May 27, 2010
Tokyo, May 27 (Jiji Press) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama called on heads of prefectural governments Thursday to host some training operations of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa.
Attending a meeting here of the National Governors Association, Hatoyama explained that Japan and the United States have agreed to relocate the Futenma base, now in the city of Ginowan, within Okinawa Prefecture.
Hatoyama said that he would be grateful if the governors show intentions to study whether it is possible for their prefectures to accept the Futenma training operations.
The association said that the governors understand the need to reduce the base-hosting burden of Okinawa and that they will study the issue sincerely. Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities and troops in Japan.
The Hatoyama government is considering transferring some of the Futenma training operations to sites in other Japanese prefectures, including Tokunoshima, an island in Kagoshima Prefecture, north of Okinawa.
(2010/05/27-20:30)
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