The mayors of 26 towns and villages hosting U.S. bases in Okinawa plan to formally present new demands Thursday calling for Tokyo to reduce the prefecture's burden in supporting American military personnel and fundamentally revise the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement.
The move comes as Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine is in Hawaii, attending the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Congress.
At a news conference in Honolulu on Sunday, Inamine said the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to Nago's Henoko district, which all 26 mayors are against, is going forward despite strong local opposition and amid violence on the part of police toward anti-base protesters.