A high court on Wednesday rejected the Okinawa Prefectural Government's demand that the transfer of a key U.S. base within the island prefecture be halted, boosting the central government's bid to continue construction work on a new air facility.
The Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court upheld a lower court ruling, dismissing an appeal by the local government to suspend work for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
The central government plans to start full-blown land reclamation work on Dec. 14 to build the replacement facility.