Okinawa elects Genta Koja, backing US base move

Genta Koja, a candidate backed by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's ruling party, won Okinawa's gubernatorial election, bringing in a leader who accepts a contentious US military base relocation plan for the first time in 12 years.

Koja, 42, defeated incumbent Denny Tamaki, who had long pushed for a major US military base to be moved out of Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture. Tamaki, 66, was seeking a third term.

The Okinawa prefectural government said Koja won 423,124 votes, while Tamaki received 276,060.

Koja accepts a central government plan to keep the US Marine Corps' Futenma air base on Okinawa's main island but move it from Ginowan to a less populated location.

His campaign focused on economic promises, including pledges to double Okinawa's average income, the local childcare budget and tourist spending on the island. On Monday, Koja said he would make progress on livelihood issues, the economy and childcare assistance by listening to Okinawa residents.

Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo that she would do her utmost to coordinate with the new governor to strengthen Okinawa's economy. She said she would address other subjects after hearing from him.

The United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa. Incidents over the years, including sexual assault cases, pollution, noise and helicopter crashes, have angered residents and led to complaints about the military presence.

Japan and the United States agreed in 1996 to move the Futenma base from Ginowan to another location within Okinawa after the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by US military servicemen triggered major anti-US military protests across the prefecture. The relocation plan was approved in 2013 by then governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who lost the next year to an opponent of the move.