OSAKA (Kyodo) A Kyodo News survey of all prefectural governors except for Okinawa's shows they are reluctant to accept U.S. military facilities or host training exercises by U.S. forces.
With regard to the burden on Okinawa, which currently hosts 74 percent of U.S. military facilities in Japan, the governors of 29 prefectures said diplomatic and security policies should be left to the central government, while 15 said it is necessary to reduce the burden on Okinawa.
The survey, coming at a time when the question of where to relocate the U.S. Futenma airfield is in the spotlight, indicates it would be difficult for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to transfer U.S. military facilities and training exercises out of Okinawa.
All 46 governors outside Okinawa gave a negative answer when asked if they could accept U.S. facilities or training exercises "as of now" or "when certain conditions are met."