TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday vowed to work to reduce the burden of U.S. military bases in Okinawa Prefecture during the first meeting in 13 years between the central and local governments under a policy framework.
Speaking at a meeting of the Okinawa Policy Council with recently elected Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja at the prime minister's office, Takaichi also instructed relevant Cabinet ministers to consider measures to support the prefecture when compiling the fiscal 2027 budget.
The meeting was held amid discussions over the southern island prefecture's development budget and a long-running controversial plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, as well as local anger following a recent alleged murder and robbery of a woman living in the prefecture by a U.S. serviceman.
Takaichi said the government will "make every effort to achieve visible results in reducing the burden of U.S. military bases in Okinawa."
Koja, the first governor in 12 years to back the base relocation plan to the coastal Henoko area in Nago under a 1996 Japan-U.S. agreement, requested that the government clarify when the land occupied by the facility will be returned. He later told reporters the central government did not mention a specific date.
Regarding the alleged murder-robbery of a local woman by U.S. serviceman Devin Ballard, who was indicted in October, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told the meeting that Japan and the United States have agreed to enhance the education of U.S. military personnel.
The first meeting of the Okinawa Policy Council since 2013 follows Koja's victory in the September gubernatorial race with the backing of Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He defeated Denny Tamaki, a staunch opponent of the relocation plan who had led the prefecture for eight years.
Foundation work at the planned site, which extends into a bay, has been underway amid local calls for the base to be moved outside the prefecture.
Amid China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, Takaichi's government aims to strengthen cooperation with Okinawa on the relocation plan and bolster defense capabilities in the Nansei Islands, a strategically important chain stretching southwest from Kyushu toward Taiwan.
Koja campaigned primarily on economic issues rather than base-related concerns, pledging to increase central government development funding for Okinawa.
The government could raise Okinawa's fiscal 2027 development budget to over 300 billion yen ($1.9 billion), above the initial request of 289.7 billion yen, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Development budgets have remained in the 260-billion-yen range since fiscal 2022, after being reduced from the 300-billion-yen range. Disagreements between the central and prefectural governments over the relocation plan are seen as having contributed to the cuts during Tamaki's tenure.
