In a contest with major implications for both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan's military ties with the United States, campaigning for the Jan. 19 Nago mayoral election officially kicked off Sunday, with relocation of the U.S. Marine base at Futenma, in central Ginowan, to Nago's Henoko district and who will benefit if it takes place, being the key issues.

In Okinawa, the contest is now also likely to decide the fate of Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima.

In an unprecedented move, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, which is in the hands of the opposition, passed a nonbinding resolution Friday advising Nakaima to resign after he broke a campaign pledge to seek relocation of Futenma outside Okinawa by approving a central government landfill application needed to build the replacement base at Henoko.