FOCUS: Japan gov't's efforts further needed as Okinawa still split over U.S. base

TOKYO - A ruling bloc-backed newcomer may have beaten the incumbent opposed to a longstanding U.S. military base relocation plan in Sunday's Okinawa gubernatorial election, but Japan's government will need to make even greater efforts if it pursues the transfer, over which voters remain divided.

Genta Koja, supported by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party and others, has said he is willing to accept the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to the Henoko coastal area of Nago, where construction work is steadily advancing, within Okinawa Prefecture.