Candidate Tolerant of Futenma Transfer Wins Okinawa Governor Poll

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 13 (Jiji Press)–Genta Koja won a gubernatorial election in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday, meaning that the southernmost Japan prefecture will have a leader tolerant of the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station within Okinawa for the first time in 12 years. The 42-year-old former deputy mayor of Naha, Okinawa’s capital, who was supported by conservative forces, including the Liberal Democratic Party, the ruling party in national politics, defeated incumbent Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, 66, who sought a third term, and four other candidates. The election was effectively a one-on-one battle between Koja and Tamaki. Koja will be the first Okinawa governor born after 1972, when Okinawa was returned to Japan from U.S. occupation. He will also be the youngest elected governor of the prefecture. His four-year term is set to start Sept. 30. Okinawa’s prefectural administration, long marked by fierce confrontation between conservative and reformist forces mainly over the relocation of the Futenma base, now located in the city of Ginowan, Okinawa, to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another city in the prefecture, may be at a turning point following the election result. “At issue in the election was whether to continue the current prefectural administration or to bring about a renewal,” Koja told reporters in Naha on Sunday night. “While respecting Mr. Tamaki’s administration, I want to move Okinawa forward,” Koja added. In the election, Koja was backed by the LDP, its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People, Sanseito, the Conservative Party of Japan and Komeito’s Okinawa prefectural chapter. Tamaki was supported by the All Okinawa camp, which mainly comprises reformists, and also received backing from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, all opposition parties in national politics. The Futenma relocation had been the biggest issue in Okinawa gubernatorial elections held after the April 1996 Japan-U.S. agreement on the return of the site of the U.S. base to Japan. As the construction of a Futenma replacement facility off the coast of Henoko has progressed and the prefectural government has lost all legal battles against the national government over the base issue, however, local residents’ interest in the base transfer issue is believed to have waned. Speaking to his supporters in Naha on Sunday night, Tamaki said: “The new base should not be built in Henoko. I was not wrong to argue on behalf of the people of Okinawa (against the Futenma relocation.)” The result of the Okinawa race is likely to give a boost to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also LDP president, who had called the gubernatorial election a “barometer” for the future of her administration. “We are now able to further stabilize the foundation of the (Takaichi) administration,” LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki told reporters at the LDP’s headquarters in Tokyo. In the election, voter turnout stood at 61.57 pct, up 3.65 percentage points from the previous gubernatorial election in 2022. During the campaign, Koja vowed to revitalize the economy of Okinawa while emphasizing his strong connections with the national government and the ruling coalition. LDP policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi and JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura visited Okinawa to support Koja. Meanwhile, Tamaki toned down his opposition to the base relocation while highlighting his achievements during his two terms in office, including successfully promoting tourism in the prefecture, but failed to defeat Koja. The four other candidates were company president Shun Kaneshima, 48, Masahiro Sueyoshi, 73, chairman of a medical corporation, company representative Takashi Higa, 49, and Chosuke Yara, 74, head of a political organization. Koja garnered 423,124 votes, against 276,060 votes for Tamaki, while 4,657 votes went to Kaneshima, 3,542 votes to Higa, 2,467 votes to Yara and 2,270 votes to Sueyoshi. Koja, a native of Naha, entered the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry in 2008. After serving in senior posts at the ministry and the Reconstruction Agency, he became deputy mayor of Naha in December 2022. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]