Tokyo, 6 February, /AJMEDIA/
Okinawa Gov Denny Tamaki is set to run for the gubernatorial election expected to take place in September, seeking his second term as the governor of the southern island prefecture, hosting the majority of U.S. military bases in Japan, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tamaki plans to announce his bid after a prefectural assembly session opens on Feb 15. All Okinawa Kaigi, which comprises political parties and civic groups opposed to a Japan-U.S. plan to relocate a key U.S. military base within the main island, will back him, the people said.
Tamaki revealed his intent to run for re-election to a group of his supporters late last month, according to the people. However, at a press conference Friday, he stopped short of declaring his candidacy, saying he was hoping to do his best until the current term ends and “will think about when I will express my next course of action.”
The 62-year-old politician is expected to run against Atsushi Sakima, a 57-year-old former mayor of Ginowan, Okinawa, who is seen as a potential candidate backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The race will likely revolve around the controversial transfer of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Japan and the United States are pushing for the relocation of the Futenma base, located in a residential area of Ginowan, to the less populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago. But the transfer has been stalled as the residents of Okinawa are divided over the plan.
The governor’s race will be the highlight of a series of elections in Okinawa this year. In the mayoral election for Nago on Jan. 23, the incumbent candidate was re-elected, backed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government, which supports the relocation.
Tamaki, a native of Uruma, Okinawa, worked as a radio personality before becoming a member of the Okinawa city assembly. After serving four terms as a House of Representatives member from 2009, he was elected as the governor of Okinawa in 2018 following the death of former governor Takeshi Onaga.