The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Japanese and U.S. governments on Friday morning delivered a joint statement detailing a fresh agreement on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture to the Henoko district of Nago, also in the prefecture.
The document clearly states both governments have "confirmed the intention to locate the [Futenma] replacement facility at the Camp Schwab Henokosaki area and adjacent waters."
Henokosaki is a cape in the Henoko district, where Camp Schwab is located.
Prior to the document's release, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama spoke via telephone and confirmed the bilateral agreement.
The document, issued under the names of both countries' foreign and defense ministers--who comprise the "two-plus-two" Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee--clearly stipulates that a study on the replacement facility's exact location, configuration and construction method is to be completed "in any event no later than the end of August 2010."
Verification and validation of the study is to be completed before the next SCC meeting, according to the document.
The next SCC meeting will most likely be held in autumn, according to government officials.
Terms regarding the relocation, such as the length of runways at the replacement facility, are almost identical to those in the SCC document "United States-Japan Roadmap for Realignment Implementation," agreed between the two countries on May 1, 2006.
The telephone conference between Hatoyama and Obama began shortly after 8 a.m. Friday and lasted about 20 minutes, according to government officials.
Hatoyama told Obama he would like to deepen and develop the Japan-U.S. alliance and cooperate with Obama in efforts to lessen the burden on Okinawa Prefecture.
The White House said that during the conversation both leaders "expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the two sides in reaching an operationally viable and politically sustainable plan to relocate" the Futenma base.
The document states the replacement facility's runway zone will be 1,800 meters long, including overruns but excluding protective seawalls.
Concerning the relocation of training programs, the document says both countries have "committed to expand the relocation of the U.S. forces' activities...outside of Okinawa [Prefecture]. In this regard, utilization of Tokunoshima [island in Kagoshima Prefecture] will be considered," on the condition appropriate facilities are developed on the island.
As matters for further discussion, the document says, "The two sides intend to study opportunities to expand the shared use of facilities between U.S. forces and the SDF [Self-Defense Forces]."
Locations and SDF facilities outside Okinawa Prefecture may also be utilized for relocation of U.S. forces' activities, the document says. This is an apparent concession to the Social Democratic Party, which opposes the Futenma functions being relocated within the prefecture.
Both sides will examine the option of relocating training programs outside Japan in the future, possibly to Guam.
About 8,000 U.S. marines and about 9,000 of their dependents will be transferred from Okinawa Prefecture to Guam, the document confirmed, and facilities and areas south of Kadena Air Base in the prefecture will be returned to Japan as per the 2006 road map.
As a measure to beef up environmental care programs at U.S. military bases and in surrounding areas, both governments agreed to a "Green Alliance" approach. This implies the possibility of local governments conducting on-the-spot environmental inspections at U.S. bases and in surrounding areas.
The current members of the SCC are Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
(May. 29, 2010)
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