Liberal Democratic Party Candidate Genta Koja Defeats Denny Tamaki in Okinawa Gubernatorial Election

Genta Koja, backed by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party, defeated incumbent Denny Tamaki in Okinawa’s gubernatorial election, potentially ending more than a decade of opposition to a United States military build-up in the region.

“He won 59 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported Koja won 59 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, and said the 42-year-old will become the youngest Okinawa governor since the prefecture was returned to Japan from US rule in 1972.A

@globaltimesnews

France 24 said Koja’s landslide victory brought to power a leader who approves of a contentious US military base relocation plan for the first time in 12 years, as he accepted a central government plan to keep the US Marine Corps’ Futenma air base on Okinawa’s main island but move it to a less populated location.

The New York Times said Koja prevailed on Sunday in the race to be governor of Okinawa as Takaichi seeks to accelerate a military buildup to counter China, and it reported Koja won about 59 percent of roughly 718,000 votes while Tamaki won about 38 percent.

Koja’s victory could end Okinawa’s legal efforts to block the relocation of US Marines from the Futenma air base to a new facility at Henoko on the prefecture’s main island, according to Masaaki Gabe, a professor emeritus at the University of the Ryukyus.

Al Jazeera quoted Gabe saying, “Koja could reasonably be expected to approve their designation, opening wholly civilian facilities to military use,” as it described how the election result could also make it easier to expand military access to airports and ports.A

Al Jazeera

France 24 said Koja pledged on Monday to “make progress on livelihood issues, the economy and childcare assistance” by listening to views of all Okinawan residents, while Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo that she would “do my utmost to coordinate efforts with the new governor to strengthen the Okinawan economy.”

Kurdistan24 said Koja secured 423,124 votes compared with Tamaki’s 276,060 according to the Okinawa prefectural government, and it described Koja as the first Okinawa governor in 12 years to support the relocation plan.

The election outcome is tied to the long-running Futenma relocation dispute, which Japan and the United States agreed to move from the town of Ginowan to another location within Okinawa in 1996 after a rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by US military servicemen, France 24 said.

“after a rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by US military servicemen”

France 24

France 24 reported the relocation plan was approved in 2013 by Okinawa’s then governor Hirokazu Nakaima, but the next year he lost to an opponent who opposed the move, while Koja’s win makes the base relocation issue a major issue for his administration.

Japan Wire by Kyodo News said Koja voiced his hope Monday to meet with Takaichi soon to seek clarification on when the site of the Futenma base will be returned after the relocation, which is expected to take place as early as 2036.

In a separate framing, Global Times said Koja’s win may accelerate Japan’s southwestern military buildup and deepen local divisions, and it quoted Da Zhigang warning that “This local election in Okinawa serves as a barometer, suggesting that conservative thinking, more assertive defense policies and increased military spending are being promoted among the public across Japanese society.”G