Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga said Friday that he had asked local officials to start procedures for retracting his predecessor's approval of landfill work needed to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Nago from Ginowan.
The order from Onaga, whose term expires in November, is seen as a last-ditch resort to block the central government's long-delayed plan to move the unpopular base as agreed to decades ago with the United States.
"I will take whatever measures and make utmost efforts in realizing my election pledge of preventing the construction of a new base," the governor said at a news conference. The replacement base is to be built in Henoko, a coastal area in Nago.