Japanese PM visits U.S. base in Okinawa amid opposition to relocation plan

NAHA, Japan, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Saturday concluded a two day visit to Okinawa Prefecture on Saturday by inspecting from the air a U.S. Marine base, which is set to be relocated from a densely populated area of the main island to a less crowded area.

Following an unsuccessful meeting a day earlier with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima who insisted the base be moved off Japan 's southwest island entirely, Kan said Saturday the trip had allowed him to exchange opinions and pave the way for further cordial dialogue.

"Although there are many differences of opinion, this visit has enabled me to discuss the issue from now on in a courteous way," Kan told a news conference before concluding his two-day visit.

Kan said that despite the fact that problems regarding the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station to the island's northeast coast remain, as yet, unresolved, it is still important for Japan to deepen its security alliance with the U.S.

Japan and the United States agreed in May to largely stick to a bilateral accord agreed to in 2006 to relocate the Futenma air base in a densely populated area of Ginowan to a less crowded coastal area in Nago in Okinawa Prefecture.

The deal has met with strong opposition from local authorities and citizens in Okinawa because Kan's predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, reneged on a promise to move the base out of the southwest prefecture.

When Kan arrived Friday to meet with Nakaima, hundreds of local people had gathered to protest his visit with some drumming empty cans to metaphorically, yet noisily, convey their indignation to the prime minister.

"The prime minister, who has not shown any measures to resolve the issue, is like a can without anything inside," one local protester said.

The drumming cans could be heard throughout the meeting between Kan and Nakaima at the prefectural government building in Naha City.

However, Kan reiterated his promise to U.S. President Barack Obama, on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Yokohama last month that Japan would keep to the bilateral agreement and that he would make the utmost efforts to relocate the base to a coastal area in Nago, much to the chagrin of the islanders.

Kan's itinerary Saturday took him in an aerial view of the new site for the Futenma Air Station on the island's northeast coast, as well as other facilities including the U.S. Kadena Air Base and land south of it that is pegged to be returned to Japan.

The prime minister also held talks with the top U.S. military official on the island, Okinawa Area Coordinator Lt. Gen. Terry Robling.

It was Kan's second visit to the prefecture since taking office and the first time he had visited the Futenma base, known as one of the most dangerous bases in the world, due to its proximity to local people.

Around 75 percent of land in Okinawa Prefecture is occupied by the U.S. military, although the tiny island accounts for only 0.6 percent of Japan's territory.

Local authorities and citizens have constantly complained about the disproportionate military presence in Okinawa, citing issues of pollution, noise, accidents and incidents of crime.

Kan is scheduled to issue a joint statement on relocation issue with Obama during a planned trip to the U.S. next spring, although he has drawn the ire of Washington recently by refusing to put a deadline on settling the increasingly thorny relocation issue.

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