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| Okinawa Mayor Takes Fight Against U.S. Base to Washington | Okinawa Mayor Takes Fight Against U.S. Base to Washington |
| (7 days later) | |
| WASHINGTON — To some, the long-stalled agreement to relocate a United States Marine base from a heavily populated area of Okinawa, Japan, to a smaller city might finally be seeing the light of day. During his visit to Japan in April, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said, “We look forward to the facility’s construction beginning soon.” A few weeks later at a news conference in Tokyo, President Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed that progress had been made. | WASHINGTON — To some, the long-stalled agreement to relocate a United States Marine base from a heavily populated area of Okinawa, Japan, to a smaller city might finally be seeing the light of day. During his visit to Japan in April, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said, “We look forward to the facility’s construction beginning soon.” A few weeks later at a news conference in Tokyo, President Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed that progress had been made. |
| But for Susumu Inamine, mayor of the smaller city, Nago, the fight is far from over. In meetings at think tanks and with United States government officials this week, Mr. Inamine said that the government in Tokyo and Okinawa’s governor, who support the plan, did not speak for the island’s citizens. | But for Susumu Inamine, mayor of the smaller city, Nago, the fight is far from over. In meetings at think tanks and with United States government officials this week, Mr. Inamine said that the government in Tokyo and Okinawa’s governor, who support the plan, did not speak for the island’s citizens. |
| The city of Nago, he said, has the power to slow down or block construction of the base by deciding which roads or ports can be used and by exercising its authority to approve or deny certain permits. “What I really wanted to express here was if they unilaterally push forward this plan against the local people, it will not work well,” he said through an interpreter. | The city of Nago, he said, has the power to slow down or block construction of the base by deciding which roads or ports can be used and by exercising its authority to approve or deny certain permits. “What I really wanted to express here was if they unilaterally push forward this plan against the local people, it will not work well,” he said through an interpreter. |
| When Mr. Inamine was asked at a news conference whether he found any sympathetic ears on his trip, it was hard for him to say. “This is a Japanese domestic issue for the U.S. people,” he conceded. A member of his delegation said the mayor did not have any meetings with Department of Defense staff members. The highest-ranking executive branch official with whom they met was the deputy of the Japan desk at the Department of State. | |
| They had a little bit more luck on Capitol Hill, where they had an audience with staff members from the offices of eight representatives and three senators, including Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California; Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma; and Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York. | They had a little bit more luck on Capitol Hill, where they had an audience with staff members from the offices of eight representatives and three senators, including Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California; Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma; and Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York. |
| When Mr. Inamine was re-elected as Nago’s mayor in January, it was seen as a rebuke to leaders in Tokyo who want the base to remain in Okinawa. Around 75 percent of the people in Okinawa do not want a new base there, according to Sheila A. Smith of the Council on Foreign Relations, who met with Mr. Inamine and his delegation. The mayor, she said, “has a very determined view of his responsibility to do what his constituents have asked him to do.” | When Mr. Inamine was re-elected as Nago’s mayor in January, it was seen as a rebuke to leaders in Tokyo who want the base to remain in Okinawa. Around 75 percent of the people in Okinawa do not want a new base there, according to Sheila A. Smith of the Council on Foreign Relations, who met with Mr. Inamine and his delegation. The mayor, she said, “has a very determined view of his responsibility to do what his constituents have asked him to do.” |
| The base, whose formal name is Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, has been a difficult issue in the relationship between the United States and Japan for nearly two decades. In 1995, three service members raped a 12-year-old Japanese girl. The attack galvanized a movement to move the base from its current home a few miles northeast of the prefectural capital, where the community continues to have concerns about crime and pollution. | The base, whose formal name is Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, has been a difficult issue in the relationship between the United States and Japan for nearly two decades. In 1995, three service members raped a 12-year-old Japanese girl. The attack galvanized a movement to move the base from its current home a few miles northeast of the prefectural capital, where the community continues to have concerns about crime and pollution. |
| While the current plan would move the base to a less populated area, a landfill for new runways could destroy coral reefs and harm biodiversity off the coast of Henoko, a village in the city of Nago. | While the current plan would move the base to a less populated area, a landfill for new runways could destroy coral reefs and harm biodiversity off the coast of Henoko, a village in the city of Nago. |
| This was Mr. Inamine’s second visit to Washington as mayor, and his audiences were not limited to congressional staff, think tanks and his constituents back home. On Tuesday, he spoke to a group of about 50 people at Busboy’s and Poets, a local restaurant chain. At meetings like this, he said that he encouraged United States citizens to write to President Obama about the issue, or to Caroline Kennedy, the United States ambassador to Japan, who he said is concerned about environmental issues. | This was Mr. Inamine’s second visit to Washington as mayor, and his audiences were not limited to congressional staff, think tanks and his constituents back home. On Tuesday, he spoke to a group of about 50 people at Busboy’s and Poets, a local restaurant chain. At meetings like this, he said that he encouraged United States citizens to write to President Obama about the issue, or to Caroline Kennedy, the United States ambassador to Japan, who he said is concerned about environmental issues. |
| Without question, Mr. Inamine faces an uphill battle, and Tokyo could simply wait out his term as mayor and hope he is defeated in the next election. But local experts agreed that his visit was not for naught. | Without question, Mr. Inamine faces an uphill battle, and Tokyo could simply wait out his term as mayor and hope he is defeated in the next election. But local experts agreed that his visit was not for naught. |
| “It is useful for people like him to come and just remind us that that opinion exists and for us to hear that narrative,” said Richard C. Bush III of the Brookings Institution, who also met with Mr. Inamine this week. | “It is useful for people like him to come and just remind us that that opinion exists and for us to hear that narrative,” said Richard C. Bush III of the Brookings Institution, who also met with Mr. Inamine this week. |
| “It may not change anything,” he added. | “It may not change anything,” he added. |