Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda flew to Okinawa Sunday on a tough mission to persuade local islanders into accepting a plan to move a controversial US military base to another part of the island.
On his first visit to the subtropical island chain in the East China Sea since taking office last September, Noda was due to meet Okinawa's governor Hirokazu Nakaima on Monday.
But Nakaima has already vowed to reject the long-stalled plan as he
demanded the base - the Futenma marine corps air station - be moved out of Okinawa to help reduce a huge US military presence there.
Successive Tokyo governments have faced strong objections from islanders to an agreement with Washington to relocate the Futenma base from a growing urban area to a scenic coral seashore on the main Okinawan island.
Speaking to reporters in the main Okinawan city of Naha, the premier pointed to the strategic importance of US forces on the islands and the dangers of the base located in the crowded area.
"We will try in a concrete manner to maintain the (military) deterrence and reduce the burden on Okinawa at an early date," Noda said. "We must remove the dangers of the Futenma base as soon as we can."
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