Candidate Tolerant of Futenma Transfer Wins Okinawa Governor Poll

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 13 (Jiji Press)--Genta Koja won a gubernatorial election in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday, meaning that the southernmost Japan prefecture will have a leader tolerant of the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station within Okinawa for the first time in 12 years.

The 42-year-old former deputy mayor of Naha, Okinawa's capital, who was supported by conservative forces, including the Liberal Democratic Party, the ruling party in national politics, defeated incumbent Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, 66, who sought a third term, and four other candidates. The election was effectively a one-on-one battle between Koja and Tamaki.

Koja will be the first Okinawa governor born after 1972, when Okinawa was returned to Japan from U.S. occupation. He will also be the youngest elected governor of the prefecture. His four-year term is set to start Sept. 30.

Okinawa's prefectural administration, long marked by fierce confrontation between conservative and reformist forces mainly over the relocation of the Futenma base, now located in the city of Ginowan, Okinawa, to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another city in the prefecture, may be at a turning point following the election result.

"At issue in the election was whether to continue the current prefectural administration or to bring about a renewal," Koja told reporters in Naha on Sunday night. "While respecting Mr. Tamaki's administration, I want to move Okinawa forward," Koja added.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]