Okinawa Governor speaks at the United Nations and appeals against Henoko for the first time in 8 years | | News from across the country

Appeal against Henoko for the first time in eight years

2023/09/19 00:41

[Geneva Kyodo]Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki gave a speech on the 18th (early morning of the 19th Japan time) at the Human Rights Council held at the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. He advocated against the relocation of the U.S. military’s Futenma Air Base (Ginowan City) to Henoko, Nago City. It has been eight years since former Governor Takeshi Onaga gave his first speech as a prefectural governor in September 2015.

Regarding the Henoko relocation, the prefecture lost the case to the national government on September 4th in an appeals court regarding changes to the design of soft ground improvement work. Mr. Tamaki was obligated to approve the design changes, but he has not made clear whether he will approve them or not. While there is no way to prevent the relocation, we will communicate Okinawa’s position and situation to the international community.

At a press conference on September 8, Mr. Tamaki said, “Up until now, there has been unanimous support from the people in the gubernatorial election and prefectural referendum against the relocation of Henoko,” and regarding the current state of the government’s move to relocate Henoko, “The current situation in Okinawa is… “We are complaining about how unequal and unjust it is.”

Mr. Tamaki arrived in Geneva on the morning of the 18th (afternoon of the 18th Japan time). He plans to stay until the 22nd and meet with United Nations officials.