Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma

Over the last five decades there have been various plans for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a United States Marine Corps base located within the urban area of Ginowan City (pop. 93,661) in Okinawa, Japan.

Local opposition within Okinawa regarding the facility has so far hindered efforts to begin construction. As of August 2015^[update], the Japanese government had agreed to halt construction activities temporarily while talks with Okinawan officials continued. Still, US sources insisted nothing about their approach had changed.

In October 2015, despite strong opposition in Okinawa, the Japanese central government began work to build the base in the Henoko Bay, in Nago. The issue has been taken to court by both parties in November 2015 and December 2015. After a tentative court-mediated settlement in March 2016, the national government sued Okinawa governor Takeshi Onaga in July, and obtained a High Court ruling in September determining that it was illegal for Onaga to revoke his permission for landfill work at the new site. The Supreme Court of Japan indicated in December that it would let this judgment stand, opening a door for the relocation work to proceed.

Okinawa prefecture constitutes 0.6% of Japan's land surface, yet as of 2006, 75% of all USFJ bases were located on Okinawa, and U.S. military bases occupied 18% of the main island.

There is local opposition in Okinawa to the construction of a new base, more than 76 per cent of the population having expressed their opposition to a relocation in Henoko.

In November 2014 Takeshi Onaga, who had run for election on an anti-base platform, was elected Governor of Okinawa. His predecessor and main opponent in the gubernatorial race, Hirokazu Nakaima, had previously opposed the relocation plans himself too; but 11 months before the 2014 election, Nakaima approved a landfill permit allowing the relocation plans to progress, two days after Tokyo earmarked 348 billion yen for Okinawa's economic development.

...
Wikipedia