Mean Government against Okinawa

This is a typical whip-and-carrot policy. Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and his colleagues in the administration explicitly ignored new governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga. When he visited Tokyo to greet the leaders of Abe administration, all of them rejected the request except Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, Shun-ichi Yamaguchi. The reason is clear: because Onaga opposes and is not cooperative in government’s policy to relocate Futenma Marine Air Base to Henoko district in Nago city.

Onaga wanted to meet Abe, when he visited Tokyo last month. His hope was dismissed not only by Abe but also by Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga. Onaga again visited Tokyo earlier this week to meet the leaders of Liberal Democratic Party in charge of Okinawa development policy. However, they did not invite Onaga to their policy meeting for governmental budget in FY 2015.

In the time of former governor, Hiroshige Nakaima, Abe administration and LDP was friendly to Okinawa. Abe saved his time for meeting Nakaima in Tokyo many times. LDP legislators invited to their meeting for budget request every year. That was all because Nakaima accepted government’s plan for Futenma relocation. Abe does not conceal his frustration against Onaga, and other leaders in LDP tacitly follow him, afraid of negative consequence coming from Abe. This is the way Japanese students isolate one student, sometimes plunging into suicide.

Abe administration is planning to reduce the budget for development of Okinawa next fiscal year. In FY 2014, the government accumulated the budget as much as ¥346 billion, with expectation of further cooperation in the relocation plan. But, Abe administration is going to cut the budget to ¥310 billion for FY 2015. It is as if saying, “I only love you when you love me.”

Abe’s attitude to Okinawa is highly irrelevant. Nakaima’s defeat in gubernatorial election last fall was predictable. Nevertheless, the government continued the relocation plan, including boring research in Henoko coast against opposition of the people in Okinawa. A governor unfriendly to Abe administration is what Abe invited by himself with inappropriate policy to Okinawa.

Abe’s mean attitude to Okinawa will not help final solution of Futenma relocation at all. It is likely that Okinawa will strongly protest against national government rather than being tamed. People’s pressure to Onaga to exercise every authority to disturb relocation plan will become higher. Moreover, the worst thing is Okinawa’s sentiment will leave the main land of Japan and closer to another neighbor, which has insistent territorial dispute over some islands within the Prefecture of Okinawa.