In a key local election with implications for the relocation of a contentious U.S. military base, voters in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, went to the polls Sunday to cast their ballots for a new mayor.
At issue is the fate of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which occupies roughly 25 percent of the city. Voters were to choose between Mayor Atsushi Sakima, 51, backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito, or challenger Keiichiro Shimura, a 63-year-old former prefectural official supported by popular Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga and the opposition parties.
While both candidates want the base closed, Sakima has publicly avoided taking a position on moving it to the Henoko district in Nago further north, as mandated by a bilateral agreement. He has called only for the early return of land the base occupies.