A candidate opposed to plans to use an uninhabited island off Kagoshima Prefecture for U.S. landing practice was elected the mayor of nearby Nishinoomote on Sunday.
The victory by former reporter Shunsuke Yaita, 63, throws cold water on the central government's plan to acquire land on Mageshima Island for U.S. carrier landing practice. The island's use as a training site was backed by only one of the three other candidates in the election.
Mageshima is about 12 km west of Nishinoomote, the main city on Tanegashima Island, where Japan's space program is based. If military exercises were approved for Mageshima, Nishinoomote might see the tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey and other U.S. military aircraft flying over the city.