Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Friday that he will pay a visit on June 2 to Yokota Air Base, whose return the outspoken governor has pledged.
After a tour of the facilities at the U.S. military base in western Tokyo, he will inspect two spots in Mizuo and Akishima, where equipment is installed to measure aircraft noise.
He will also hold talks on the base issue with mayors of six municipalities surrounding the base at a hotel in Akishima later in the day. "By visiting the area where the aircraft (pass over when they approach the base), I would like to experience and examine the noise and other problems," he told the day's news conference.
During his campaign for governor, Ishihara pledged to seek the return of the land used by the base. He later modified the pledge and said he will pursue joint use of the facility with commercial aircraft.
But he admitted that the return or joint use of Yokota Air Base is, after all, a matter to be decided through state-to-state negotiations, rather than by a Tokyo governor.