Apr 25 03:34 AM US/Eastern
YOMITAN, Japan, April 25 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima urged Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Sunday to remove the danger of accidents and crimes involving a U.S. Marine base in a crowded residential area in the southernmost prefecture, and called for nationwide support to ease base-hosting burdens on Okinawans.
In a mass rally held in the village of Yomitan to seek the removal of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station, the governor said he cannot allow the base to continue to sit in the densely populated area of Ginowan if the current efforts by the premier to transfer the facility out of the prefecture get bogged down.
"Some Cabinet ministers have indicated their tolerance for the possibility of Futemma airfield remaining as it is, but I say absolutely no to that," Nakaima told rally participants. "I want the prime minister to never give up and honor his pledge."
Before his Democratic Party of Japan came to power last September, Hatoyama promised Okinawa people that he will try to transfer the Futemma airfield out of the prefecture or even abroad.
Nakaima also said burdens to host U.S. military bases in Okinawa have exceeded the capacity of locals and asked people in other parts of Japan to "lend a helping hand" to ease them.
"This is not a problem that only concerns Okinawans. The safety of each Japanese individual is connected to Okinawa," the governor said, referring to the Japan-U.S. security treaty.
The island prefecture hosts about 75 percent of the land area used for U.S. military facilities in Japan and half of the around 50,000 U.S. service personnel in the country.
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