Voting started Sunday in Okinawa to pick a governor in an election that could determine the fate of the contentious relocation of a key U.S. military base.
The gubernatorial election is the first opportunity for the people of Okinawa, home to the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan, to deliver a verdict on Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima's decision last December to approve the start of landfill work in preparation for building a replacement facility in Nago for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan.
Nakaima, 75, is seeking his third term in office against anti-relocation candidates: former Naha Mayor Takeshi Onaga, 64; and former Upper House lawmaker Shokichi Kina, 66. Mikio Simoji, a 53-year-old former state minister in charge of postal privatization, has argued that the relocation issue should be put to a referendum.