VZCZCXRO0280
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHNH #0056/01 0660833
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070833Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL NAHA
INFO RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
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RUHBANB/CG MCB CAMP BUTLER JA
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RHMFIUU/COMMARFORPAC
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RUEHC/RRF DOS PRIORITY 0001
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RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 0116
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RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 0001
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAHA 000056 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR PINS JA
SUBJECT: GOJ TAKING HARD LINE WITH OKINAWAN OFFICIALS ON FUTENMA 
REPLACEMENT FACILITY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Newly-elected Nago City Mayor Yoshikazu 
Shimabukuro said he had a disappointing dinner March 6 with 
Japan Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga. 
Shimabukuro said Nukaga refused to discuss agreed plan to 
relocate a Marine air station to Nago City, deflecting 
conversation to the economic benefits the GOJ would offer if 
locals would accept the plan "as is."  Shimabukuro was left 
frustrated by his inability to engage the GOJ on the details of 
this politically-loaded facility relocation.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Following newspaper reports of a meeting between Japan 
Defense Agency (JDA) Director General Fukushiro Nukaga and three 
northern Okinawa mayors, we contacted Nago City Mayor Yoshikazu 
Shimabukuro.  Note: Shimabukuro was elected in January on a 
nuanced platform regarding the relocation of Marine Corps Air 
Station (MCAS) Futenma to the Henoko area of Nago City.  While 
Shimabukuro opposed the specific plan outlined in the October 
2005 Alliance Transformation and Realignment Agreement (ATARA) 
report, he had indicated flexibility with regard to an amended 
proposal.  Most Okinawans viewed this as de facto acceptance of 
relocating MCAS Futenma to Camp Schwab, on the rural east coast 
of Nago City, albeit with local interests factored in.  End note. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Shimabukuro said he, Kin Town Mayor Tsuyoshi Gibu and 
Higashi Village Mayor Shigeru Miyagi sought the meeting with 
Nukaga to discuss potential changes to the ATARA plan for 
replacing MCAS Futenma.  Before the mayors went to Tokyo, Diet 
Member and JDA Vice Minister Chiken Kakazu had asked them to 
leave to him all negotiations with the GOJ on behalf of northern 
Okinawa, his electoral district.  The mayors were skeptical, 
however, as Kakazu's efforts so far had appeared unsuccessful. 
They decided they had to try to do something.  The secretary 
general of the Northern Development Council (Hokubu Shinko 
Kyogikai) accompanied the mayors to their meeting with Nukaga. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Nukaga and DFAA Director General Iwao Kitahara 
listened briefly to the Okinawans' concerned, Shimabukuro said, 
before changing the subject.  Nukaga said the GOJ would listen 
to local requests, but the implementation talks for the ATARA 
report were already underway between the GOJ and the USG.  Thus, 
Nukaga concluded, he hoped he could attain their understanding 
for the coastal plan.  Nukaga then shifted the discussion to 
what the GOJ could offer Nago City, such as a new 
obstetrician/gynecologist for the Nago Hospital.  The mayors 
were frustrated by the meeting, Shimabukuro said, and Nukaga's 
avoidance of any deep discussion of how the GOJ would 
incorporate local concerns about the new air station into 
implementation of the ATARA report. 
 
 
NAHA 00000056  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment/Conclusion:  Conservative Okinawan politicians 
have been telling us for months that Shimabukuro's election, and 
modifying the location of the replacement facility for MCAS 
Futenma just enough to reduce or eliminate flights over 
residential areas, were the keys to local acceptance of the 
plan.  Shimabukuro himself told us he had to see some change to 
justify accepting a partially on-shore location.  His readout of 
the mayors' meeting with JDA was the latest first-person account 
we have heard here of local officials feeling stiff-armed by the 
GOJ. 
REICH