Mr. Szechenyi, the Japan expert, said that the dispute over Futenma carried wider risks.
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The three largest bases are Kadena Air Base, White Beach Naval Facility, and Futenma Marine Air Station.
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On Futenma, the promised step is to seek local regulatory and environmental approval to begin landfill operations.
But his involvement in discussions over the Futenma base issue might be viewed as a negative by voters.
Yet the Kan administration may not be able to hold up its side of the Futenma bargain with America.
Okinawa's governor, Masahide Ota, has been badgered by developers who drool over Futenma's open spaces close to the crowded prefectural capital, Naha.
That was used by the governor of Okinawa to prise considerable concessions from America, including the return of the big Futenma air station.
General Assembly, and reporting out the work that his government has done in moving forward on the path towards implementing the Futenma relocation program.
In hopes that the new facility was imminent, repairs and other work at Futenma remained undone and many of its 50-year-old-plus facilities show their age.
America and Japan revised a 2006 accord on relocating the US Marines' Futenma air base in Okinawa, after the process had stalled because of local opposition.
Representing traditional LDP thinking, Morimoto is known as a strong backer of the U.S.-Japan defense alliance and supports keeping U.S. Marines in Okinawa at a relocated Futenma airbase.
The idea behind the heliport is that it will take over the functions of the marines' Futenma air base at Ginowan, in the prosperous southern half of the main island.
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