April 12, 2010The Japanese government is considering Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture as a prime candidate for the relocation site of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, it has emerged.
To the public, the Tokunoshima option seems to have come out of the blue. But since last year, the Prime Minister's Office has repeatedly dispatched secret emissaries to approach local leaders about the possibility.
Of the three towns on Tokunoshima Island, Amagi is the only one with an airport. Former town council chair Hidetada Maeda, who heads a group of local leaders in favor of the Futenma relocation to Tokunoshima, received a phone call on Wednesday. It was from Lower House DPJ legislator Seishu Makino, a close ally of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
"If the government meets six criteria, we'll take steps to bring the air base here," he told Makino. Maeda and his like-minded colleagues had compiled a list of "criteria," which he verbally passed on to the lawmaker: 1) Bring down the relatively high sea and air fares to and from Kagoshima Prefecture's Amami Islands so that they are comparable to those to and from Okinawa; 2) Grant the same subsidies given to Okinawa Prefecture's brown sugar refineries to those in Kagoshima Prefecture; 3) Establish new special medical, social welfare and economic zones (exempted from health care tax); 4) Make fuel prices comparable to those in mainland Japan and Okinawa; 5) Cancel the approximately 25 billion yen of total debt (government bonds) incurred by the three towns located on Tokunoshima; and 6) Transfer jurisdiction of the Act on Special Measures for the Amami Islands Promotion and Development from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to the Cabinet Office.
Makino, who had been elected to office from an electoral district in Shizuoka Prefecture, was once a member of the political party Liberal League (LL) founded by Tokunoshima native and former Lower House legislator Torao Tokuda. Makino has maintained close ties with Tokuda, who still wields great influence over Amami, and visited Tokunoshima at least three times between this past November and January.
"I was asked by the prime minister to look into possible relocation sites for the Futenma base outside of Okinawa Prefecture," Makino told Isen Town Mayor Akira Okubo on Dec. 2 at the Isen Town Office. "We want to build a runway in the 3,000-meter range on Tokunoshima."
Accompanied by the prime minister's expert diplomatic aide in the Cabinet Secretariat, Kiyoshi Sugawa, Makino visited the Amagi town office on Jan. 25, this time meeting with all three Tokunoshima mayors. "A 1,800-meter runway would be acceptable," he said. "We'd like all three mayors to go to Tokyo and meet with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano."
A senior official at the local tourist association who is in favor of the relocation revealed, "Makino explained that he was visiting on the prime minister's request. He said, 'Indicate your conditions to me, and I'll pass them on to the administration.'"
Tokunoshima Island is located approximately 400 kilometers away from Kagoshima Prefecture proper and some 200 kilometers from Okinawa's main island. With a population of about 26,000, it is the second largest of the Amami Islands. Amami and Okinawa share similar income disparities with mainland Japan and suffers similarly high unemployment rates. However, in contrast with Okinawa, whose population has increased since its reversion to Japan, Amami's population is 120,000, about half of that at the time of its reversion in 1953. Maeda speaks for the construction and tourism industries when he characterizes the bringing of U.S. Marines to the island "a golden opportunity." However, there are few local residents who have explicitly expressed the desire to accept the relocation.
Harboring hopes for local revitalization, Makino made a visit to the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday morning seeking a meeting with the prime minister himself. Instead, it is believed that Makino was informed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yorihisa Matsuno that henceforth a single government contact would conduct negotiations, and that he should take no further action on the matter. The government had modified its approach after closed-door negotiations became public and opposition from the local public grew.
Isen Town Mayor Okubo has been turned off at how the matter has been handled. "The country's leaders have to indicate the direction in which they're trying to go," he said. "(Otherwise,) it creates a vicious cycle in which everyone is thrown about in confusion."
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) April 12, 2010
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