Staff writers

Top government officials are to visit Okinawa today in the hope of being able to draw up with the prefecture a final blueprint for the controversial relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station.

Adopting a carrot-and-stick approach, Tokyo and Washington hope to settle the long-standing issue of relocating the facility, sited in a residential area in southern Okinawa, before the prefecture hosts the next Group of Eight summit in July 2000.