In Sunday's Okinawa gubernatorial election, incumbent Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima defeated the former mayor of Ginowan — site of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma — Mr. Yoichi Iha. Mr. Nakaima has called for relocating the Futenma base outside Okinawa Prefecture but leaves room for negotiations with the central government, while Mr. Iha has called for relocating the base outside Japan.
Because Mr. Nakaima does not clearly say he opposes relocating the base inside the prefecture, the election results must have come as a relief to the Kan administration. But it would be overly optimistic for the government to believe it can achieve a quick breakthrough on the Futenma issue.
Mr. Nakaima, who was supported by the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and Your Party, had in the past conditionally accepted the plan to transfer the Futenma base from Ginowan in the central part of Okinawa Island to the less populated Henoko area in the northern part of the island. But in September he told the Okinawa prefectural assembly that he believes that the Futenma functions should be moved outside the prefecture.