NAHA, Japan (Kyodo) — Around 5,200 people rallied Sunday in Japan’s southernmost prefecture of Okinawa against the planned deployment of MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in the prefecture later this year, stepping up their opposition in the wake of a recent crash of a similar aircraft in Florida.

“I urge an immediate halt to the plan to deploy the Osprey, the safety of which is in question, at the Futenma Air Station which sits next to private homes,” said Atsushi Sakima, the mayor of Ginowan, which hosts the U.S. air base.

A CV-22 Osprey aircraft crashed during training Wednesday evening in southern Florida, injuring five crew members aboard. The accident, which followed the fatal crash of an Osprey in Morocco in April, raised concern about the deployment of MV-22 Osprey at the Futenma base, located in a crowded residential district in Ginowan.

“The biggest concern about (the aircraft) is that the two accidents occurred within three months. I will make efforts to prevent the deployment at all costs,” Sakima said.

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima and Sakima are scheduled to make a request to stop the deployment to Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto and Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba on Tuesday.

“I want just this one thing to be heard: Please don’t bring the Osprey into the city of Ginowan,” Miyabi Kyan, a 15-year-old high school student, said from the stage, drawing a storm of applause at the rally held in a seaside park in the city.

“It would be too late to do anything after an accident occurs,” Kyan said, referring to the crash of a U.S. helicopter at Okinawa International University next to the Futenma air base in 2004.

“Even if the U.S. forces are here to protect us in emergency situations, it’s meaningless if they threaten our peaceful everyday lives,” he said.

Nakaima said in a written message, “The Okinawa Prefectural government is opposed to the deployment given the current situation where (the central government) has not given sufficient information about the safety” of the Osprey.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, meanwhile, said Friday Japan will not review the planned deployment, despite the growing sense of distrust in Okinawa toward the U.S. and Japanese governments which have said that Ospreys are safe.

“We will halt our preparations for the deployment such as providing an explanation to local people,” Fujimura told a press conference, but he denied that Tokyo will ask Washington to postpone the deployment.

The United States wants to replace aging CH-46 helicopters currently at the Futenma base with the Ospreys, which have vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, as early as August. But local officials and residents are strongly opposed to the deployment, given the plane’s noise and history of fatal crashes during test flights.

Kyodo Press, June 18, 2012
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120618p2g00m0dm020000c.html

Okinawa: Pro-governor bloc fails to gain majority in Okinawa assembly election

NAHA, Japan (Kyodo) — The bloc backing Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima failed to gain a majority in the prefectural assembly election Sunday, official returns showed.

The outcome of the quadrennial election leaves the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station still stalled, as most candidates backed Nakaima’s call for the base to be moved outside of Okinawa, in opposition to a Japan-U.S. accord to transfer it to Nago.

Some observers interpreted the election outcome as a fresh warning by Okinawa voters to Nakaima, who had in the past shown an accommodative stance toward transferring the base within the prefecture, not to accept the accord.

Nakaima told reporters the outcome was “regrettable,” while reiterating his call for moving the Futenma base outside Okinawa.

Nakaima is mainly backed by the Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition party in the national parliament, and the LDP’s ally the New Komeito party in the 48-seat assembly.

Supporters of Nakaima won 21 seats, comprising 13 seats won on the LDP ticket, three on the New Komeito ticket and five taken by independents.

Among the remaining 27 seats, the Social Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party obtained six and five, respectively. The Democratic Party of Japan and the People’s New Party — the ruling parties in national politics — won one seat each.

Voter turnout stood at record low 52.49 percent, down from 57.82 percent in the previous election.

Kyodo Press, June 11, 2012
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120611p2g00m0dm002000c.html