Over the last five decades there have been various plans for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (海兵隊普天間航空基地, Kaiheitai Futenma Kōkū Kichi), a United States Marine Corps base located within the urban area of Ginowan City (pop. 93,661) in Okinawa, Japan. The current proposal for a new site in Henoko Bay, Nago, has faced opposition from Okinawans and the local government who wish for the new base to be located off the island altogether.
In October 2015, following a temporary halt after negotiations with the government of Okinawa Prefecture,15 July 2015 - JAPAN, Daily Press Briefing the Japanese central government began work to build the base in Henoko Bay. The issue was taken to court by both parties in November and December. After a tentative court-mediated settlement in March 2016, the national government sued Okinawa governor Takeshi Onaga (翁長 雄志, Onaga Takeshi) in July, and obtained a High Court ruling in September determining that it was illegal for Onaga to revoke his predecessor's permission for landfill work at the new site. The Supreme Court of Japan indicated in December 2016 that it would let this judgment stand, opening a door for the relocation work to proceed, and in September 2023, ordered the Okinawan government to approve the central government's plan for construction.
General controversy
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. 沖縄に所在する在日米軍施設・区域, Japan Ministry of Defense
There is local opposition in Okinawa to the construction of a new base; more than 76 percent of the population having expressed their opposition to a relocation in Henoko.
History Henoko Bay plan
Plan secretly formulated in 1960s Declassified reports indicate the plan to build new runways at Henoko Bay was secretly formulated in the 1960s during the U.S. military occupation and administration of the islands. Building an expanded base at Henoko has been called the "only solution" to resolving the issues at Futenma. The U.S. military had originally proposed constructing "an offshore landfill facility with two 3,000-meter runways, a large military port and an integrated ammunition bunker capable of storing nuclear weapons."Plan to build base off Nago in 1960s got OK by U.S. top brass, document reveals The Japan Times (4 April 2016); retrieved: 12 December 2016.
A separate 260-page report revealed the master plan for U.S. Navy facilities of the base expansion that was submitted by an American company under contract to the Navy in 1966.
The report states that the U.S. government "should continue to emphasize to the government of Japan that Japan's security is in large part dependent on the maintenance of a substantial U.S. military posture."
The base expansion plan was abandoned for a few reasons. One was local opposition and criticism over the seizure of civilian-owned land. Also, as the Vietnam War was ending, the US drawdown in forces reduced the need for the base and constrained budgetary resources.
1996–1997 In December 1996, as part of the Defense Policy Review Initiative (DPRI), the Japanese and U.S. governments decided that the Futenma base should be relocated to an off-shore location in the Oura Bay of Henoko (Ourawan in Japanese and ʻUdaang in Okinawan; often called Henoko Bay), in Nago, a relatively less populated area of the northern part of the island, 'in order to reduce military impact to the populated communities of southern Okinawa'.
This was and remains a controversial decision, since the projected site involved construction on a coral reef and seagrass beds inhabited by the dugong, an endangered marine mammal protected under Japanese law and U.S. law. The environmental impact extends beyond the coral reef and seagrass beds, with there expected to be waste dumping, the disruption of fisheries, and an overall decrease in biological diversity. In October 2015, The Japan Times mentioned that 'two members of a governmental panel monitoring the environmental impact of the Futenma base relocation within Okinawa Prefecture (had) admitted to accepting donations from contractors involved.'
In a non-binding referendum conducted in December 1997, the majority of Nago residents voted against the Henoko relocation plan. However, a few days later on 24 December, Nago Mayor Tetsuya Higa ignored the referendum results and accepted the relocation plan, resigned, and moved to Tokyo.仲泊弘次「命を落とす覚悟」『普天間飛行場代替施設問題10年史』P52-53 北部地域振興協議会 The next year Tateo Kishimoto was elected mayor of Nago and tried to find compromises regarding the relocation. So did his successor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, at a time when the Prefecture Governor, Masahide Ota, was opposed to the Henoko relocation. The next mayor too, Susumu Inamine, was opposed to it and he was elected twice with a high margin on an anti-base agenda.
Camp Schwab plan (2005–2006) On 26 October 2005, the governments of the United States and Japan agreed to move the relocation site for Futenma from the reef area off Henoko to the interior and coastal portions of the existing Marine base at Camp Schwab, just a few hundred meters away from the previously planned offshore facility.ABC News, 26 October 2005.BBC News, 26 October 2005. One of the cited reasons for the change was to reduce the engineering challenge associated with building a runway on reefs in deep water: experts estimate that rather than the 15-plus years required to construct a new airbase at the previous reef location, the Camp Schwab plan will enable Futenma to be relocated sooner.Allen, David and Chiyomi Sumida, "Futenma questions and answers ", Stars and Stripes, 27 November 2009. These plans were also accelerated when a CH-53D Sea Stallion transport helicopter experienced mechanical issues and of Okinawa International University in August 2004: all three crew members were injured but there were no civilian injuries. The mayor of Nago, which hosts Camp Schwab, formally agreed to accept the relocation when he signed an agreement with Defense Minister Nukaga on 8 April 2006. Mayor Shimabukuro was later joined by all five of the major mayors of northern Okinawa. Although some all-Okinawa public opinion polls indicated that majority of Okinawans wish the based moved out of the prefecture entirely,"Thousands of Japanese protest U.S. base plan", Reuters, 8 November 2009. all 12 elected mayors of northern Okinawa publicly accepted the new relocation plan, exposing a range of conflicting opinions among Okinawans: those who maintain that military facilities and associated public works infrastructure benefit the island's economy, environmentalists, and those who either object or are critical to the U.S. military presence on ideological grounds or on rooted sentiments.Sief, Linda, (Reuters) "Q+A-Japan-U.S. base feud hits nerve ahead of Obama visit", Forbes, 25 October 2009.
The relocation plans again gained national attention in 2009 when the Democratic Party of Japan included a promise to move Futenma off the island in its manifesto. After winning the election, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama found the promise hard to honor and resigned after only eight months in office when it was confirmed that the base would not move off Okinawa. At one point in 2009, Osaka Prefecture governor Toru Hashimoto even publicly proposed moving the base's functions to Osaka's Kansai International Airport (which is on an artificial island), remarking that "the burden [of bases on Okinawa] should be spread more evenly throughout Japan."Will the U.S. Marines charge ashore at Kansai airport?, Japan Today
Susumu Inamine, the mayor of Nago city elected on 24 January 2010, and reelected again on 19 January 2013, is against the Henoko relocation plan and argued for the relocation of Futenma outside of Okinawa. The local assembly of Nago voted against the relocation plan, and the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly also formally asked the prime minister to move the base out of the prefecture.David Allen, "Okinawa assembly to formally ask for Futenma base to move off the island", Stars and Stripes Online Edition, Thursday, 25 February 2010 On 17 May 2010, the anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa to Japan, an estimated 17,000 Okinawans encircled the base in protest.David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, "Okinawans encircle U.S. base", Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Tuesday, 18 May 2010 This was the fifth time such an action took place."'Human chain' around Futenma base", The Asahi Shimbun English Online Edition, Monday, 17 May 2010
Guam and Okinawa plan (2011–2012) In 2011, the chairman and ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services called for an alternative plan where Futenma aircraft would move to Kadena Air Base while the current aircraft at Kadena would move to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam."Accountability report cites higher buildup cost; U.S. senators push alternative plan." Pacific Daily News, 26 May 2011. However, US and Japan governments remained with the relocation plan as previously agreed and the fate of Futenma remained unresolved through early 2012, with the U.S. insisting that the Marine Corps' aviation elements be kept on the island while the Okinawa Prefectural government and Nago City government would like the base moved off the island. The US alleged that the aviation elements should be in close proximity to the ground and logistics elements of the Marine Air Ground Task Force, and the Japanese government of the time maintained the plan to keep the replacement airbase within Okinawa.
The US and Japan delinked the relocation of Futenma from plans to decrease the number of Marines stationed on Okinawa under a troop redeployment agreement in April 2012. Under the terms of the new U.S.-Japan agreement, 5,000 U.S. Marines were to be relocated to Guam and 4,000 U.S. Marines to other Pacific locations such as Hawaii or Australia, while some 10,000 Marines would remain on Okinawa. No timetable for the Marines redeployment was announced, but the Washington Post reported that U.S. Marines would leave Futenma as soon as suitable facilities on Guam and elsewhere would be ready. The relocation move was expected to cost 8.6 billion US Dollars and included a $3.1 billion cash commitment from Japan for the move to Guam as well as for developing joint training ranges on Guam and on Tinian and Pagan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
During this period, the US began to deploy Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft to Futenma in 2012, allowing the Marines (and the MV-22B Osprey aircraft) from Okinawa to train all along the length of Japan and around the entire Asia-Pacific region, with the Osprey's greatly increased speed, lift capabilities and range.Takahashi, Kosuke. "US Marines eye Japan as a training yard." Asia Times, 23 June 2012.
"Okinawa Consolidation Plan" (2013–2015) In April 2013, the United States and Japan released an "Okinawa Consolidation Plan," which detailed more general positions of the 1996 DPRI and 2006 SACO plans, specifying 2,500 acres of land to be returned Japan. This included returning the entirety of MCAS Futenma by "Japanese Fiscal Year 2022 or later" once the "replacement facilities in Okinawa are provided." As part of the original DPRI plan, Futenma's KC-130J 'Super Hercules' refueling transport squadron moved to MCAS Iwakuni on mainland Japan in July 2014. The plan also included, as in previous plans, moving Marine Corps airfield facilities to Camp Schwab at Henoko. The proposed location within Camp Schwab is insulated from potential protesters, unlike the previous proposed location in Henoko Bay where local civilians were able to enter the survey area.