SHIZUOKA (Kyodo) Shizuoka Gov. Yoshinobu Ishikawa announced Wednesday he will step down to take responsibility for the delay in the opening of Shizuoka Airport, which straddles the cities of Shimada and Makinohara.

The three-month delay was prompted by the discovery that trees near the runway exceed the height limit imposed by the aviation law, a fact overlooked by an earlier survey.

The airport's opening has been pushed back to June.

Now in his fourth term, Ishikawa, 68, won the gubernatorial seat in 1993 after serving as a government bureaucrat.