Photo/Illutration Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, left, congratulates Yoichi Iha after his re-election was confirmed in the July 10 Upper House election. (Shoma Fujiwaki)

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki and his supporters were showing signs of unease despite the victory of their preferred candidate in the July 10 Upper House election.

That candidate, incumbent Yoichi Iha, was supported by opposition parties, while his main opponent, Genta Koja, had the backing of the ruling coalition.

Iha retained his Upper House seat, the only one representing Okinawa Prefecture, but by only 2,888 votes.

The closeness of the contest shows that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its pro-military base stance continue to gain momentum in Okinawa Prefecture.

Tamaki will seek a second term in the September gubernatorial election. A similar political alignment is expected in that race.

Speaking to reporters on July 11, Tamaki said the Upper House election outcome clearly showed Okinawa voters remain opposed to relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago, also in Okinawa Prefecture.

But Tamaki added, “We will also analyze what expectations voters held for the opposing candidate.”

The latest outcome represents the fourth straight Upper House election loss in Okinawa Prefecture for the LDP.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida flew to Okinawa to campaign on behalf of Koja, the first time in nine years for a prime minister to stump in the southernmost prefecture in a national election.

That may partially explain the close result.

The margin of victory was only about 3,000 votes, a major improvement for the ruling camp from the Upper House election three years ago, when the opposition candidate won by about 64,000 votes.

In the 2016 election, the opposition candidate coasted to victory by about 106,000 votes.

In past national elections in the prefecture, LDP candidates have been rather vague about their position on the Futenma relocation plan, apparently to avoid solidifying anti-base sentiment against them.

In the latest election, Koja clearly stated that the Futenma air station should be relocated to Henoko.

A sense of resignation might be prevailing among Okinawa voters.

Candidates opposed to the relocation project have won the past two gubernatorial elections. In addition, a prefectural referendum found that 70 percent of Okinawa voters were against the move.

However, the central government’s relocation project continues to move forward.

During the campaign, Iha spoke more about the need for economic measures to help the local economy badly hurt by the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Analysts had pointed out that the camp supporting Tamaki may be weakening. It has lost four mayoral elections in Okinawa this year, including the one in Nago.

One official in the Iha camp acknowledged that this year’s race was a tough one and that the Henoko issue was not very important.

A similar view was held by those in the LDP camp.

One ruling party official said such a close race would not have been possible if local sentiment was still strongly opposed to the Henoko move.

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