Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura will visit Okinawa Prefecture on Saturday to discuss the realignment of U.S. troops in Japan with local leaders and U.S. military officials, according to government sources.
The sources said Wednesday night that Machimura will meet with Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine and visit the site of a U.S. military helicopter crash at Okinawa International University and the nearby U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station. The Aug. 13 crash forced the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa to suspend flights of CH-53D transport helicopters until Tuesday.