Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Goshi Hosono met with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Wednesday, the 41st anniversary of the prefecture's reversion to Japan, suggesting the top opposition party seeks to heed local needs and ease Okinawa's burden as the host to most U.S. bases in Japan.
"When the DPJ was in power, we failed to meet all the expectations that the people in Okinawa had about relocating U.S. bases. We should reflect on that," Hosono told Nakaima in the meeting at the prefectural office in Naha. "The government and the Diet need to move ahead with policies that cater to Okinawa."
When the DPJ took power in September 2009 after a general election, Yukio Hatoyama, the party's leader who became the prime minister at the time, promised to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma out of Okinawa, only to later renege on the pledge before stepping down less than a year into his stint.