MORIOKA--Takuya Tasso is an outlier among prefectural governors in advocating a renegotiation of the controversial project to relocate a U.S. military base within Okinawa Prefecture, as the land reclamation work is steadily proceeding. 

He was the only one among the 46 governors surveyed who said the government's plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to Henoko Point in Nago, also in the prefecture, is “inappropriate, if anything.”

“As a sovereign nation, there should be no way to allow a new U.S. military base to be built in Japan,” Tasso, governor of the northeastern Iwate Prefecture since 2007, said in a recent interview. “The presence of U.S. bases should be reduced in Okinawa Prefecture.”

In the recent survey conducted by The Asahi Shimbun and The Okinawa Times, 43 governors said they cannot say whether the project is appropriate or did not provide an answer.

One respondent chose “appropriate,” and the last one selected “appropriate, if anything.”

The survey did not include Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, a staunch opponent to the project.

In December, the central government authorized design changes by proxy to proceed with reclamation work in a new area off Henoko Point after Tamaki refused to approve them. The work started in that area in January. 

Tasso, formerly a Foreign Ministry bureaucrat and a Lower House member, was also alone in replying that the use of administrative subrogation to override the prefectural government was “inappropriate, if anything.”

In the survey, 42 governors said they cannot choose between appropriate or inappropriate or did not provide an answer on that question.

Excerpts from Tasso’s interview follow:

* * *

Question: You said the Henoko relocation project is “inappropriate, if anything.” Will you elaborate?

Tasso: Seventy-nine years have passed since Japan’s defeat in World War II. It should not be allowed, in principle, that a foreign country’s military base will be built in Japan.

The central government should renegotiate the project, which was decided based on a Japan-U.S. agreement in 2006, with the United States.

The United States shares the same principles of democracy with Japan.

A candidate opposed to the relocation project won in the past three Okinawa gubernatorial elections, and about 70 percent of residents expressed opposition to the reclamation work in a prefectural referendum.

In addition to the local opposition, the reported poor foundation of the planned site offers a strong reason for proposing a renegotiation.

Q: You also questioned the central government overriding Tamaki’s opposition to design changes to the reclamation work through administrative subrogation. Why?

A: The central government should have obtained understanding from local officials and residents.

The central and local governments are supposed to be on an equal footing, but the central government adopted an extremely centralist, heavy-handed approach.

Under ordinary circumstances, the central government is expected to make political efforts to persuade prefectural residents and the public at large (of a certain policy).

However, it only pursued the technicalities of administrative procedures.

Foreign and defense policies will not succeed unless the public is convinced.

I think heads of local governments can and should speak their minds about the central government’s stance on those issues without reservation.

Q: Many governors refrained from answering questions in the survey, saying national security falls under the exclusive purview of the central government. What do you think?

A: Just as everyone is free to speak out, everyone is free not to.

However, as far as I am concerned, I am determined to freely express my opinions as a politician elected by the voters.

Q: Tamaki has said the U.S. base burden should be borne by the entire Japan. Will you share your view?

A: As a sovereign nation, there is no way to allow a new U.S. military base to be built in Japan.

The presence of U.S. bases should be reduced in Okinawa Prefecture.

Japan is overly dependent on the United States.

While maintaining its cooperative relationship with the United States, Japan should also consider its own national interests independently.

(This article is based on an interview by Kazuyuki Ito.)