A senior Defense Ministry official came under suspicion Wednesday of not only trying to tamper with the upcoming mayoral election in Ginowan but taking similar action in 2010 for a vote in Nago — the two cities in Okinawa deeply connected to the controversial relocation of the Futenma U.S. air base.
Speculation has grown that Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka now has no choice but to sack Ro Manabe, his Okinawa bureau chief.
Manabe was only appointed in December, after his predecessor, Satoshi Tanaka, was axed for using a Japanese euphemism for rape in describing the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to the Henoko coastal area of Nago.