An overwhelming majority of residents in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, voted "no" in a plebiscite held Sunday on a plan to relocate 57 U.S. carrier-based aircraft and 1,600 U.S. military personnel to their city. This was the first plebiscite of its kind since Japan and the United States agreed in October to realign U.S. military bases in Japan. Although not legally binding, the plebiscite underscores Iwakuni citizens' opposition to the highhanded manner in which the government pushed the realignment policy. The vote may also influence the attitudes of other municipalities and raise further questions about Washington and Tokyo's plan to relocate U.S. forces in Japan rather than significantly reduce their presence.

Tokyo and Washington are scheduled to announce a final report on the base realignment plan by the end of the month. So far, however, the central government's talks with local governments concerned have deadlocked over base relocation issues, including a proposal to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station heliport from a congested residential area in the central part of Okinawa Island to Camp Schwab in the northern part of the island.

Anger over what he deemed a lack of the readiness on the part of the government to have "prior consultations" with residents over the relocation plan and fears that it would greatly affect their lives prompted Iwakuni Mayor Katsusuke Ihara to hold the plebiscite. Residents were only asked to answer yes or no to the plan to move the U.S. aircraft and personnel from the U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture to the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station.