The administration probably won't allocate any funds in fiscal 2011 to study the possible transfer of some U.S. military drills from Okinawa to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, government sources said Tuesday.
A new Japan-U.S. agreement on the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, reached in May, states that more drills will be transferred out of the prefecture, naming Tokunoshima, Self-Defense Forces bases in mainland Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam as possible host sites.
With the latest development, however, the government is now more likely to drop any plan to move drills to Tokunoshima, about 200 km from Okinawa.