Hatoyama to revisit Okinawa around May 23 over U.S. base issue+

TOKYO, May 11 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is planning to revisit Okinawa, possibly on May 23, for talks with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima over the relocation of a U.S. Marine base in the prefecture, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

In the upcoming meeting with Nakaima, Hatoyama is expected to seek acceptance
from the governor for a government plan to transfer most functions of the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station within the prefecture, the sources said. The
premier visited Okinawa on May 4 but failed to win over local leaders.
Hatoyama told reporters in the evening that even though a specific date for his
next trip to Okinawa has not been fixed yet, he wishes to revisit the
prefecture soon to learn about the views of local residents.
He also said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano will visit the city of
Kagoshima in southwestern Japan on Wednesday to meet with local assembly
members of Tokunoshima Island, located about 200 kilometers northeast of
Okinawa.
To alleviate the burden on Okinawa from hosting the bulk of the U.S. military
presence in Japan, the government aims to transfer some drills conducted at
Futemma to Tokunoshima Island, according to government sources.
Hirano will hold talks with Tokunoshima politicians who favor the relocation of
some drills held at Futemma to the island, sources close to the matter said.
Hatoyama said although the island's three town mayors rejected his request
regarding the hosting of the Marine base's functions during their meeting with
the premier in Tokyo last Friday, he believes there are ''various ways of
thinking'' among islanders. The premier said he expects Hirano to ascertain the
will of Tokunoshima residents.
Meanwhile, Nakaima met with Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa at a Tokyo hotel
on Tuesday and told reporters following the meeting that the premier's revisit
to Okinawa will be ''a plus and a minus'' for the prefecture. ''It depends on
what kind of purpose he has,'' the governor said.
Hatoyama pledged during an election campaign last summer that he will seek to
move the heliport functions of the Futemma facility ''at least'' out of Okinawa
to ease base-hosting burdens on locals.
Nakaima said Okinawa people feel their ''strong expectations have been
betrayed'' by the premier.
The governor said he told Kitazawa at the meeting that Okinawans expect
Hatoyama to offer an explanation about his pledge, if the government decides to
transfer most of the Futemma functions within the prefecture.
Nakaima said Kitazawa did not officially make specific proposals on where to
move the Marine base. The governor expressed frustration with the situation
that formal negotiations on the matter between the central government and
Okinawa are yet to begin.
Earlier in the day, Kitazawa effectively admitted that the government has given
up on meeting the May 31 deadline set by the premier for settling the Futemma
relocation.
Hatoyama, Kitazawa and three other Cabinet ministers decided Monday to seek to
relocate most of the Futemma functions to a new pile-supported facility to be
built in Nago, another city in Okinawa, off the coast of the Marines' Camp
Schwab, according to government sources.
The plan is a modification of an existing deal agreed on in 2006 by Japan's
Liberal Democratic Party-led government and the United States.
Kitazawa told reporters Tuesday it ''cannot be helped that negotiations will go
on after that (May 31),'' although he said the government aims to establish ''a
big framework'' for settling the matter by the end of this month.
He said the government is seeking to propose a plan through which Okinawa
residents will feel that their base-hosting burdens have been reduced by 40 to
50 percent compared with current levels.
The defense minister said the plan endorsed by the five should soon be approved
by the two coalition partners of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan -- the
Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party. Leaders of the two parties
have expressed negative views about it while it was reportedly being
considered.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told a press conference that the heads of the
three ruling parties need to hold talks in the near future over the
government's Futemma relocation policy.
PNP leader Shizuka Kamei, who serves as financial services minister, suggested
to reporters his party will not consider leaving the tripartite coalition
government, even if the premier fails to meet his self-imposed deadline.
SDP chief Mizuho Fukushima, who is minister in charge of consumer affairs,
urged the government not to jump to an ''awful conclusion'' by the deadline and
to ''seek to find a real solution'' to lessen burdens on Okinawans. The party
is against the plan to transfer the Futemma functions within the prefecture.
The stalemate over the base transfer issue has soured Japan's ties with the
United States and resulted in a plunge in the Hatoyama Cabinet's support
ratings.
The two countries are set to hold working-level talks on the Futemma relocation
in Washington on Wednesday.
Okada said senior Japanese and U.S. officials are expected to discuss technical
details concerning the base transfer, but added they are not likely to reach a
breakthrough deal soon.
==Kyodo