Photo/Illutration Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki speaks at a news conference on Oct. 30 after appearing at the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court in an administrative subrogation order lawsuit. (Minako Yoshimoto)

NAHA--Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki defended in court on Oct. 30 his continued obstinance in opposing the central government's push to relocate a U.S. military base in the prefecture as expressing the will of the people.  

“The central government should not force upon the Okinawa people the judgment of what constitutes the public interest for them, but the public interest should only be the will clearly expressed by the Okinawa people,” he said at the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court.

Tamaki attended the session to state why he and Okinawans could not accept the central government pushing ahead with the land reclamation work.

Both sides laid out their arguments over a lawsuit requesting an administrative subrogation order, which would pave the way for the central government taking over the approval process from the Okinawa prefectural government.

Even after a Supreme Court ruling stated that Tamaki was obligated to approve a design change to a land reclamation plan off the coast of Henoko in Nago, the governor refused.

The central government is seeking a favorable ruling so it can proceed with approving the plan change that is necessary for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan.

There has never been a precedent of the central government carrying out a procedural matter on behalf of a local government.

The trial concluded on Oct. 30 and the Naha branch will announce later the date for its ruling.

In court, Tamaki spoke for about 40 minutes in laying out the strong opposition among the Okinawa people to the Henoko relocation project.

He pointed out that although his prefecture accounts for only 0.6 percent of Japan’s total land mass, it hosts about 70 percent of the U.S. military bases in the nation.

Tamaki said that meant that each Okinawa resident had to shoulder about 200 times the burden of all other Japanese citizens residing elsewhere in terms of the land set aside for U.S. bases.

He added that the Okinawa people could not tolerate any design change that would lead to an even heavier burden from military bases.

He also said that his two victories in Okinawa gubernatorial elections as well as the one by his predecessor, Takeshi Onaga, who also opposed the Henoko move, affirmed that Okinawa voters did not want the Futenma base moved to Henoko.

Tamaki also touched upon a prefectural referendum in 2019 in which 70 percent of voters voiced their opposition.

One of the main issues in the trial is whether public interest would be gravely harmed if the Okinawa governor was allowed to forgo his legal duty to approve the design change.

The central government argued that any delay would adversely affect Japan’s national security as well as lead to the permanent hosting of the Futenma base in a heavily populated area.

However, Tamaki pointed out that even if the design change was swiftly approved it would not lead to an immediate removal of the dangers facing Ginowan residents from the Futenma base because it would take at least 12 years for the Henoko base to become usable.

And if land reclamation work did not progress as planned because of the extremely soft seabed off the coast of Henoko, the move would take even longer, Tamaki said.

The Okinawa governor also called on the Naha branch to issue a ruling that would encourage dialogue between the central and Okinawa prefectural governments to find a resolution to the issue.

Such a resolution would not allow the central government to conduct administrative subrogation and thereby trample on the Okinawa people’s will through the exercise of government authority, he said. 

(This article was written by Taro Ono, Satsuki Tanahashi and Kazuyuki Ito.)

Related News