NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama apologized Sunday for failing to keep his promise to move Futenma air base out of Okinawa, despite months of searching for an alternative.
The administration's plan now is to shift U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a residential area in the city of Ginowan to the coast near Nago, a move similar to the original relocation plan signed with the U.S. in 2006 but strongly opposed by Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima.
While clarifying the plan, Hatoyama said he will ask other prefectures at a meeting Thursday to take on some of the U.S. military drills currently staged in Okinawa.