A central government official on Wednesday signed documents required for continuing the forcible lease of land in Okinawa Prefecture used by the U.S. military despite the refusals of some landowners.
Takayoshi Kawano, an official at the Defense Facilities Administration Agency, signed documents renewing the lease contracts for a combined 384 sq. meters of land within the boundaries of U.S. military sites.
The procedure is based on the Special Land Use Law, which authorizes the state to forcibly lease land to the U.S. military.
In June, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori approved the forcible renewal because there were concerns that some landowners would not sign new documents ahead of the March 2001 expiration of the current lease arrangements.