Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera tried Monday to win over Saga Prefecture officials to his ministry's plan to deploy V-22 Osprey transport aircraft at Saga Airport.
The Self-Defense Forces plan to eventually deploy 17 of the controversial tilt-rotor aircraft there.
In a meeting with Onodera in the city of Saga, Gov. Yasushi Furukawa effectively accepted the ministry's plan to request money in the budget for the next fiscal year to acquire land around the civilian airport to build an SDF facility adjacent to it.