With both Japan and the United States unlikely to soon seek new solutions to the stalled relocation of the Futenma air station in Okinawa, progress might be better achieved through discussions by nongovernmental experts, according to a U.S. analyst.
The existing plan to transfer the Futenma base from a crowded residential district in Ginowan to the less-populated coastal area of Henoko within Okinawa is "becoming politically infeasible" amid continued opposition from the local community, said George Washington University professor Mike Mochizuki.
"To push it stubbornly will lead to negative consequences for the U.S.-Japan alliance," added Mochizuki, who has been studying the issue since 1995.