That has left Nago's Mr Shimabukuro with a lot to chew on as well.

ECONOMIST: The local politics of ��realigning�� America's bases

But the noisy and occasionally violent young marines would be no more popular in any other prefecture than they are in Nago.

ECONOMIST: Left on the beach

With a key mayoral race in Nago, near Henoko, next January and a governor's race later in the year, regional security might yet have to wait.

ECONOMIST: Japan and America

However, scenting the chance for an even huger handout from Tokyo, Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, the newly elected mayor of the nearby city of Nago, demanded that the plan be rethought from scratch.

ECONOMIST: The local politics of ��realigning�� America's bases

Inamine's win was welcomed in Nago's Henoko district.

NPR: In Okinawa, Elections Renew Debate Over U.S. Bases

That is anathema to the Americans, who fear that any talk of time limits at Nago could trigger demands for similar deadlines at the Misawa and Yokota air bases and the Yokosuka naval station in mainland Japan.

ECONOMIST: How the Americans got their base

In late December, the citizens of Nago, a town in Okinawa's impoverished rural north, voted by 54% to 46% not to let the American Marine Corps moor a floating helicopter base off the beach, near its existing Camp Schwab.

ECONOMIST: Left on the beach

The Gelede takes place every year after the harvests, at important events and during drought or epidemics and is characterized by carved masks, dances and chants, sung in the Yoruba language and retracing the history and myths of the Yoruba-Nago people.

UNESCO: Intangible Cultural Heritage