Okinawa: Noda dismisses Obama’s reported comment seeking conclusion to Futenma relocation

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda downplayed a reported comment from U.S. President Barack Obama that the time to settle the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture was nearing, saying he would work on the issue with Okinawa Prefecture in good faith.

Speaking at a meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Sept. 26, Noda said it was “difficult to specify a deadline” for the planned relocation of the air station to the Henoko area of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture. He added: “I want to win understanding (from Okinawa Prefecture) at the earliest stage possible while explaining the issue in all sincerity.”

After Noda’s talks with Obama in New York on Sept. 26, Obama was quoted as saying the time was near for seeking a conclusion to the Futenma relocation issue. However, Noda played down the reported comments, saying, “That perhaps was partly based on the individual thoughts of the person who made the briefing. The president actually phrased it as expecting progress on the issue.”

Noda’s comments came in response to a question from opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker Nobuteru Ishihara.

During the budget committee meeting, another LDP member, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, said that Noda had made a “180 degree turnabout” by announcing that exports of nuclear plant technology would continue although Japan was hammering out a policy of reducing reliance on nuclear power. The prime minister responded, “I have consistently taken the line of reducing reliance on nuclear power. I’m saying that we will do our utmost to reduce reliance on nuclear power. My basic thoughts have not changed.”

Mainichi Shimbun , September 27, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/09/27/20110927p2a00m0na005000c.html

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Okinawa: Kadena assembly demands Japan, U.S. gov’ts reduce impact from base

NAHA (Kyodo) — The town assembly of Kadena, Okinawa Prefecture, adopted a resolution of protest Thursday against the Japanese and U.S. governments, demanding they act on a promise to alleviate noise and other burdens on local residents from the U.S. Kadena Air Base.

In a unanimous vote, the assembly passed the resolution that said it “strongly protests against the attitude of the U.S. forces and the U.S. government, which have been disregarding town residents, and the negligence of the Japanese government that has been ignoring the situation.”

Although Tokyo and Washington have agreed to limit night flights at the Kadena base between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., monitoring near the base in the year through March showed a record-high monthly average of occasions when noise levels exceeding Japanese environmental standards were logged between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The assembly also passed a motion reiterating its demand that three influential U.S. senators drop their proposal to integrate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station into Kadena base, which is home to the U.S. Air Force’s largest combat wing.

Japan and the United States agreed in 2006 to transfer some flight drills conducted at Kadena to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s installations elsewhere in Japan to reduce noise pollution.

Kyodo Press, September 29, 2011

* http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20110929p2g00m0dm137000c.html

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Okinawa: Gov’t tells Okinawa of new subsidies for local development

TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Japanese government told Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Monday that it will provide new forms of subsidies to Okinawa from fiscal 2012 to boost economic development in the southernmost island prefecture, officials said.

The central government is hoping that the new subsidies will help break the stalemate over a Japan-U.S. plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan and where there is strong local opposition to the plan.

It remains uncertain whether negotiations between the central government and Okinawa will proceed smoothly over the specifics of the new program, including the amount of subsidies as well as the correlation between the subsidies and the Futenma relocation plan.

The Okinawa governor has asked the central government to create a program to provide around 300 billion yen in subsidies to Okinawa for 10 years from fiscal 2012 starting next April, but Tokyo has yet to reach a conclusion on the matter.

The central government’s Okinawa-related allocation in its initial budget for the current fiscal year was around 230 billion yen.

On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tsuyoshi Saito will visit Okinawa Prefecture and exchange views with Nakaima and others on the issue, the officials said.

After a meeting with relevant Cabinet ministers on Monday, in which Tokyo unveiled the new program for the subsidies, which Okinawa would be able to use more freely than conventional ones, Nakaima said there will be no “trade-off” in dealing with the development of Okinawa and the relocation of the base.

“The issue of relocating Futenma is separate from that of Okinawa’s development,” he told reporters.

The meeting came after Noda confirmed with U.S. President Barack Obama during their first meeting last week in New York that Japan will continue making efforts toward relocating the Futenma base in line with the existing bilateral accord.

Kyodo Press, September 26, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/09/26/20110926p2g00m0dm082000c.html

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Okinawa: Japan to Give Okinawa Futenma Assessment before Year-End

Tokyo, Oct. 3 (Jiji Press)—The Japanese central government is preparing to submit to Okinawa Prefecture by the year-end a environmental assessment report on the planned U.S. base relocation there, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tsuyoshi Saito said Monday.

Saito said in a taped BS11 satellite television program that the government is telling people in Okinawa that it respects a Japan-U.S. agreement on the transfer of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station in Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another city in the southernmost prefecture.

The government will take views of the Okinawa prefectural government and Okinawa citizens seriously and discuss the Futenma base relocation with the United States, Saito said.

The submission of the assessment report is certain to draw criticism from the Okinawa side, which is opposed to the base’s relocation within the prefecture.

The government hopes to seek Okinawa’s understanding through a visit to the prefecture by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and other opportunities.

Jiji Press, Oct. 3, 2011
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2011100300787

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