30 years after accord with Japan, return of U.S. Futenma base still far off

TOKYO — Once thought possible within five to seven years, the return to Japan of land used for a U.S. military base in Okinawa remains a distant hope for local residents, three decades after Tokyo and Washington reached an agreement.

The long-sought return hinges on the completion of a replacement facility in a coastal area in the same prefecture that will accommodate the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, currently located in a densely populated area of Ginowan.

Construction of the facility off Nago has been delayed amid local opposition, political wrangling and legal battles.

The central government has been pushing for the relocation to eliminate the hazards associated with the Futenma base, while the local government opposes the transfer and wants the burden on Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, to be reduced.

While local residents have cited safety and environmental concerns, Okinawa in recent years has taken on greater strategic significance due to its proximity to Taiwan, as tensions remain high between China and the self-ruled democratic island claimed by Beijing.

"We will steadily move ahead with construction based on our stance that the transfer is the only solution," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference prior to the 30th anniversary of the bilateral agreement on Sunday.

In April 1996, Japan and the United States agreed on the full return of the Futenma base in five to seven years. In 1999, the then mayor of Nago sparked local opposition after deciding to accept the transfer of the base to the Henoko area on condition that it would only be used for 15 years.

In 2013, Hirokazu Nakaima, then governor, approved landfill work for the construction of a replacement facility off Nago, while Japan and the United States pushed back the time frame for the return of the Futenma site to fiscal 2022 or later.

His successor, Takeshi Onaga, revoked the landfill permit in 2015, setting the stage for a legal battle with the central government. The Japanese government began landfill work in 2018 but had to change its initial plan following the discovery of soft ground at the construction site.

The Okinawa prefectural government refused to accept the design change. After winning a court battle, the central government subsequently moved to use its authority to override Okinawa's objection, allowing construction to proceed in 2024.

Current Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said Friday that the transfer plan "will not remove the dangers of the (Futenma) base at the earliest possible time."

"People in Okinawa have been forced to shoulder a big burden," he told a press conference.

While a Japanese Defense Ministry official said the return of the land used for Futenma would take place in 2036 at the earliest, hurdles remain.

One of the challenges is to find a long enough runway at a civilian airport for the U.S. military to use in emergency situations, based on the bilateral agreement.

Futenma has a 2,700-meter runway but the new replacement facility under construction would have two 1,800-meter V-shaped runways.

The U.S. Defense Department told a congressional watchdog last year that the United States would continue using the Futenma base unless the Japanese government finds a sufficiently long alternative runway.

Okinawa, which reverted to Japanese sovereignty after U.S. control, is located near the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea that are administered by Japan and claimed by China.

China continues to send vessels to waters around the islets, keeping Japan on alert, with Tokyo beefing up its defense capabilities on remote islands in southwestern Japan.

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