Move Afoot To Relocate US Military Base In Japan’s Okinawa Island
RTT News
February 26, 2013
Japan’s Defense Ministry officials on Tuesday held talks with a fishing cooperative of Nago city in the Okinawa prefecture on reclaiming land off the city’s coast for the relocation of a U.S. air base.
The move comes after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised President Barack Obama that he would take immediate steps to relocate the U.S. Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in accordance with a bilateral agreement between the two countries, Japanese media reported.
Defense Ministry officials met with representatives of the Nago Fisheries Cooperative Association and handed over papers seeking their approval. The Ministry plans to file for a permit with the prefectural government for the land reclamation project. …
Relocation of the Futenma base is a longstanding demand of the people of Okinawa as it was located in a densely populated area. …
