Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday he will no longer use the expression "shukushuku-to," which roughly translates as "proceed as planned," when explaining the Abe administration's position on the planned relocation of the Futenma air base in Okinawa Prefecture.
Suga made the comment a day after Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga criticized him for repeatedly using the term to express the administration's policy of pressing ahead with the plan to build the replacement facility in the Henoko area in Nago, farther north on Okinawa Island than its current location in the city of Ginowan.
"If (the expression) made him feel uncomfortable, I don't think I should use it," Suga, who doubles as minister in charge of reducing the burden on Okinawa of hosting the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan, said at a news conference.