New Okinawa governor to dissolve office that fought Marine airfield construction

NAHA, Okinawa — Okinawa’s newly inaugurated governor moved Wednesday to dismantle the government office his predecessors used in their decade-long fight against construction of a new Marine Corps airfield and redirect the prefecture’s efforts toward speeding the return of American military property.

Gov. Genta Koja said at his inaugural news conference that he will dissolve the Henoko Base Construction Countermeasures Division on Thursday and establish a Base Return Coordination Office within the existing Base Affairs Division.

The changes mark a sharp departure from former Govs. Denny Tamaki and Takeshi Onaga, who opposed relocating Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from densely populated Ginowan to a replacement airfield under construction at Camp Schwab in rural Henoko.

“I intend to take a firm stance in demanding that the government eliminate the dangers associated with MCAS Futenma and return the site as soon as possible, while also alleviating the burden on residents,” Koja said.

The Henoko countermeasures division was established in 2015 under Onaga and became the prefectural office responsible for legal challenges related to the replacement airfield.

Tamaki and Onaga repeatedly challenged Japan’s government in court in attempts to halt construction. The country’s Supreme Court in January 2025 rejected the final legal challenge, ending a series of 14 construction-related lawsuits filed by the two sides since November 2015.

Construction work is carried out on a new Marine Corps airfield for Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Oct. 2, 2025. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)

Court documents now available on the countermeasures division’s website will be transferred to the Base Affairs Division’s site, Koja said.

Other pages explaining his predecessors’ opposition to the Henoko project will be removed “as that stance differs from my own,” he said.

Koja pledged in a Sept. 3 post on X to urge the Japanese government to complete construction on the project’s Oura Bay side within 12 years and establish “a definite date for [MCAS Futenma’s] return.”

His new Base Return Coordination Office will also focus on U.S. military property south of Kadena Air Base slated for return to Japanese control under the 2013 Consolidation Plan for Facilities and Areas in Okinawa.

Koja called Wednesday for “clear timelines” for those returns, saying only about a quarter-square-mile of a promised 4 square miles has been returned so far.

“I will call upon the [Japanese] government to steadily implement the agreed-upon returns, not limited to MCAS Futenma,” he said.

Koja also called on Tokyo to clarify the timeline for moving about 9,000 Marines off Okinawa under a 2012 U.S.-Japan agreement intended to reduce the island’s American military footprint.

About 4,000 Marines are slated to relocate to Guam, but only about 100 have been moved so far.

Koja said he will also continue asking that U.S. military training be moved to other prefectures or overseas. That position “remains unchanged from the previous prefectural administration,” he said.