With 1 Month until Okinawa Poll, Both Key Contenders Lack Trump Card

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Aug. 14 (Jiji Press)--With only a month left to go until the Sept. 13 Okinawa gubernatorial election, neither of the two main potential candidates has been able to secure decisive support in the closely watched race for the leader of the southernmost Japan prefecture.

The election will effectively be a one-on-one battle between incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki, 66, who is gunning for a third term, and Genta Koja, 42, former deputy mayor of the prefectural capital of Naha who is backed by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Amid waning focus on key points of contention in the election, both Tamaki and Koja are emphasizing their efforts to boost benefits for the people of Okinawa, in hopes to expand support among unaffiliated voters.

"We are no longer in an era in which we are asked to choose between whether we should concentrate on the U.S. base issue or the local economy," a person close to Tamaki said.

A major point of contention has been the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in the Okinawa city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in the city of Nago, also in Okinawa. The relocation, however, has been becoming a fait accompli since the Japanese government began landfill work in 2018 off Henoko to build a Futenma replacement facility.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]