THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/04/27
NAHA -- Boxed in by realpolitik -- the need to play ball with the central government--Okinawa's Governor Hirokazu Nakaima didn't even want to go to the huge anti-Futenma rally in Yomitan on Sunday.
But with a no-show out of the question for a man running for re-election in November, Nakaima took the stage and gave a speech that was, compared to the fire-breathers playing to the crowd of about 90,000 protesters, a model of restraint.
The governor's caution was well-grounded. He feared that if he put too much daylight between himself and Tokyo, he would close off all discussion and risk losing negotiating leverage.
When he spoke, Nakaima did not demand that U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan be dismantled and its functions moved entirely out of Okinawa Prefecture or even Japan itself.
Instead, he called on the government to "remove the dangers of (the base) as early as possible and reduce the excessive burdens (of the U.S. military presence) on Okinawa drastically."
Nakaima's conciliatory language was at odds with the other speakers at the rally. The first multi-party protest of the Futenma relocation plan, it attracted Diet and local prefectural assembly members as well as 39 of 41 mayors of prefectural municipalities.
Most demanded Futenma air station be sent packing as soon as possible.
But Nakaima did not have the luxury of populism.
Elected in November 2006, the governor had conditionally agreed to the now much-maligned deal between the United States and Japan to relocate the base to a coastal area of Henoko in Nago from Ginowan in the prefecture.
But then the political landscape shifted dramatically underneath him. Accepting the relocation plan as a fait accompli wouldn't work.
The governor was so conflicted immediately before the rally kicked off he told people close to him that he wanted to skip the event.
Eventually he did speak and he told the crowd at least some of what they came to hear. With remarks aimed at the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Nakaima expressed the expectation that, "In accordance with (your) public pledges, I want the government to never give up and to handle the issue appropriately."
Nakaima added, "I have the impression that (the difficulties placed on Okinawa in relation to the U.S. bases) is close to discrimination."
The governor's remarks were further watered down after the rally when he told reporters, "I haven't completely rejected the (original) plan yet."
One of his aides explained Nakaima's reticence as unavoidable for a politician who hopes to negotiate successfully with the Hatoyama administration.
Certainly, Hatoyama was paying attention. If the governor had staked out a hard-line position and the people of Okinawa followed his lead, any hope Hatoyama had of solving the relocation issue by the self-imposed end-of-May deadline would have vanished.
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