Kishida to meet Okinawa governor, U.S. military commander

TOKYO —

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he will hold talks with the Okinawa governor and a U.S. military commander during his two-day trip to the southern island prefecture from Saturday.

Kishida’s meetings with Gov Takeshi Onaga and Lt Gen Lawrence Nicholson, the top commander of the U.S. military in Okinawa, come at a time when the central government is moving ahead with construction of a U.S. Marine Corps air base in a coastal area in Okinawa amid strong local opposition.

The minister will also take part in a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Foreign Ministry’s Okinawa Liaison Office on Saturday and participate in events to attract more tourists and investments to Okinawa, the ministry said.

Under a Japan-U.S. agreement, the central government is building two runways through partial land reclamation in the coastal area of Nago to replace the Marines’ Air Station Futenma, which is located in a densely populated area of Ginowan.

© KYODO