Backed by about 93,000 signatures from residents of Okinawa, Jinshiro Motoyama and his civil organization pushed the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly last year to hold a referendum on a controversial plan to relocate a U.S. military base to the Henoko area by reclaiming land in an area with endangered coral reefs.

In his latest move, Motoyama has launched a hunger strike in front of the Ginowan City Hall to express discontent over major municipalities in the prefecture, including Ginowan, not participating in the nonbinding referendum, slated for Feb. 24.

"We have met with and kept telling the mayors and municipal officials that we demand a referendum that allows all the people in Okinawa to join," Motoyama said in an interview Thursday with The Japan Times. "But they have not changed their stance. So, it came to the point where I needed to begin a hunger strike as a last resort."