Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, greets Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi before their meeting at the Okinawa Harborview Hotel in Naha, Okinawa, Jan. 7, 2026. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

NAHA, Okinawa — Japan’s defense minister, on his first visit to Okinawa in his new role, repeated a promise to reduce the U.S. military’s footprint there and expand joint exercises near Japan’s southwestern islands.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday met with Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force and the U.S. military’s Okinawa area coordinator, at Okinawa Harborview Hotel in the capital city, Naha.

Koizumi met the following day with Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki at the prefectural office in Naha.

In their closed meeting, Koizumi and Turner “confirmed that we will steadily work to reduce the burden of bases in Okinawa while firmly maintaining the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Koizumi said at a news conference after the meeting.

The Ministry of Defense will work toward “the full return of [Marine Corps Air Station] Futenma at the earliest possible date based on the Okinawa Consolidation Plan,” Koizumi told reporters before meeting with Turner.

The U.S. and Japanese governments agreed in 1996 to relocate the airfield in densely populated Ginowan city to Camp Schwab in rural Henoko. Construction, long delayed by legal challenges, is expected to last until at least 2033, with the airfield ready for use possibly by 2036, then-Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in January 2025.

Koizumi reiterated that pledge to Tamaki, he said at a press conference after their meeting.

The ministry also “will steadily advance the construction work necessary for the return of land south of Kadena Air Base to reduce the burden of the bases,” Koizumi said, according to a readout of the news conference posted on the ministry’s website.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, left, poses with Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki at the prefecture's office in Naha, Okinawa, Jan. 8, 2026. (Shinjiro Koizumi/X)

Tamaki asked Koizumi to abandon the plan for MCAS Futenma’s replacement and to “try to find a solution to the issue through dialogue with Okinawa prefecture,” a spokeswoman for the prefecture’s Military Base Affairs Division said by phone Friday. Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.

In response, Koizumi said “it is my responsibility as Minister of Defense to steadily advance U.S. military realignment in a visible manner,” including the return of MCAS Futenma, according to the readout.

Koizumi during the news conference Wednesday repeated statements he made to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who visited in October, to “work toward expanding more advanced and practical joint training exercises in various locations, particularly in the Nansei region.”

The Nansei, or Ryukyu, islands include Okinawa and stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised to unify self-governing Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing last month conducted another military exercise that encircled the island and included missile launches.

“As neighboring countries and others expand and intensify their activities in the seas and airspace surrounding Japan, improving our deterrence and response capabilities in the Nansei region is an urgent issue,” Koizumi told reporters Wednesday.

Turner in remarks before meeting with Koizumi called the U.S.-Japan alliance “the cornerstone of regional peace and security” in the Indo-Pacific region.

He declined to provide specific details about enhanced exercises with Japan.

“We have a really good plan for 2026 that we’re super excited about,” Turner told reporters after the meeting.