Amid claim and counterclaim by activists and politicians over the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, one factor is often ignored: what ordinary Okinawans think about the move.

There was a testy exchange at a news conference Tuesday between Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and a reporter from the Okinawa Times, one of the prefecture's two largest newspapers.

The newspaper's latest poll found that 76.1 percent of residents are opposed to "the construction of a new base" off Henoko in Nago as a replacement for the Futenma base.