengoku has even hinted at the possibility of a double election being held if Hatoyama steps down before this summer's election for the House of Councillors.
The base relocation row involves a 2006 accord between Japan and the United States to transfer the Marine base to a less crowded area in another city of the southernmost prefecture as part of a broader realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
Hatoyama has been reviewing the bilateral accord agreed to by a previous Liberal Democratic Party-led government in a bid to ease the burden on people in Okinawa, which has hosted the bulk of U.S. military facilities in the country, but Washington has pressed Tokyo to stick to the original deal.
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