New Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka drew flak from the opposition camp Monday for making statements over the weekend that seemed to indicate Tokyo was intent on beginning the contentious relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa by the end of the year.
On the same NHK news program Sunday, Tanaka also seemed to confuse the principle behind the Self-Defense Forces' use of weapons abroad with Japan's arms export ban, exposing his lack of knowledge on defense issues and causing him to be labeled an "amateur" by Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Tanaka later backpedaled from his "by the end of the year" comment at a Monday news conference. "It's not about setting an exact time frame, goal or deadline," he said.