Newly elected Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said Sunday that the Japanese government's plan to replace a key U.S. military base within the prefecture is opposed to the will of local residents.
In a speech at New York University, he said he was elected as governor in September on a platform of blocking the plan but that the Japanese government "is forcing the relocation" against the will of people in Okinawa.
Tamaki is in New York on his first tour of the United States since becoming governor. He is scheduled to meet government officials and lawmakers in his campaign against the transfer of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, where the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan are located.