Japan Overturns Move to Block Expansion of U.S. Base in Okinawa
- Decision on base construction may reignite protests over plan
- Base is a point of tension between Tokyo and Washington
Okinawa is a critical part of the U.S. military presence in Asia, playing host to about half the roughly 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, the biggest deployment of American forces outside the home front.
Photographer: Toru Yamanaka/AFP via Getty ImagesJapan invalidated a decision by Okinawa’s governor to stop landfill work for a controversial expansion of a U.S. base, in a move that is likely to reignite protests by islanders against the central government in Tokyo and the Obama administration.
At the core of the dispute is the planned move of the city center-based Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the less populated Henoko area in the north of the island. Governor Takeshi Onaga, who was elected last year on a platform of opposition to the relocation plan, earlier this month revoked approval --granted by his predecessor -- for the reclamation work to build a new airstrip.