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The United States and Japan agreed yesterday to relocate a controversial U.S. air base to a less densely populated area on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The future of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma had been a subject of intense political debate in Japan that led to the possibility of the base being moved off the island entirely, despite a 2006 agreement to relocate it on Okinawa. Talks between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for the United States and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa for Japan addressed a range...

GINOWAN, Okinawa — The U.S. and Japan announced Friday that they will move ahead with plans to close Marine Corps Air Station Futenma here and move Marine air operations to a new facility on Camp Schwab. In a joint statement signed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, the two countries confirmed their commitment to steadily implement a 2006 agreement to realign U.S. troops in Japan. According to Kyodo News, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama by telephone...

Out on stands, now, here in Japan. Mass circulation. Hope and "CHANGE"."CHANGE" (North Korea and Red China) can believe in. Hmmm mmmm MMMM!

The top U.S. Marine in the Pacific said on Friday that his forces needed to be based on the southern island of Okinawa for strategic reasons, as Tokyo struggles to resolve a dispute with Washington over relocating a base. The relocation of the Futenma Marine base on Okinawa is at the center of a feud between Washington and Tokyo that is eroding support for Japan's governing Democratic Party and setting its coalition partners at odds ahead of an election expected in July. "Okinawa is in the perfect place in the region," said Lieutenant General Keith Stalder, when asked about suggestions...

U.S. puts off meetings on broader ties / PM's inaction on Futenma issue blamed The Yomiuri Shimbun The U.S. government, reacting to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's procrastination over the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, has informed Tokyo it will postpone key bilateral consultations aimed at "deepening the Japan-U.S. alliance," government sources said Tuesday. The previously agreed consultations were suggested by Hatoyama in summit talks with U.S. President Barack Obama when he visited Tokyo last month. Expectations on the part of the Japanese government were to see the consultations start before the end of...

The top commander of U.S. forces in Japan told Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Thursday it would be difficult to realize his suggested plan of transferring the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture to the nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base, a Japanese government source said. SNIP Lt. Gen. Rice cited difficulties with the plan from Okada and Tokyo.

Japan's new government appeared to bow to pressure from US military officials, saying on Friday that Tokyo supports keeping a major US marine airfield on the southern island of Okinawa. The move narrows - but does not close - a rift between the two alliance partners ahead of President Barack Obama's visit in three weeks. The new Tokyo administration, elected in a landslide in August, has said it would assert a more independent stance from Washington than previous administrations. However, Tokyo does not want to unduly strain ties with its chief ally and key trading partner. The government of Yukio...

NAHA, Okinawa — The Okinawa Assembly is counting on President-elect Barack Obama’s promise of change. The change the assembly wants is the scuttling of plans to move U.S. Marine air operations on Okinawa to a new air facility to be built on Camp Schwab. After winning control of the prefectural assembly in June, opposition parties to Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party passed a resolution against the project, which is part of broad realignment plans for U.S. troops in Japan. “We hope that the new U.S. administration will give a full consideration to the voices of Okinawa, who do not want...

Marines to quadruple aircraft at Futenma for emergency on Korean Peninsula 01/16/2008 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN The U.S. Marine Corps will quadruple the number of aircraft deployed at its Futenma base in Okinawa Prefecture if a military crisis erupts on the Korean Peninsula, The Asahi Shimbun has learned. According to official documents, as many as 300 aircraft, mainly helicopters, will be deployed at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, an increase from about 70 deployed at normal times. The documents underscore the importance the U.S. military places on the Futenma base for air sorties into the Korean Peninsula. The...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Japan and the United States on Monday approved details of a sweeping plan to realign U.S. forces in Japan by 2014 while giving Japan's military greater responsibility for security in the Asia-Pacific. In a joint report, the countries made special mention of the burden faced by Japanese communities hosting U.S. bases. Locals, especially on the crowded island of Okinawa, often complain of the crime, accidents, land use and noise associated with the bases. On Okinawa, the two sides agreed to relocate the U.S. airfield at Futenma, with a target date of 2014. The operations will move to...

Almost 24,000 people surrounded Marine Corps Air Station Futenma here Sunday, forming a 6.8-mile human chain to demand the air base close. The event was part of a weekend of peaceful anti-base actions to mark the 33rd anniversary of Okinawa’s return to Japan after 27 years of post-World War II U.S. occupation. Also staged Sunday: three protest marches across the island with brief rallies in front several U.S. military bases and a mass afternoon rally at the Ginowan Convention Center. MCAS Futenma sits in the middle of urban Ginowan. Japan and the United States agreed in 1996 to close the...

A panel chartered by Congress to advise on redeployments of U.S. forces abroad is questioning the wisdom of reducing the number of troops on Japan's Okinawa island at a time of strategic uncertainties in the region. In a report released Monday, the Overseas Basing Commission recommended that U.S. Marines at one Okinawan base, the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station, should be moved -- either to another U.S. base on the island, or to one located on Honshu, Japan's main island. Apart from Futenma, however, all other Marine Corps assets on Okinawa should remain there. "Okinawa is the strategic linchpin to...