Prime Minister Naoto Kan went Friday to Okinawa to try to ease tensions with local authorities over the Futenma military base.
Securing Okinawa's acceptance of relocating the U.S. airfield within the prefecture, which Tokyo and Washington agreed to earlier this year, is one of the many problems facing Kan, who is struggling with low approval ratings for his six-month-old administration.
Kan said, "As a Japanese, I feel sorry, and as a politician, I'm terribly ashamed" of letting the prefecture host the bulk of U.S. forces stationed in Japan under the bilateral security accord.
His itinerary for the two-day visit includes talks with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima and a visit to the Futenma base.
Kan told the governor, who was re-elected for a four-year term in late November, that the plan may not be the best for Okinawa but is still a viable and "better" option to mitigate the risk of keeping the base in the crowded residential area of Ginowan.
Kan also said he has no intention of taking a high-handed approach to advance the plan.