WASHINGTON (Kyodo) A candidate site for a permanent facility in Japan for U.S. warplanes to practice landing on aircraft carriers will not be selected by the primary deadline of July, according to Japanese and U.S. sources.
The training is currently being conducted on a provisional basis on Iwojima, or Iwoto as it is now named, by U.S. naval aircraft stationed at the Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture. Iwoto is about 1,200 km from Honshu.
The May 2006 agreement between Japan and the United States on the realignment of U.S. military forces specified that a site for the permanent training facility should be selected by next month or at the earliest possible date thereafter.