Money matters in politics. This is something Okinawans locking horns with the central government over the plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corp Air Station Futenma seem to have cottoned on to, setting up a private-sector fund to promote their anti-base cause.
Local business executives and former political leaders on Thursday announced the creation of a "Henoko Fund" to solicit donations from the public. They plan to use it to fund opinion ads in newspapers in Japan and the U.S. to present their case against moving the air base from a residential neighborhood in Ginowan to the coastal district of Henoko in Nago, northern Okinawa.
"It's important to convey our message directly and indirectly to the U.S. government and the American people," fund backer Morimasa Goya, chairman of the Naha-based construction and retail company Kanehide Group, said at a news conference in Naha.