The Defense Ministry began laying buoys Thursday morning to cordon off a stretch of shoreline in Okinawa set to become the site of a replacement facility for a U.S. Marine base in the prefecture.
The move is likely aimed at keeping protesters away from the site as the government starts seabed drilling surveys in preparation for land reclamation work.
Many in Okinawa remain opposed to the planned facility in the Henoko district of Nago, calling for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station, located in a crowded residential area of Ginowan, to be relocated outside of Okinawa.