The Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito agreed Friday to submit a censure motion to the Upper House against Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa over a subordinate's indiscreet remark that disparaged Okinawa.
The motion, which may be submitted Dec. 9, the day the current Diet session ends, casts a further cloud over the government's push to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa and efforts to gain local consent for the move.
Other opposition parties are expected to join the LDP and New Komeito, which are holding Ichikawa, as the titular supervisor, responsible for his subordinate's gaffe as well as his own previous comments and actions that they say show he is unfit to be defense minister.