INTERVIEW: Many Residents Against Futenma Relocation within Okinawa

Urasoe, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–A majority of residents in Okinawa Prefecture are constantly opposed to the planned relocation of the U.S. Futenma base in the Okinawa city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another city in the southernmost Japan prefecture, former Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine has said in an interview. Inamine, a former businessman, was first elected leader of Okinawa in the 1998 gubernatorial election, in which the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps air station to Henoko became a point of contention for the first time. He won the election with the backing of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Okinawa governor for two terms totaling eight years from December 1998 to December 2006. The interview came ahead of the Okinawa gubernatorial election on Sept. 13, in which incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki is seeking his third term and faces challenges from LDP-backed Genta Koja, former deputy mayor of the Okinawa capital of Naha, and other candidates. Debates over the Futenma relocation and other issues facing Okinawa are heating up in the run-up to the closely watched election. “What I want people to understand is that through all this time, more than 60 pct of Okinawa residents oppose the Futenma relocation to Henoko,” Inamine said in the interview. “That does not change.” “If a governor becomes a pushover for the central government on issues concerning U.S. bases in Okinawa, local residents will turn their backs on the prefectural leader,” he continued. “I resisted against the central government so much (when I was governor) because I thought there would be no future (for Okinawa) if I don’t strongly push policies for Okinawa,” he said. While noting that not many locals oppose U.S. bases themselves, Inamine said, “Most residents say that it is wrong to put an excessive burden related to U.S. bases on Okinawa, a small island prefecture that accounts for only 0.6 pct of Japan’s total land area, and that the burden should be shared across the country.” Inamine was born in Dalian, northeastern China, in 1933. Before becoming Okinawa governor, Inamine, a Keio University graduate, served as chairman of Ryukyu Oil Corp., an Okinawa company now called Ryuseki Corp., and chief of the Okinawa Employers’ Association. The former governor said in the interview that Okinawa has become more like the rest of Japan more than a half century after its return to Japanese administration from U.S. occupation in 1972. “Soon after the return to Japanese administration, local residents clearly distinguished ‘uchinanchu’ (Okinawans) from ‘yamatonchu’ (people from mainland Japan), but locals do not say things like this recently,” he said. “A key turning point” in this change in mindset was the 2000 Group of Eight summit held in Okinawa, Inamine said, stressing that the success of the gathering of world leaders in the southernmost Japan prefecture spurred a sense of pride among people in Okinawa. The history and culture from the Ryukyu Kingdom, which had existed mainly in what is now Okinawa and was annexed by Japan in the 19th century, are “gradually fading,” and the area is “becoming Okinawa Prefecture,” he said. “There is a sense of sadness among old people.” Inamine said that there are now few politicians in national politics who care deeply about Okinawa, but added that this is “no surprise.” Former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who served in the post in 1998-2000, picked up the remains of those who died in the Battle of Okinawa, part of World War II, when he was a student, and Ryutaro Hashimoto, who was prime minister in 1996-1998, listened to the stories of bereaved relatives of victims on the Tsushima Maru, a Japanese ship torpedoed by a U.S. submarine while evacuating Okinawa schoolchildren during the war when he was a student, Inamine said. “These experiences made them think that they wanted to do something for Okinawa,” he said. It is difficult for modern-day politicians to have such a deep level of understanding for Okinawa, Inamine said, adding, “Okinawa must make its own efforts to build the logic and respond (to the central government) on the premise that there is no sympathy.” Inamine also discussed how to promote Okinawa’s economic development, also a key issue in the Sept. 13 gubernatorial election. He quoted Yoshikazu Nakayama, former president of Bank of the Ryukyus, a regional bank in Okinawa, as saying: “Okinawa must not be lost in mainland Japan. It should enhance its uniqueness.” The former governor called on the prefecture to take advantage of its characteristics, or end up in last place among Japan’s 47 prefectures. “We received fishing gear from the central government, but most of it was useless,” Inamine said. For example, parts of the prefecture were designated as special financial zones, but the initiative did not pay off, he said. “The question is whether we can create a mechanism to utilize Okinawa’s advantages, such as its geographical proximity to Southeast Asia,” he argued. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]