Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has asserted that a Japan-U.S. agreement struck in February will help resolve the issue of relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which now sits in the middle of densely populated Ginowan City in the central part of Okinawa Island.
But there is the possibility that the agreement will only perpetuate the current situation surrounding not only the Futenma air station but also five U.S. military facilities in the southern part of the island, which the U.S. is supposed to return to Japan. There is a hint of falsification and deception in bilateral talks on the Okinawan base issues.
In 2006, Tokyo and Washington agreed on a package that included relocation of the Futenma functions to Henoko in Nago City in the northern part of Okinawa Island, the transfer of portions of the Okinawa-based U.S. Marines to Guam and reversion of the five American facilities located south of the Kadena Air Base to Japan.