Futenma decision awaits talks outcome: Nakaima

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said Monday that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told him the government will make a decision on where to relocate the Futenma military base after the Japan-U.S. working-level talks on the issue conclude.

Following a meeting in Hatoyama's office, Nakaima told reporters he urged the prime minister to work out a "concrete road map" as soon as possible toward removing what he calls the danger posed by the Futenma base, which sits in the city of Ginowan.

Nakaima reiterated that moving the air station outside the prefecture is "the best choice" for the people of Okinawa, who host the bulk of U.S. military forces stationed in Japan, and he hopes the central government will draw up a plan favoring that option.

But he indicated that if that would take too long, the prefecture would entertain other options to immediately remove the base, which Ginowan residents consider dangerous, because that is the primary reason for the relocation.

Hatoyama replied that the government will deal with the relocation after the working group between the Japanese and U.S. officials reaches a conclusion.

Under a 2006 agreement, Japan and the United States said the air station will be closed and a replacement airstrip built farther north on Okinawa Island along a coastal stretch at Camp Schwab in less densely populated Nago by 2014.

The accord is part of a broader agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan that involves the transfer of around 8,000 marines from Okinawa to Guam once the replacement base is operational. The accord was reached when the Liberal Democratic Party was in power. Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan has been saying it wants to review that agreement.

According to Nakaima, Hatoyama said he is aware that residents of Okinawa have been stepping up calls for moving the facility outside the prefecture since his administration took office in mid-September.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has indicated the matter must be resolved before the end of the year, but Hatoyama has said this will not be possible.

Japan and the United States set up a working group to examine the process leading up to reaching the 2006 accord.