Over the past couple of months, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, who was elected in September 2018 as an opponent of the planned relocation of the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the waters off Camp Schwab, has been calling through various forums for the re-examination of that decision and other matters concerning Okinawa.

One of those is through direct dialogue with the central government. The second is through a "SACO with Okinawa" process, with SACO being the name of the U.S.-Japan bilateral committee (Special Action Committee on Okinawa) formed in November 1995 with a one-year mandate to "reduce the burden on the people of Okinawa and thereby strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance," and which recommended the relocation of Futenma to Henoko, which hosts Camp Schwab, in the first place.

While I am not sure about the prospects for success of such actions (in part because the selection of the proper individuals is key to create the right chemistry and results), in principle I support them because I believe that dialogue is very important, and the Japanese and U.S. governments can use them to make their respective cases if they believe in accountability.