Mr. Hatoyama has to make serious efforts to solve Futenma issue
(From The Japan Times April 18 issue)

政治生命をかけて普天間問題決着を

During a working dinner April 12 for the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was seated next to U.S. President Barack Obama and the two leaders held unofficial talks for 10 minutes. Mr. Hatoyama told Mr. Obama that the issue of the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' FutenmaAir Station on Okinawa Island would be settled by the end of May and asked Mr. Obama to understand his attempt to alleviate the burden on the residents of Okinawa.

Apparently, he did not get an encouraging answer from Mr. Obama since he has refused to disclose what the president said. Having given himself till the end of May to solve the problem, the clock is ticking for Mr. Hatoyama.

The Hatoyama administration is reportedly considering the following plan: move the Futenma helicopter unit to Tokunoshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, 200 km away; build a helicopter pad in Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago city, in the northern part of Okinawa Island and move some of the Futenma functions there; and eventually reclaim land off Katsuren Peninsula in the central part of Okinawa Island and move the Futenma air station there. But this plan remains very vague.

The United States does not like the Hatoyama plan, attaching importance to integrated operations between a helicopter unit and a land unit. The United States takes the position that the Futenma functions should be moved to V-shaped runways located in Camp Schwab and on reclaimed land off the camp, as the two nations agreed in 2006.

A prerequisite for solving the Futenma issue is getting the consent of communities that would serve as hosts for relocated Futenma functions. But the three mayors in Tokunoshima and Kagoshima Gov. Yuichiro Ito are against the plan. Many Okinawa residents also oppose the plan.

Mr. Hatoyama must mobilize Cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and experts on the issue to unify the Cabinet view, and come up with a concrete plan that the United States will regard as worthy of consideration. He must also convince the Japanese people and the United States that he is making serious efforts to settle this matter.

核安全保障サミットの夕食会で鳩山首相はオバマ大統領に普天間問題5月決着の意向を示し協力を求めた。自ら期限を設定した首相に残された時間は少ない。

政府案はヘリ部隊をまず鹿児島県徳之島に移し、ヘリ離着陸地帯を沖縄県名護市に新設し、将来的に同県勝連半島沖の人工島に移設するものだが、米国側はこれに反対で、現行案を最善としており、地元も反対している。

鳩山氏は閣僚、官僚、専門家らを動員して内閣の見解を統一し、米国の検討に値する具体策を立てるべきだ。また、問題解決に向けて本格的な対策を取っていることを日本国民と米国側に納得させる必要がある。