About 5,000 people gathered in the city of Kagoshima to protest Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s proposal to relocate some functions of a major U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Three mayors from the island, including Isen town mayor Akira Okubo, participated in the gathering held at a park in central Kagoshima a day after the local leaders rejected the relocation proposal on Friday in a meeting with the prime minister in Tokyo.
‘‘I conveyed (Tokunoshima) residents’ firm sentiment against (the proposal),’’ Okubo said at the rally, which was organized by members of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly, excluding assembly groups of the Democratic Party of Japan.
On Friday, Hatoyama, who heads the ruling DPJ, asked the mayors to accommodate some functions of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station, but the local leaders’ response was that they would never accept any U.S. military facility or drills.
Hatoyama, who has set a self-imposed deadline of May 31 to settle the base issue, is also seeking a plan to build a pile-supported platform off the coast of the Marines’ Camp Schwab to relocate other Futenma functions within Okinawa Prefecture.
At the rally on Saturday, Kagoshima Gov Yuichiro Ito expressed support for the mayors from Tokunoshima and said, ‘‘It may be a long way, but I will oppose the plan in cooperation with the three mayors.’‘
Norihisa Hamada, 23, a Kagoshima city resident who grew up on Tokunoshima until graduating from high school, said, ‘‘I am worried about the future of the island, which is rich in nature, and I want residents in the prefecture to stand by (the island).’’
Three mayors from the island, including Isen town mayor Akira Okubo, participated in the gathering held at a park in central Kagoshima a day after the local leaders rejected the relocation proposal on Friday in a meeting with the prime minister in Tokyo.
‘‘I conveyed (Tokunoshima) residents’ firm sentiment against (the proposal),’’ Okubo said at the rally, which was organized by members of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly, excluding assembly groups of the Democratic Party of Japan.
On Friday, Hatoyama, who heads the ruling DPJ, asked the mayors to accommodate some functions of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station, but the local leaders’ response was that they would never accept any U.S. military facility or drills.
Hatoyama, who has set a self-imposed deadline of May 31 to settle the base issue, is also seeking a plan to build a pile-supported platform off the coast of the Marines’ Camp Schwab to relocate other Futenma functions within Okinawa Prefecture.
At the rally on Saturday, Kagoshima Gov Yuichiro Ito expressed support for the mayors from Tokunoshima and said, ‘‘It may be a long way, but I will oppose the plan in cooperation with the three mayors.’‘
Norihisa Hamada, 23, a Kagoshima city resident who grew up on Tokunoshima until graduating from high school, said, ‘‘I am worried about the future of the island, which is rich in nature, and I want residents in the prefecture to stand by (the island).’’
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