The Feb. 24 referendum in Okinawa Prefecture is the first-ever opportunity for local voters to express their opinions focusing on the single issue of whether they support the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the central Okinawa city of Ginowan to a site off the Henoko area of Nago. The result of the vote will not be legally binding for the national government and officials have already said they will proceed with the Henoko construction irrespective of the referendum's outcome. However, ignoring the popular will of the prefecture, which hosts 70 percent of the bases solely used by the U.S. military in Japan, would not be good for the Japan-U.S. security alliance.

The relocation of the Futenma base — which was agreed on by Japan and the U.S. in 1996 on the condition that its functions would be relocated within Okinawa — continues to divide the national government and the prefecture 23 years on. While the voters of Okinawa elected two governors in succession who campaigned on the promise of stopping the relocation to Henoko — Takeshi Onaga in 2013 and Denny Tamaki last year following Onaga's death — the national government has proceeded with the Henoko project despite strong opposition from the prefecture based on the go-ahead given to the reclamation work by their predecessor, Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima.

The plebiscite will ask Okinawans whether they support or oppose reclamation work at the Henoko site, or neither. Although the election of Onaga and Tamaki reflected local voters' strong objections to Futenma's relocation to Henoko, a local citizens' group went ahead and collected enough signatures to petition to hold the plebiscite. If the answer that obtains the largest number of votes has been endorsed by at least a quarter of eligible voters, the governor must honor the results and notify the prime minister and the U.S. president of the outcome. However, the national government is not bound by the vote result.