Tetsuya Higa, mayor of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, said Wednesday his city will accept the government's plan to build a sea-based heliport there for use by the U.S. military.
Higa informed Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of his decision during a meeting at the Official Residence. Higa's decision came after a majority of the city's voters rejected the heliport plan in a plebiscite Sunday.
A total of 16,639 people indicated their opposition to the proposed 1,500-meter-long heliport at the ballot box, but 14,267 supported it. Turnout was 82.45 percent.
Higa said he would resign as mayor, possibly today, in exchange for the unpopular decision. He said he made his choice after considering the matter long and hard.
The national government has proposed an infusion of public money to help the city's economic development if it accepts the heliport plan. Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota said earlier in the day that the prefectural government will decide in January whether to accept the heliport plan.
In the evening, Hashimoto met with Higa and Ota separately, during which he renewed his request that the facility be built off Nago. However, Ota declined to answer, and instead requested Hashimoto give the prefecture until mid-January to reconsider the plan because careful consideration of other matters connected with the heliport is needed.
The government plan would move the main functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, in the central part of Okinawa Island, to a facility to be built off the northern part of the island.
The government has said that if the Futenma base is to be relocated, constructing the 1,500-meter offshore heliport near Nago is the only choice. The relocation is necessary to complete the Futenma station's closure in five to seven years under an agreement last year between Japan and the U.S.