Photo/Illutration The U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is located in a residential area in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

GINOWAN, Okinawa Prefecture--Incumbent Masanori Matsugawa won his second term in the Sept. 11 Ginowan mayoral election, defeating his rival who had fiercely campaigned against the U.S.-base relocation plan, a hot-button issue in the prefecture.

Ginowan is home to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is to be moved to the Henoko district of Nago, also in Okinawa.

Matsugawa, 68, ran as an independent and was endorsed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner, Komeito.

Matsugawa supports relocating the base and insisted during the campaign that he will pave the way for the return of the land currently used for the Futenma base.

His opponent, Harumasa Nakanishi, 61, was a former head of the federation of parent-teacher associations for the prefecture’s high schools. He was backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party, Reiwa Shinsengumi, the Social Democratic Party and the local Okinawa Social Mass Party.

Nakanishi was also supported by the All Okinawa group, a political alliance of groups that support Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, who was re-elected in the gubernatorial election held on the same day. The group opposes the central government's planned relocation of the U.S. base.

Matsugawa campaigned in tandem with former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima, who ran in the gubernatorial election against Tamaki.

Matsugawa garnered 29,664 votes while Nakanishi received 18,458 votes.

The two had also faced off in the previous mayoral election four years ago.

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