Thu Apr 15, 4:19 pm ET
TOKYO (AFP) – The United States has suggested an alternative to controversial plans for a military base on a Japanese island which have been a growing thorn in relations between the two allies, a report said Friday.
Japan's six-month-old left-leaning government includes coalition partners adamantly opposed to a 2006 agreement which would take Futenma air base out of a crowded urban area but still leave it on the island of Okinawa.
But Washington has sounded out Japanese officials on moving the base offshore, according to the Kyodo news agency, which quoted unnamed sources but did not provide further details.
The United States has 47,000 troops in Japan as part of a security alliance reached after World War II, when Tokyo was stripped of its right to maintain a military.
Okinawa -- a subtropical island chain which was under US administration until 1972 -- plays host to more than half of the troops, despite accounting for a minuscule amount of Japan's total land mass.
The United States set up Futenma, a Marine air base, in Okinawa in 1945 as it took the island in one of World War II's bloodiest battles.
But since then, the sprawling city of Ginowan has developed around the base, raising concerns among residents about noise and accidents.
Under the plan sealed in 2006, Futenma's facilities would be shifted to reclaimed land on a quiet stretch of the island and some 8,000 Marines would leave for the US territory of Guam.
Okada is floating alternatives including shifting Futenma's operations to various US bases around Okinawa, with some functions also shifting to Kyushu -- one of mainland Japan's four islands.
The United States will also consider returning bombing ranges on the islands of Kumejima and Torishima and part of a water area east of Okinawa if Tokyo agrees to the current Futenma relocation plan or the latest modification, Kyodo said.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has struggled for months to find a solution that will satisfy the people of Okinawa island and the security demands of the United States, its key ally.
Hatoyama says he had promised Obama he will resolve the row by the end of May, despite the fact that Okinawa's residents have long resented the heavy US military presence.
Japanese media have speculated Hatoyama might have to resign if he fails to resolve the row before this self-imposed deadline expires.
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